Rosa Wiland Holmes

Tell us a bit about you?

I grew up in Denmark, so I lived in Copenhagen and then we moved to a small island that was called Bornholm. It is a tiny island in the Baltic Sea. It’s really rocky on one side and there is sand on the other side and sort of quite dramatic scenery, black, white sand.

I eventually moved to Copenhagen, and I studied fashion. I’ve never really been good academically, but I was always quite good at being creative and I wanted to use fabric to form and shape things.

I did some work experience in England during my first degree. When I graduated then I worked for the High St as a fashion designer seven years. I liked it, but it does mean that you restrict yourself. If you start working for the High Street, you never get into the high-end brands. I did go on to start my own company, with clothes that were stocked in John Lewis. I did that for five years.

Why did you decide to study at WAES?

The recession came in 2013, and I think the people with that middle bracket like now as well, they just don’t have the money. So, I closed the company down.

I looked up some courses and there was a girl on my road that had done a class with you guys, Westminster Adult Education, and she said, “oh it’s really good”.

I went on the website, and I saw that you did a 3-day free introductory course. It was just so fun. The tutor said “oh, well, it’s only play”. You could just do whatever you wanted. She was just absolutely marvelous. After those two days, I think I signed up for as many normal ceramic classes as I could.

After sort of a few years or so, I signed up for the Ceramics Level 3.

What happened after you finished your studies at WAES? What are you working on at the moment?

A short while after the course I saw something about the Great Pottery Throwdown, so I thought I’m going to apply. When I was on the Great Pottery throw down, my WAES tutor Craig was really good. When I did these things [for the show], I would phone him. I won that in 2020.

Then we had COVID, which closed everything down. This was bad timing because, everybody there was thinking about all these exhibitions which then could not happen.

Once I completed my course, I started teaching. I still teach, and I normally do about four or five residentials a year. I also still work in sculpture, and I want to tell stories, yeah. Sort of, you know, like Henry Moore or Baba Hilbert.

Each sculpture has a story, for example sometimes we are in a tight relationship, family or siblings or something else, which could help and support us, but it can also restrain us so we can’t break free.

A lot of my work has these bumps, like skin on us, but not skin. So the idea is that they are the footsteps or the journeys we take in life. We have to take different paths to get to where we want to be. Like we have to go one way and then maybe turn back on yourself, to end up in the place that we feel is right for ourself.

How did WAES help you on your journey?

I think if I hadn’t done that free course at WAES, I don’t know if this is where my journey would have taken me. I think it was just when I wanted to do it, and it was not too much of a commitment.

Craig has always been such support, and coming from different place, not having any family, WAES looked after me. It was so supportive, even when I did the Level 3.

The government is starting to realise now with the apprenticeships and how you can do things in a different way because not everybody wants to go to university or just has the skills to go to university.

What advice would you give someone about to study at WAES?

I think just remember to enjoy, learn, and enjoy learning. Don’t take every single thing for granted and wait for things you like to do. Sometimes you go on a different journey than you’re expecting.

If you would like to keep up with Rosa’s work check out her Instagram page or website.