“Berlin is huge! But I was struck by how small the Guggenheim is, it’s just one room displaying one exhibition at a time.” The current exhibition is by Mexican artist, Gabriel Orozco. Jocelyn’s tasks varied from sorting archives of photos for the Guggenheim’s next exhibition brochure to helping a three year-old make a butterfly out of recycled materials in one of the Guggenheim’s art & craft community workshops for children.

“To get an idea of what it’s like to work in an international museum, on the first day I had to put a T-Shirt saying ‘Talk to Me’ – which people did, but in German! Luckily an English-speaker was on stand-by to help out.”

Jocelyn also got to sample the arty city of Berlin during her week, taking in the sights and visiting other galleries (National Gallery, New National Gallery and Hamburger Bahnhof museum).

Probably the hardest task for Jocelyn was balancing Berlin’s busy nightlife with getting up for the work the next day; “I only lasted two days doing that!”

When describing what it is like to have your winning art work displayed at the Saatchi Gallery in London, Charlotte Thomson (Guernsey junior winner) could not quite find the words; “ I honestly do not know how to put it into words how amazing it felt to see my art hanging in the Saatchi Gallery because it is so overwhelming. At the time it honestly did not feel real.”

Hopefully now the realisation of Charlotte’s accomplished achievement has sunk in; “It was a total shock to be awarded the prize because the entries were to such a high standard. When I walked into the exhibition I was totally blown away by the other entries and definitely did not expect to win after looking around.”

Jay Aylmer, Managing Director of The Potting Shed Design and Advertising “It’s important that students are given the opportunity to understand not only what we, as an industry and a company, do but also the value that we deliver to our clients. By actively working to a brief that is a live studio job they were able to see the real commercial benefit of the work they develop. The designs and concepts produced by each student were fascinating to oversee and of a very high standard – I am sure we will be seeing much more of their work in a commercial context in the future”.

Andreas Tautscher, Chief Country Officer, Deutsche Bank Channel Islands said: “When we devised this competition we really wanted to engage students of all ages to develop their creative skills and provide the opportunity for the runners-up to experience creativity in a commercial environment. We are very happy that the students enjoyed their work placement experience at The Potting Shed Design and Advertising and grateful to Jay and his team for their support of the project.”

Toby Webb, Community Art Works Runner-up,“I enjoyed working on the live brief from The Potting Shed because it showed me what it’s like working in a more professional environment while still acting on creative instinct. I found being given all the tools and then being allowed to explore different methods on my own, challenging but rewarding.”

Joshua Moore Community Art Works Runner-up,“My experience at The Potting Shed has really informed my development as an art student. I arrived naive with little experience in that area but they made me feel very welcome and encouraged me to work with the skills I already did have.”

Toby Webb, Jersey runner-up, with his winning artwork at the launch exhibition at Liberty Wharf, Jersey

Joshua Moore, Guernsey Runner-up, holds his painting from a live brief in The Potting Shed studio

Fran Heume, Guernsey runner-up, shows off her initial sketches at The Potting Shed’s studio

After lunch in the Gallery Mess Restaurant, the prize winners were shown round some of the exhibits in the Gallery by Saatchi’s Francesca Wilson, and also took the opportunity to view their own work on display at this prestigious venue.

The girls’ day was complete with a visit to the West End to see the award winning musical “We Will Rock You” based on the music of Queen.

The lower playground steps have been filled, primed and received their first coat of paint and the decking seating area has also been cleaned and stained green.

The mural has had two coats of varnish and is now ready to be placed on the rear wall of the pirate garden.

The arch and bench have now arrived from St Peter’s Garden Centre.

And we had a visitor!

Friday’s jobs:

Second coats of paint and wood stain for steps in the lower playground area.

Remove the deadwood from the tree ! (Thanks in advance to John Pallot of VH Pallot & Sons Ltd).

Some final fixes: erect the mural, secure the boat and trellis arch (with help of Mark and colleagues from AFM).