The Creative Group at the University of Birmingham

Creative, in essence, is a network of Creatives for Creatives.

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Creative Profile: Katrina Walcott

Course: Law

“Leonardo Da Vinci said 'simplicity is the ultimate sophistication'; as one of my favourite portrait artists, I am often in awe of his work with oil paints, and have been trying to craft what was once my hobby, later becoming one of my A level qualifications, toward a Da Vinci ideal. What I have found is that as I have matured my painting technique has simplified, I now have a better understanding of what this quote means; I cherish the details of a portrait I have left out, the flat areas of colours, the simplicity of unintentional imperfection.

Portraiture will and has always been my passion; while I am studying Law at the University of Birmingham, I intend to continue painting whenever I can find the time, as with every piece I complete, my fascination with the concept of the manipulation of paint in order to replicate the essence and expression of a living, breathing form grows stronger.

I did not choose to further study fine art, as, at this particular point in my life, I still want to explore the freedom within painting before I can go back to ticking boxes and fulfilling criteria. My satisfaction comes from the perspectives of the viewer - the viewer is never wrong, that is why portraiture is such an exciting area of study, as it brings together various perspectives of the portrayal of one person, the painter, viewer and subject. 

I am currently in the process of applying to the BP Portrait Awards held at the National Portrait Gallery in London every year, bringing together new, often undiscovered portrait artists and giving them notoriety. This seemed a natural endeavour to me after being shortlisted for the A level Royal Academy Exhibition online last year. Having had the experience of selling some of my pieces I hope one day to share my paintings with the world, creating exciting portraits, pushing the boundaries while remaining truthful to the subject I am portraying.”

- Katrina Walcott

  You can find the RA shortlist here, & Katrina Walcott’s Facebook Page (under completion).

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Creative Profile: Louise Aust

Course: English with Creative Writing

“First, I'm a writer, and hope one day to be working in television drama, but what I often forget is how much time and effort I've put into drawing during my life. After hours and hours of agonizing practice and pages and pages of terrible attempts, after twenty years drawing now seems second nature to me, despite still always having things to learn. I draw for pleasure and when I'm feeling inspired - either to visualize my own story ideas or others'. I've also story-boarded for one of my own short film projects.

I find illustrative art amazing, where it can enhance prose on the page, and am a lifelong reader of various graphic novels and comics. I grew up on Asterix and Obelix, was taught to draw from reading Tintin and recently have started my collection of classic Batman graphic novels. My love of Batman drew me toward a passion for conceptual game design and animation design, as well as rare attempts at background art. I'm a very basic artist who sticks to the reassuring control of the pencil and the page, but I often work with friends whose digital painting skills bring another dimension to my work.

It would be a dream to one day combine my writing with illustrative talents, and quite possibly design for novels or games in future.

Much of my work can be found on my Facebook page.

If you're interested in my work and potentially want me to get my pen scribbling for you, please message me there or at [email protected] - I'd love to you to share your ideas with me!”

- Louise Aust

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Creative Profile: Jennifer Ogundemuren

Name: Jennifer Ogundemuren

Course: Law

"What I do: I create! I am a singer-songwriter! The best feeling in the world is opening my heart to people and having them 'get it'. I love being able to walk into a room with a thought, idea or a feeling and throw it and watch people catch it. There is nothing like it! I also blog and strive to encourage and uplift women (especially the brokenhearted) to be the best version of themselves and be everything that God has called them to be. I wish every woman was free from the burden of self-condemnation - that would be a dream come true!

Why I create: I make music because I know that it was what I was born to do! After having an extremely interesting conversation with my sister, I realised that everyone was put on this earth to CREATE. Making music gives me the opportunity to create my own masterpiece and also to create a platform that not only allows people to feel but to generate a feeling that is strong enough to push people to THINK. Additionally, I make music because I think there aren't enough musicians who are also Christian that are willing to discuss or express some of the more everyday issues such as falling in love or being brokenhearted and I think it so necessary for music to be transparent. Music has the ability to encapsulate every emotion in 4 minutes. So we should definitely be expressing a range of emotions when we create so people can relate to us. It was very hard for me growing up to find music by Christian artists that was beautiful to the ear but also spoke of less conventional issues such as love, hurt or sex. They seemed to be forbidden areas and I disagree with that. We should definitely be commenting on every area of life and bring light into the situation, otherwise society is going to teach our children how they should feel about sex and love etc. I used to complain so much until the day I literally felt God say - "CREATE! Go and make this music that you complain doesn't exist." Mind you, since then, there have been a lot of artists touching on those issues now thankfully and I want to be a part of that.

The future: I hope to spend the rest of my life making music, performing and holding workshops/seminars and all that good stuff for young women. I just want to create a space for people to feel comfortable, be real but also be healed. There are way too many hurt people out there."

- Jennifer Ogundemuren

Where to find her: Her music is not recorded yet, but she currently has a blog and a Women's Encouragement Facebook Page.

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Creative Profile: Akil Henry

Name: Akil Henry

Course: Mathematics & Music

'Who I am: I am a recent graduate who has founded a music collective with four other young people called One Sound, who are committed to providing high-quality gospel music that will inspire and uplift. I am primarily a pianist, but dabble in guitar, musical arrangements, musical directing and production.

Where I started: I started playing the piano from the age of 6 with classical lessons till the age of 18, but started to teach myself the contemporary gospel style at the age of 12, as well as jazz. I was motivated by hearing these two guys play at a church that I was visiting, who were around my age, and wanted to be like them. I recently began learning to play guitar a few months ago, as well as starting to familiarise myself with Logic Pro (a production program).

Why I create: I believe that music is one of the most powerful tools in the arsenal of humanity to effect change, and is truly a universal language. From protest songs such as Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit, to well-known classical pieces, such as Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro, music transcends boundaries of race, class, gender etc. and touches people’s hearts, and that’s what I hope to do through the music that I create.

The future: I hope to become a music producer, and to own a record label. That’s my dream.'

- Akil Henry

Help support the future by liking, sharing and subscribing the YouTube Channel!

YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/onesoundmusik

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onesoundmusik

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/onesoundmusik  

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But creative people should not fear failure. Creative people should fear the prescribed path to success - its narrowness, its specificity, its reliance on wealth and elite approval. When success is a stranglehold, true freedom is failure. The freedom to fail is the freedom to innovate, to experiment, to challenge.

Sarah Kendzior  (via streetetiquette)

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Creative Profile: Ademide Adenaike (Midé)

Name: Ademide "Midé" Anthony Adenaike

Course: Pharmacy

'Who I am as a creative: Beatboxer. Since I started, I’ve been predominantly working on well-known pop songs & theme tunes; but currently I’ve started to work on freestyle/freestyle covers (created by other beatboxers). I’ve also had a go at looping or rapping over looped ‘beats’ which is a lot of fun. I won 2 talent shows at my 6th form school, which inspired me to go forward with beatboxing.

Why do I do it: Started 18 months ago in 6th form; before then I just tried to imitate popular songs I heard on the TV & radio. I have to give credit to my sister because she told me that the ‘imitations’ were pretty similar to the actual songs. From there I found beatboxing (on youtube) and tried out various tutorials for sound effects/routines of pop songs. To expand, I started trying out theme tunes, special effects, and introduced some dance into my performing.

Future aspirations: Apply for UK beatbox championships, see how that goes. Create a ‘song’ of my own from scratch, looped and non-looped. Have joined UoB acapella group “Sons of Pitches”, so look forward to the various gigs & tours I’ll be doing with them.'

- Midé

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/crazeepants1994

AfroFusion Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9VWvXOsnfM

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AdeNeymar94

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Creative Profile: Samira Speaks

Name: Samira Speaks

Course: BA International Relations

"Write as if you are the only one that will understand, and in that, your words will become universal."

Samira Speaks is a spoken word artist from London, who touches on issues that range from African history and culture, and the empowerment of black people through education of self, to everyday life as a Black Muslim woman. She has performed alongside other notable artists such as Akala and Jaja Soze, and in the company of Julius Garvey the son of Jamaican national hero Marcus Garvey. She has performed at spoken word nights, community events, gatherings and universities.

"Spoken word and poetry is to me the most honest form of art. It leaves you open and exposed, with people knowing your deepest thoughts and beliefs and the very core of who you are. I’m very honest in my work and I write because I hope this honesty inspires others to be honest with their own selves. M.K. Asante said it best when he said “once you make an observation, you have an obligation”, so when I experience something I feel obliged in to telling that story and to telling that truth in the hope that it is someone else’s truth too."

- Samira Speaks

You can find her work at blackradical.wordpress.com 

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Creative Profile: Lizzie Haynes | Joe Maisey

Course: Business & Management | Mathematics

"Singing is a huge passion of mine; it means everything to me when I am on that stage. I'd say I don't just sing a song, I try to interpret it. Me & Joe have a strong relationship, which is extremely hard to find. We are both very passionate towards music and both want go in the same direction." – Lizzie Haynes

Lizzie won Worthing Idol in 2011, and has performed in a variety of locations and events, with a voice that lends itself to many styles, ranging from musicals, to rock, and everything between and beyond.

Joe Maisey was a guitarist and songwriter in a few bands around Birmingham - including the first unsigned band that put on a headline show at Birmingham's O2 Academy 2.

The collaborative duet met through a mutual friend at the University of Birmingham in November 2012, and began to start playing at gigs immediately - so far they have performed at various places in Birmingham, as well as places such as Worcestershire and Sussex.

"Music is a unique platform integrated into the lives of every single person I have met, and a platform which can evoke emotions like no other. Everyone has a creative instinct, but most fail to add a creative intelligence, something which I aim to develop during the next few years." – Joe Maisey

The duo is currently putting a band together, which will add to and develop their sound.

You can find more of their work, and up-to-date information regarding gigs, on Lizzie Haynes’ Facebook page.

Below are their exclusive covers of ‘Kiss Me’, ‘Make You Feel My Love’ and Lizzie’s demo of ‘The Only Exception’

'Kiss Me'

'Make You Feel My Love'

'The Only Exception' Check out their new band 'Little Dynamite': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU8PW2BFIt8

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Creative Profile: John-Israel Oladeji

Name: John-Israel Oladeji

Course: LLB Law

“I’m all about progress so my perception is forward-looking”

John, also known as JohnWrites, is a spoken word artist, who although relatively new to this type of poetry, is considered to be a promising wordsmith. The main motivation behind John’s material comes from his desire to inspire a generation as he touches upon familiar issues that people from all ages and ethnicities can relate to through a mixture of light hearted and more serious pieces.

“There’s much power in self-belief, because you can achieve whatever you put your mind to, success is out there waiting, but you've got to keep searching, because it's not going to find you”

His aim is to get people thinking about different aspects of life which they may believe to be insignificant, but in reality will have a large impact on their growth as individuals in society. John is also Co-Founder of Project Driven To Succeed (www.driventosucceed.org) an initiative which sets out to motivate and positively influence young Afro-Caribbean students to excel and flourish.

“When will people wake up and realise that today is the day to implement change? Because tomorrow might never come, and it might be too late!”

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Creative Profile: Lucy Clacher

Course: International Business with Communications

Lucy is an exciting visual and musical creative. She is a freelance music, fashion and wildlife photographer, as well as a songwriter and guitarist.

“I started music photography when I was seventeen. I’d never thought about getting into photography properly, but when some of my friends had 18+ music concerts, I used my camera to gain entry as their ‘photographer’. Since then I gained an interest for photography and was lucky enough to gain a photo pass to Tinie Tempah’s O2 Arena concert on 4th November 2011. Attending events, blagging my way into venues and networking got me to where I am now, having worked with many London music artists and on a marketing campaign for the German audio company Sennheiser. Much of my photography has been featured on websites, including NME and MTV UK. I also work with the online media channel Link Up TV, Trapped Magazine, and AboutToBlow.com, and occasionally cover club nights in Birmingham.”

- Lucy Clacher

More of Lucy’s work can be seen at www.lclach1.tumblr.com or www.facebook.com/lucycphotography (featuring photos of Tinie Tempah, Labrinth, Professor Green, The Thirst, Smiler, Fem Fel, Duane Lamonte, Bakery Boys, Ashley Walters, Vince Kidd and more…).

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Creative Profile: Lisa Maharjan

Course: BSc Accounting & Finance

"Someone once said that ‘painting is like meditating’. I could not agree more! For any non-artist this might sound well bizarre but it’s an absolute fascinating thing for me!

The more I paint, the deeper I see the colours and this is my biggest motivation! In terms of inspirations, they are easy to find, and often come from simple things.

I studied 2 Art subjects for A-Levels: Fine Art and Graphic Design, and so I spent a lot of my time (including many free lessons and lunch times) painting and exploring different aspects of traditional as well as digital art. Winning the best painting award at Joseph Chamberlain College ArtsFest 2012 has been my biggest achievement to date because JC was where my artistic journey started. 

Talking about my favourite artists, there are so many but the current top ones are Charmaine Olivia, Spellbound Yana Misfits and Agnes Cecile. Exploring the stories behind their work inspired me to consequently start creating my own. I definitely have a lot to improve on and explore. Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Anatomy, I want to focus on human form next and work on larger scale. I want my art to inspire everyone, especially the youth because they have a huge potential!"

- Lisa Maharjan

You can find more of her work at: http://lisaa07.deviantart.com/

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Creative Profile: Mary Akinsulire

Name: Mary Akinsulire

Course: BSc Accounting & Finance

“I know counterfeit happiness is like pounded yam with no soup. One day you will cry.”

Mary Akinsulire is a playful Creative when it comes to words. She is a writer of prose & performance poetry, mixed with a little bit of humour and profound thinking. She provides a form of communication, through art, to inspire, motivate and encourage.

“…so here I bleed, blood on a stage, with stories of oxygen in each red cell so you’d know I pour myself out, every time, to help us breathe.”

Having been listed for Young Poet Laureate London 2013, a member of Young Touch & Spread The Word’s Podium Poets’ collective, a Roundhouse Poetry Slam competitor, a vivid and consistent performer across many platforms, an aspiring novelist, hopeful entrepreneur and, maybe financial writer, many ask what she plans to do with all of this. Easy. To write of freedom, and give it where it’s due.

"You are Mo Farah halfway through his final race. So you can't stop. You can't."

You can find her work at: http://maryakin.wordpress.com/

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Creative Profile: Judah Chandra

Name: Judah Chandra

Course: BA Social Policy

Judah is an exciting creative when it comes to music and culture. Having a rich cultural experience from living in Kenya for seven years, parents who converted from Sikh and Hindu, living in an Islamic area for ten years, and being an Indian Christian, has led to a variety of cultural elements in his work. His interest in rhythm stems from his playing of drums - Cajon, dhol, tabla and also classical piano. His work kicked off when he was first asked to rap in his church. From then on, he gained publicity from his work with “The Feast” - a Christian charity working to unite Christian and Muslim young people and promote community cohesion. With “the Feast”, his rapping has appeared on BBC1. He has also beat-boxed on BBC WM radio, and performed for Oxfam’s ‘Against Climate Change’ at The Drum in Birmingham.  To add to this list, he’s subsequently rapped at school performances, open mics, and talent shows, and, accordingly, been scouted to perform at Christian events.  His ultimate aim? Simple. To encourage others, especially young people, to achieve their best.

The University of Birmingham currently uses him for various promotion work such as magazines, newsletters, emails, and videos to encourage funding from alumni towards scholarships, and to encourage young people from lower-income backgrounds to come to university.

  You can find his work at: https://soundcloud.com/judah-chandra and http://www.youtube.com/user/judahchandra

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Coming soon.

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