A Jersey artist is set to hone her skills at the Royal Drawing School after securing funding for a three-month course to help rebuild her portfolio.

Minna Pemberton is one of seven artists to be awarded a development grant from ArtHouse Jersey, a quarterly funding initiative to assist creatives in developing work.

With a background in illustration, Minna is hoping to explore deeper conceptual communication and refine her technical skills.

The grant will enable her to attend an intensive three-month course at the Royal Drawing School, where she will be able to access tuition and facilities at the educational organisation.

Minna shared with Express what she aims to get out of the course, and how it will assist in rebuilding and reshaping her artistic portfolio…

What is special about this course at the Royal Drawing School?

This course provides an extremely dedicated level of teaching for 10 weeks, focusing on the skill of observational drawing.

It provides a dedicated space for me to develop my practice in my three areas of interest: figure drawing, etching and narrative illustration.

What inspired you to take this direction in your creative journey?

After graduating, I found that I had a very negative and obscured relationship with my artistic practice.

I desperately wanted to create a fresh and authentic body of work but was limited by time, space and a lack of guidance.

I was searching for something that would provide me with this teaching, specifically in the area of drawing and hands-on practices.

I have always used drawing in an effort to express subtle and nuanced feelings that are unique to my way of seeing, whilst also exploring how imagination and storytelling, in combination with depictions of the figure, speak to a universal human experience.

What do you hope to achieve during or after the course?

My goal for this course is to redevelop my portfolio so that I can successfully apply to the Royal Drawing Schools’ ‘Drawing Year’ in 2026.

I am currently a few weeks into the course and have already seen a huge step forward in my work.

So far, what I am enjoying the most is the etching studio, which provides facilities for all intaglio printmaking processes, [which is] a feature that is very rare to have access to.

I have had opportunities to be involved in exclusive dialogues with artists such as Chantal Joffe RA and Ishbel Myerscough to hear how drawing has been so influential to their practice.

It has been so valuable to meet peers, and get to know so many differing perspectives of the same passion.

It would be very meaningful for me to contribute to the engagements with the arts on the island.

I would love the opportunity to show some of my work made on this course in Jersey in the new year, as well as lead some workshops in life drawing or printmaking.

How has this grant helped you in ways which may not have been otherwise possible?

ArtHouse Jersey’s grant is contributing towards this goal in such a beneficial way that is accelerating my artistic development.

My overall goal for my artistic journey is to really push how I combine my ‘seeing’ and ‘feeling’ eye through my work.

I am so moved by art that speaks to me personally, and to be able to create that both for myself and others is so rewarding.

We are exposed to so many overlapping narratives about the world constantly, that make it is so difficult to pay attention to your own expression.

That is why I think it is more important than ever to prioritise creativity in your life wherever you can and protect art within your community.

I feel so grateful to receive this grant. Not only is it a huge privilege financially, but it means so much to know I have endorsement from an organisation that sees potential in my practice and is willing to invest in my development.