MORE artistic energy thrives in the nooks of North Dartmoor than might be imagined from a glance at its empty moorland and military ranges. The arts development charity Devon Artsculture has identified the 13 most progressive up-and-coming artists and craftworkers from across the county — and three of that group live and work in the Okehampton area. The artists — who represent a wide range of artforms, including jewellery, stained glass, fashion, music, poetry, photography, and painting — will be supported over the coming year and promoted as 'Devon Creatives'. They have been chosen not only on the basis of their own talents, but also for their commercial potential and because their businesses have been identified as enhancing the economy and cultural life of their local areas. Fashion designer/performance artist Emma Kempton and sculptor Mat Chivers, both from Throwleigh, were among the chosen artists, as was Drewsteignton-based photographer Ione Rucquoi. All three have already received help in launching and developing their careers from Devon Artsculture. Emma Kempton has recently returned from London Fashion Week, where she displayed her work in the Vauxhall Fashion Scout Tent. She said: 'London Fashion Week tries to represent new designers but only a few out of the hundreds that apply each year manage to be exhibited.' What set Emma apart from other young designers was her short film 'The Crinoline and the Rose' which fuses her interests in performance and design. 'It started out as a promotional thing but then turned into a work in its own right,' she said. In fact, the film last week won 'Best Film' at the inaugural South West Media Innovation Awards. The film was shown on a loop at the fashion show, along with a mannequin displaying one of Emma's designs. Her current, dramatic collection, in black, white and red, is heavily influenced by her long-standing interest in circus and mime — she worked for two years in a circus. It also uses traditional Dartmoor textile techniques. This support of local, traditional industries went a long way towards winning her the status of a 'Devon Creative'. 'I wanted to use ethical, organic materials that were made in the area, but I found it surprisingly difficult,' she said. 'There are only a few older people commercially knitting on Dartmoor now, all the mills have closed, and the people who are making organic materials are really struggling. It's an issue that I hope to address in my career.' The key to her success, Emma said, was learning business skills. 'Three quarters of an artist's success is not down to talent and skill, but selling yourself. There are so many good artists out there who don't succeed because they don't know how to promote themselves,' she said. That was where Devon Artsculture helped her: 'They've helped me to produce press releases, catalogues, and professional-looking invitations. 'They've been really supportive from the start. When you're on your own you really need professional input and advice.' When Emma came up with the idea of making a film, they helped her to interview film-makers: 'They're got a really good database of artists , which helped me to find someone to make the film,' she said. And the charity also covered her editing costs, and then sponsored the technical costs of showing the film at London Fashion Week. Devon Artsculture also funded the production of the catalogue for Mat Chivers' first major solo exhibition, which opened last week at Poole's award-winning modern art gallery 'The Study'. The exhibition features 12 major stone sculptures and ten large-scale drawings which focus on environmental processes and 'growth events' in the natural world. Mat said: 'I like the paradox of looking at things in flux and then translating that fluidity into stone.' Two apprentice sculptors from Exeter were also sponsored by the charity to work with Mat for eight months. 'The arrangement was that they worked for me one day a week —roughing out stone and doing lots of polishing — and in exchange I gave them space in my workshop for free and mentored them in ways to approach stone carving'. That extra help was essential to producing the work for the current exhibition. 'I can't praise Devon Artsculture enough,' Mat said. 'The amount of assistance that they've given me right from the start has been amazing'. He now hopes that being chosen as one of the 13 Devon Creatives will help him to move on to the next stage in his career — getting his work shown in galleries nationwide. Ione Rucquoi likewise hopes that being named as a 'Devon Creative' will mean vital help with publicity and marketing. The first exhibition of her new photographic project — 'Birds, Fishwives and Bunnygirls' — will be staged at the Exeter Phoenix Gallery from July 13, comprising 16 large colour photographs, as well as several multimedia sculptures. Painterly in appearance, her photographs are portraits of women, taken in natural light but carefully constructed as elaborate tableaux with a mythical quality — for which Ione creates all of the props. She uses local women as models, and collects materials from the surrounding countryside - eggs, animal bones, and so on, to incorporate into the images. She said photography was a highly competitive field. 'The promotional side of it is as important, if not more important, than the actual work,' she said. Mark Barton Donald of Devon Artsculture said it was this commercial awareness that set apart the three North Dartmoor artists among those qualified to become Devon Creatives. 'Our main aim is to help artists become commercially successful,' he said. 'This is a pilot project, for which we wanted to focus on helping a few artists who already have a clearly business-like approach to their work. That help might involve funding a catalogue, sponsoring apprentices, arranging mentoring, or helping with website development. If this is successful, we hope to eventually expand the project to take in more arts practitioners'. The charity already offers networking opportunities, advice surgeries, and bursaries to around 500 artists in West Devon. Funded by the European Union, Devon County Council, Dartington Plus, and Beaford Arts, it was set up with the aim of regenerating rural Devon through arts, crafts and music. For more information on the organisation, go to http://www.devonartsculture.org">www.devonartsculture.org or telephone 01805 603380. More information about Mat Chivers can be found at http://www.matchivers.com">www.matchivers.com; Emma Kempton at http://www.emmakempton.com">www.emmakempton.com; and Ione Rucquoi is on the web at http://www.ionerucquoi">www.ionerucquoi
