Developing your Creative practice: Nina Clark

Nina Clark decided to apply for the Developing your creative practice fund to develop her music and create a brand. She tells us how this fund has helped her improve her abilities and widen her opportunities.

Nina is a singer/songwriter with over 20 years’ experience. She is a creative artist and musical activist with a belief that everyone should have access to music.

As well as performing, Nina has taught singing/song-writing in schools, workshops, festivals and care homes, specifically working with people with dementia. She has recorded three albums (the third with the help of the funding) and has worked with renowned jazz musicians in Chicago.

Nina was determined to reduce the time she was spending teaching and delivering sessions, to give more time for developing own work. She wanted to work with a mentor and spend time writing her own music. Nina’s overall goal was to create a brand for herself; whether this was business related or finding her sound, she wanted to make a platform for herself. She also created a vlog to cultivate a wider fanbase and track her progress, as well as a music video for her latest single.

“What has become clear is that I am most effective, happy and productive when undertaking the actual creative tasks; rehearsing, recording, song writing, blogging, vlogging and performing in the music video. This is where I level up as an artist and creator. These experiences keep confirming this is where I need to be spending my time.”

Nina was at crucial point in her career when she applied. Having previously focused on creating musical experiences for other people, she now wanted to take the time to focus on her artistic development. By learning more about the business side of the industry, she is now able to understand when to work with a network of professionals. This has allowed her to focus on her creative work with the time she would normally be spending on administration. The development period helped her enrich and invigorate her creative practice.

After all her work helping others, Nina found herself at a career stalemate.

“I found all my time and effort was being spent developing other people’s creativity, to the complete neglect of my own.”

DYCP has been a golden opportunity for Nina to reboot her own creative practice. She is creating work that she is proud of. Her work now represents her vision as an artist and gives her the push to launch herself on a national platform.

“My abilities as a singer, songwriter, musician, producer, creative project manager and performer have all increased, and are set to continue doing so as I discover more opportunities to grow my skillset and creative practice. I have also discovered I enjoy and have a talent for the networking/mentorship aspect to the practice.”

“ALPHA” was Nina’s third studio album, produced with the help of DYCP funding.

Nina Clark’s ALPHA album is a passion piece; averse to categorisation, it springs from Pop to Jazz to Soul to Folk with ease, always anchored by Clark’s soaring vocals. ALPHA also features the talents of UK’s leading saxophonist Paul Booth (of Steve Winwood band) on its title track and was mastered by the legendary Jon Astley, masterer for The Who, Led Zeppelin, Sting and Tori Amos.

Top Tip:

‘I cannot recommend the experience enough - it is restorative, regenerative and remarkable to develop my creative practice, with the guidance of experts and the validation of the Arts Council believing in and supporting my vision.’