If you’ve landed on this page you may know me, have an interest in unique home décor products or want to understand who the person behind Cloudscape Studio actually is. My name is Andrea Pocock and I am currently on my placement year from my BA Fine Art Degree at Loughborough University.
Unlike the traditional placement options to Study Abroad or find an Industrial Placement within a company, I opted to spend my year venturing into the world of self-employment through a fairly new scheme Loughborough University has been running called the Year in Enterprise. This year I will aim to set up and run my own company designing and making bespoke and unique lighting and home décor products, all inspired by my artist background.
Loughborough University’s decision to offer the Year in Enterprise is a great step forward in offering students exciting and diverse opportunities, hopefully with the intention of creating the next big names in business with their students leading the way and creating employment opportunities for many others.
A blog to explore the art world that inspires me
While taking on this exciting business opportunity I aim to write into this blog to document my research and experience of light art. There are many light festivals both in the UK and further afield which I hope to write about and share with you.
In addition to the posts about contemporary light art I aim to also touch on other relevant topics which will relate to my experiences while running the business and which have shaped who I am today. I hope that you enjoy reading my blog and learn something new. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to share what I am passionate about with others while further compiling research I can feed into my practice as an artist.
I believe that it is important to get to know the artist behind the work and I hope that by reading this blog you may learn more about myself and more about the art world which my lighting and home décor is situated within.
A new business venture that follows my passions
So why did I choose this. Why lighting? Why my own business? It is fairly simple actually. I chose to focus on designing and making lighting fixtures because my art practice had found itself situated within environmental installation light art, I loved to create an immersive environment which was designed to make the participant feel a certain way. This atmospheric way of experiencing art is a contemporary concept but I wanted to be able to take it out of the gallery and into the home. This was why Cloudscape Studio was founded.
By being able to combine my passion for lighting and business I am excited to be on this self-employment route. By doing the Year in Enterprise I am provided with the time to focus on my start-up business while the university provides training and tools to really get my enterprise off the ground.
The road of a new business start-up
While starting a business is no easy feat I am adjusting into this style of work. It requires a lot of self-motivation and a desire for success to push you forwards in the right direction. I would love for my business to grow large enough to become my sole-source of income, isn’t this any new business owners dream? For now I will continue to work step-by-step in order to grow my business and with a few works already designed and made and the option for commission work available I am beginning to sell. My social media pages are live on Instagram and Facebook and my website is up and running.
Thankyou for taking the time to read this little introduction to myself and my blog. I cannot wait to share my experiences with you all. Hopefully you will learn something new or be inspired to go and see some light festivals!