Back to school

Yesterday we went back to uni for our final year.  The full-timers are working on Degree Planning, and  Degree Essay this semester, followed by Final Major Project next semester.  As a part-timer, I spend all year on Final Major Project.

Something that I found interesting in the introduction session yesterday, was that we were told that Degree Planning and Degree Essay are 30 units each, and to attain this, 300 hours of study for each subject are expected.  The essay has to be handed in on 16 December, about 11 weeks away.  This means 600 hours work will average out at about 10 hours per day, plus a few rest days.  I know most students put in more time on the essay up to 16 December, and devote more time to Degree Planning between Christmas and New Year, but it makes it a very high workload.  The tutor sagely observed that most students do not input that much work.  When I did my essay last  year, I probably input 300 hours on it, but did not do that much in the first semester on degree planning - but then I am part time. However I probably put in 300 hours on the second semester instead.  Which is about right overall.

For next week we have to bring in our main piece of work from last year, and explain how we anticipate taking it forward.  I have been thinking a lot about what to do for my Final Major Project.  It is about Women's Work, specifically focussing on cooking at present.  I want it to include hand drawing of cooking utensils, using assorted media. I am not sure about whether to focus on single images or repeat pattern.  Maybe some of both.  I want the emotional content to be about respect, admiration, recognition and celebration.  I need to think about how to use colour to achieve these emotional feelings.  I also need to think about which designs need to be solely digital print; which will be hand dyed, printed and stitched; which combinations are to be used, and at which stage fabrics are complete.  Not a lot then!

I have various ideas about how to apply the printed textiles to objects.  I would like to create objects like an upholstered kitchen chair; aprons representing the 7 ages of women; curtains with interesting linings; unconventional folded cushions and maybe some fun 1950s dresses.  I could really fancy wearing a 1950s dress made with my own printed cooking utensils and wearing it to the private view.  I have also toyed with the idea of making printed glass for a kitchen window, using the cooking imagery.

Today I photographed all the pages of my Wreck this Journal, with the intention of printing all of them on fabric.  I am curious to see how all the different techniques print on fabric.  I also spent some time online, looking at 1950s dress patterns to see whether any of them appealed to me, and wondering what size I would need.  60 years on women are a different shape to the sizing used in dress patterns, and although I can adapt a pattern, I would like get a close initial match.  I am a bit of a lardy lump and shudder to think what size I match in 1950s patterns!!