Eve Adams' #MyBiosphere

Artist Eve Adams is February's guest author in the #MyBiosphere series that features in Business 365 magazine, published by Mannin Media:

A classic ‘stop-over’, I moved here with my partner when he transferred with work around 17 years ago.

He also has family over here and we’d already fallen in love with the Island when we’d visited for holidays. The landscape, scenery, culture, and history had me captivated from my first ferry crossing.

As an artist I feel very lucky to have the Island as inspiration, Everywhere you look there is beauty and intrigue, a grand tapestry stretches out at your feet all within reach to explore. Hills and uplands mixed with dramatic coastlines and glens provide some incredible views.

Indeed, many Manx views make me stop in my tracks and take my breath away. I love to hike and mountain bike, both in daytime and at night. Views in the daytime make way to incredible dark skies in the evenings, with air so clear and crisp you can almost feel the starlight.

I have lots of favourite places and views that inspire me. The south, alone, has so much to offer with Scarlett, Close ny Chollagh, Balladoole and, up towards Santon, Cass ny Hawin, where Mesolithic finds were discovered, dating usage of the site back to 8000 years BC. The remains of an Iron Age fort can be seen there today and the view down into the gorge, where the river meets the sea and up the coastline beyond, really is a joy to behold.

The Manx Biosphere inspires my art practice, as I make miniature land and seascapes - protected and self-contained worlds in the form of tiny dioramas and automata, which are often inspired by these incredible vistas and the feelings they evoke.

As an artist, I feel that public art can add great enjoyment to the Manx countryside. I’m a member of the Creative Network, a collective of more than 60 Manx artists. I am on the committee and we organise the annual Island-wide Isle of Man Art Festival.

In addition to festival planning (Covid permitting!) we have undertaken a new and exciting project: The Silverdale Art Trail.

We have several pieces of work in place, including a triptych of sculptures at the Lily Ponds, Silverdale Glen, by local artist Jill Gillings. We are working towards building a cohesive trail and will have some exciting developments and activities in May 2021.

As the Creative Network, we’re proud of our Biosphere partnership and are excited to be working towards enhancing our biosphere for everyone, bringing art outdoors, and encouraging people to get out and explore.

Another of my favourite things about #mybiosphere is the sense of community on the Island, and the sense of support for creative ideas - in Castletown, in particular. It allows me to get involved in lots of community art projects.

We recently installed a new wallaby sculpture in town, kindly donated by Isle of Man Hospice and painted by myself. The sculpture was donated in recognition of the town’s efforts in raising money during the original Wallabies Gone Wild sculpture trail. The Community Wallaby stands on Victoria Road as a monument to the town’s community spirit.

Eve Adams is an artist and illustrator. She runs the community project Balley Cashtal Beg and helps organise the Isle of Man Art Festival as part of the Creative Network. She is currently working on a large-scale community art project ‘Together Apart’, sponsored by the Isle of Man Arts Council.