With the focus of the 2018 Year of Our Island celebrations on the creativity and innovation, a series of workshops and creative sessions have been announced to awaken your creative spirit.

The Isle of Man has long enjoyed a strong creative community and has been home to many artists, artisans, entrepreneurs and innovators.

To reflect this, during May we are focussing on creativity and innovation in the Isle of Man, not just by marking the work of artists such as those at the recent Isle of Man Art Festival or the exhibition of work by UCM alumni that continues at the Sayle Gallery that runs until this Sunday, but by giving people the opportunity to stretch their creative wings and try something new.

Well-known local photographer Steve Babb is to hold a series of photography workshops this weekend.

On Saturday, he will hold a beginners workshop, followed by a session for intermediate photographers.

This will be followed by an outdoor photography course on Sunday at Silverdale Glen.

Each of the workshops will be focused on developing photography skills, and are aimed at either the beginner or a dabbler.

Steve said that he wanted to create a series of courses that made it simple to grasp the concepts of taking a photograph, and one that would help the photographer develop their own style.

’When I was first starting out, what I really needed was someone to calmly answer a few questions using words I could understand and not laugh at me for asking the daftest and most obvious questions,’ said Steve.

’I hope that the workshops this week will not only help explain some of the technical aspects of taking pictures, but also help give people a sense of self confidence and create a network to share ideas and questions.’

Steve Meadows will also offer a landscape photography course on Sunday, including using Lightroom.

Writer Elizabeth Brooks will hold a day of creative writing workshops on the Saturday, which will feature hints and tips on how to create powerful prose, also on Saturday, Alice Quayle offers you the intriguing possibility to ’knit your own Viking Utopia’.

Sunday will also feature a course in life drawing, courtesy of the Isle of Man drawing club, a beginner’s toy sewing workshop, hosted by Quinn Shipton, and a felt sewing workshop, with the Reap What You Sew group.

The workshops take place in either Ballakermeen High School or Santon Old School, unless specified, and will carry a small charge.

For more information visit ourisland.im or the ourisland 2018 Facebook page or you can call the team on 687007, or 685293.

This article was produced by the 2018 Year of Our Island project team

by the Year of Our Island project Team

www.ourisland.im