My name is Ann-Marie Brown, currently a student at The University of Ulster, Belfast or The Art College as most people would know it. I am studying a BA (Hons) Fine and Applied Arts which I am focusing on Ceramics.

I will be commence my 2^nd year in September and I am enjoying this course whilst learning so many new skills and techniques, discovering many artists and designers I had never heard of before, one of my favourite being Edmund De Waal. Apart from Ceramics I enjoy painting and photography, capturing a moment in time in a photograph is just magical.

Outside my university life, as any girl does, I always squeeze in some shopping and socializing with my friends. One my loves in life is travelling. Learning about different cultures and discovering new and wonderful places. My favourite place in the world at this point has to be Barcelona, Spain. Mainly because of the beautiful Architecture by Antoni Gaudi but also enjoy any time I am in Barcelona going to the amazing food market named Mercat de Sant Josep, the smells and tastes are overwhelming.

I have volunteered for Craft NI for just about a year now, when the opportunity opened to be able to volunteer I thought it would be a great place to be involved with in terms of meeting new people and also finding out more about what goes on behind the scenes of exhibitions and how the workshops are set up. I try to volunteer as much as I can but as we all know other things in life do stand in the way sometimes. Late Night Art was the first event I volunteered at, where I was able to greet visitors to the exhibition, talk to them about the artwork being displayed and their night of art. Another event I helped out at was the Valentine’s Day workshops. These were very enjoyable; it was fabulous to watch people’s creative side flourish when paper, glue and pens were placed in front of them.

If I was to give any advice to anyone thinking of becoming a volunteer with Craft NI it would be GO FOR IT and BE YOURSELF when you do. Volunteering with Craft NI is a fantastic opportunity to witness the goings on within a gallery, also meeting new and interesting people.