For our latest Edinburgh Sputnik Hub, 26 creatives from churches across Edinburgh came together to eat stuffed aubergines and fill their ears with Grant Holden’s journey from school-boy to adult-animator. We had a fantastic time sharing dinner and a bit of life together, and once well fed, we turned our attention to Grant, who graduated from the Edinburgh College of Art animation degree course last year.
Since then, we discovered he has attended 20 film festivals to showcase his work and has subsequently won awards and competitions (something which has come throughout his life as an animator, beginning when he was in secondary school).
Grant spoke about his development in confidence over the years, feeling as though God had said, “This is the way, walk in it,” bringing him peace in pursuing a career as an animator. We heard about the determination required to pursue projects that celebrate the overlooked and oft-forgotten aspects of life, seen clearly in animations such as ‘Waiting Room’ and ‘Cleaning in Progress’, including the patience for all of the production, modelling, editing and finishing that comes with stop-motion animation. This patience has also prepared Grant for the past year, where he has presented his work in many different places, meeting people and developing relationships rather than being in the animation studio.
We were left with a fascinating discussion over dessert on the question, “Are you still creative if you are not creating?”
This was one that got everyone talking about what it means to be a created child of God, as well as the task of using the gifts God gave us, with the challenge of where we place our identity when we are not necessarily creating creative work on a regular basis. So we present this question to you too, what do you think? Are we creative if we are not creating?
We are keen to keep up the creative momentum and so are excited to let you know about our next Hub event, which will be on Friday 14th June!
For this Hub we are inviting you to bring creative projects you are working on for you to share, gather feedback and get some creative discussion going around what is going on for each of you. Start having a think about the kinds of things you might like to bring and tell others in your churches or creative circles about this opportunity to share and talk. We love the diversity of creative disciplines represented so do tell others about our Hub meet ups!
We will be having dinner together (all the best conversations happen over food) and will be meeting at 7pm at The Hub @ King’s Church Edinburgh.
Please bring £3 or a card so as to cover the cost of the food and drink.
Sign up on eventbrite.