In 2023 The Arts Society Cotswolds awarded four bursaries to the following students:
Imogen Bissett, Chipping Norton School
Imogen’s used inspiration in nature, plants and flowers to convey the concept of serenity, specifically looking at flowers from the Victorian era that represent serene and calm emotions.
Her exam piece looked at the topic ‘Simple or Complex’, and focused on the complexity of coral and the impact of human pollution, inspiring her final piece, painting corals and obscuring them with a complex paper-cutting of litter, pollution and bacteria. Imogen is at the University of Wales Trinity St David studying Set Design and Production.
Nell Joynes, The Cotswold School
Nell’s key theme focused on portraits, structure and outlines. Nell found inspiration from artists including Nathan Chantob, Rosie James and Nick Lepard. In her work, Nell experimented with painting, wire sculpture and sketching in biro, which led her to her final exam piece, a set of portraits that she painted and used a Perspex covering to draw outlines to create an innovative final piece.
Zac Malcolm-Dawe, The Cotswolds School
Zac’s art was strongly influenced by his love of mythology, folklore, and storytelling. He used mythological and folklore symbolism in his pieces to create a deep sense of meaning. Zac’s also explored ideas connected to dormancy and nature and he borrowed characters from Greek and Roman mythology, as well as imagery from Medieval religious art.
His "storytelling" project he made pieces inspired by how fairytales change slowly over time, comparing ancient mythological imagery with more modern visual styles, and pieces exploring the seemingly built-in human urge to tell stories to one another. Zac is doing an Art foundation year at Oxford Brookes.
Shannon Osborne, Burford School
Shannon experimented in all forms of art media, both digital and traditional and drew on aspects of real life and the imaginary world. She used vibrant colour pallets and eye-catching compositions, bringing a real passion to each piece of work. Her A-level work included some stunning pieces on cultural identity themes and also landscapes, based on personal experience, interaction and first-hand observation. Shannon is studying Fine Art at Bath Spa.