Dedication has turned the dream into reality

Turning her passion into her career, and forging a new path have been at the heart of artist Jasmine Moreton’s journey.

And she has now been commissioned as a BBC New Creative, with her audio work appearing on radio.

When she began her Fine Art degree in 2014, she says she was a terrified-looking fresher stepping into what looked very much like Hogwarts (FCH campus), but today she is realising her dream and working as an artist.

Since graduating, her career has combined employed and freelance work in arts related jobs, and a change of direction for her initial plans to become a teacher.

“My experiences at the University of Gloucestershire informed my career in multiple ways,” said Jasmine. “As well as my Fine Art degree, I worked as a Residential Assistant in Halls of Residence and did some work placements for a charity in my second year, which enabled me to work as a support worker alongside being a Gallery Assistant and supporting children’s workshops at a local museum after I had spent a year being an unpaid artist. The fact that I have a first-class degree in Fine Art really started to have an impact in 2019, when I had a paid commission to produce work for Coventry Biennial.”

Jasmine has spent 2020 doing film, performance and Zoom workshop commissions and has now been commissioned as a BBC New Creative for the BBC, with her audio work released on BBC CWR’s Coventry Creates.

Like many others, Covid has led Jasmine to take stock. “I’ve adapted my career to work digitally-mainly through film, sound, and written work. A lot of work as an artist involves writing funding applications, being an artist is definitely not the romanticisation of being 2020’s answer to Van Gogh sat in his studio, merrily, or not- in accordance with the History of Art- and painting away!”

The experiences which have shaped her career have been varied, from the lecturer who interviewed her consistently saying she could succeed as an artist, and a third-year student introducing her as an “artist”, which she was still in her first year.

“I also decided that I was not going to have a wealthy husband to prop me or my creative practice up, even if it meant I’d have to work harder and have periods of creative wasteland because I’d be working 9-5 jobs, so it made me far more determined to support myself.”

Jasmine says university was one of the best times of her life, because she got so much out of it, and has some advice for those either currently studying, or who are considering university:

· Work really hard- the world is tough once you graduate, so it’s useful to already have a good work ethic in place.

· Enjoy university, and take every learning opportunity you can, while you have the opportunity to do so.

· You get out what you put in. Honestly, I’ll sound like a teacher, but you will get the most out of university if you put a lot of energy into your studies.

· Enjoy halls of residence while you can! The convenience of living a stone’s throw from university cannot be understated, and living and working on campus was really convenient for me as someone with multiple disabilities.