The Artist Claire Kay
I originally trained as an Optician, but decided in 2003 to reassess my lifestyle and work taking the decision to become a full-time Carnival and Celebratory Arts Artist.
I am a mother of 2, and combine my art work with home educating my children. This allows me a great deal of flexibility and offers another dimension to my life.
Most of my work at present revolves around voluntary projects and working with the Ryde Carnival Association where I not only spend a great deal of time running and maintaining their web site, but help build their fantastic floats which are based on the Italian Machere Style. I also help run carnival workshops as an assistant artist to other carnival artists, working with all ages and abilities taking great pride in the end results.
The other part of my Arts work is centered on collating Carnivals and workshops using photographic evidence. Many of my photographs have been used in numerous publications and web sites. During 2006 I was also given the opportunity to work with other photographers on a book about the Isle of Wight Carnival scene, called 'CARNIVAL ISLAND' which is available for purchase via the Isle of Wight Art Unit.
My CV is available here as a PDF document - Claire Kay's Current CV
