Considering my Degree Planning module assessment criteria

I have just written my Degree Planning Proposal, so I have identified what I want to produce in textile print and why.  My tutor sent me the Self-Assessment form for this degree module and I need to consider what the criteria mean, in order to have any chance of completing the form prior to my mid-module review in February. 

Knowledge and Understanding of media and processes appropriate to Applied Art 

In my area of textile print, I define this as the media I use for the whole textile print process.  This will include art media for monochrome and colour drawing, media for design preparation (Photoshop, silkscreen preparation, binders and inks, screen cleaning materials), materials, health and safety requirements, manual and digital print practices, and methods of fixing print.  I know a fair amount now about each of these subjects, although I would assess my skill level as that of a developing apprentice, rather than someone approaching master status.  I have not yet made a 'masterpiece'.

Knowledge and Understanding of the significance of the works of other practitioners in Applied Art 

I feel I am developing in this area.  I find it difficult to find exhibitions of applied art, particularly that which identifies the textile artist.  I work at Warners Textile Archive and one of the facts that is repeated, is that textiles rarely had the designer attributed to them - the company had far greater status and publicity. Attributing the designer is a very late 20th century development.  However, I do attend various exhibitions and museums to look at other people's work and my field of interest is in the practical application of art, not in art installations.  I am interested in the integration of art into the domestic environment when the work might literally be described to be "wallpaper" - so well integrated into its environment, that it is no longer actively noticed.  Also, my sort of applied art can support the quotation "Anonymous was a woman" because the designers of domestic furnishings is mostly unattributed.

Knowledge and Understanding of the relationship between form and function

My work has a very practical application, so the link between form and function is critical to me.  Domestic furnishings need to be fit for purpose - durable, well made, light resistent, appealing to the touch, with a predictable lifespan to enable replacement to maintain a contemporary feel and support commercial artists without creating unnecessary landfill. 

Conceptual Skills and attributes to generate, critically evaluate and apply ideas and concepts independently in response to self-initiated study 

I don't think my ideas are particularly original because I am working with repeat prints of fruit for textiles.  However I am very clear about how my work is contemporary because it reflects the age in which I created it, as the pomegranate is significant to my year in Australia, plants were significant to both me and my father (who is recently deceased) and digital print is a technique of the 21st century.  So this indicates I have generated and critically evaluated the theme to which I am working.  I am developing skills in a print field which is new to me and I am quite good at defining and working towards a goal via self initiated study.  I don't need to be managed and monitored constantly by tutors in order to produce an end product by a set time.

Conceptual Skills and attributes to employ both divergent and convergent thinking in the process of observation, enquiry, visualisation and realisation

At this stage I am working with divergent thinking about my pomegranate digital print.  I am working with different art media, exploring the pomegranate as a drawn object.  I am using different styles of drawing as I observe it in single units, groups, whole and dissected.  I look at how fruit is depicted on household objects - in department store displays, magazines and museum shops.  I can visualise my hand drawn pomegranates being manipulated by photoshop and applied to tea towels, and oven gloves; mugs and other crockery; etched onto glassware, on stationery and greetings cards.  I can see digital textile print being embellished with stitch, screen print and manipulation. 

Over the next couple of months, I will explore the 'enquiry' stage of this criteria, by sampling many different options and combinations.  Then once the evaluation of the experimentation has taken place, I will funnel down the multiplicity of ideas, towards the realisation of the final product(s).

Conceptual Skills and attributes to develop ideas through to material outcomes as appropriate to Applied Art (digital textile print)

I think this is about showing how the initial idea of working with a hand drawn pomegranate has developed beyond the idea of printing the initial drawing on fabric.  So, exploring singles and multiples, using various media, cropping back to show a section of a fruit, enlarging and reducing the scale, layering different drawn images, using more than one print technique on a piece of fabric; applying the imagery to different domestic objects and other disciplines.  This exploration of an idea is what I enjoy.

Practical skills - employ appropriate materials, media and material processes systematically and coherently with skills and imagination, whilst observing good working practices

I think I can do this quite well.  Once I am on a roll, I practice a lot.  I am keen to work systematically, and having a plan that works through a lot of samples in an ordered, disciplined manner is very helpful.  I have set myself a weekly programme for the next 3 months, and this has brought home to me just how much work I am proposing, and that I need to get stuck into the drawing stage right now.  I need lots of sample drawings in order for there to be variety at the fabric print stage.  Writing my essay provided a lot of the base information for options on integrating hand craft into digital print.  This was time well spent.

Transferable Skills - study independently, set goals, manage workloads, meet deadlines using initiative and taking appropriate decisions 

I am quite good at this.  I have set up a good plan for study, taking in a variety of learning styles - classes; museums; shop displays; reading; taking advice, etc.  I know what I plan to do and when, and have the funds and motivation to complete my aims.  I am confident I will be ready for mid module review.

Transferable Skills - analyse information and experiences, formulate independent judgements and articulate reasoned arguments through reflection, review and evaluation

With the various classes I have booked at the V&A and City Lit, I will need to sort the interesting information from the useful information to this module.  Then I need to work out how to apply the salient points to my work so that I can articulate the environment to which I am designing, and how to apply my art in a coherent way that makes it contemporary to the domestic interior.

Present ideas and work to audiences in a variety of situations

I have explained my work over the last 6 months in tutorials, to tutors and other students, both in group sessions and one-to-one situations.  I have discussed my work with family members who have no experience of textile print, and who have limited sight, so my powers of description have been stretched.

Research, evaluate and employ information from a variety of sources

I am getting better at using a diversity of sources.  I surprised myself when I finally grasped how to use magazines(!) by scanning through back issues of interior magazines, keeping a theme in mind, and ripping out all the pages that had printed textiles on them.  I then reviewed them, cutting out anything I liked, and stuck them in my sketchbook.   Previously I had only ripped out things that I thought pertinent, but beng less selective gave me more to think about, and more diverse ideas to explore. 

So, I am using books, magazines, journal articles, museums, classes, internet art searches, and stately home and other tourist visits to explore my subjects.

I know what I need to do - roll on the next 6 weeks until mid module review and see what the evaluation of my research concludes.

A slow student

I had all sorts of good intentions having completed my essay and got it handed in. 

I was going to get really stuck into drawing pomegranates - colour, black and white, both whole and sections of broken fruit.  But I have only managed 4 pencil versions and 2 colour ones over the last 10 days.  Instead I have had a couple of day trips up to London and then my neck started playing up.  I thought it was because I had been sitting lop-sided to draw, but when I went to the chiropractor, he said my symptoms fitted well with falling off my bike about 10 days ago.  So I am back to stretching and icing my shoulder! 

However, having said how little drawing I have done, I am very, very pleased with the pencil drawings and can see how digital print would convey the tonal values very well.  Also, I used the inktense pencils to draw the pomegranates in colour, and when I apply the water with a paintbrush it makes the imagery come alive, with a rush of brilliance in the colours.  Once again, digital print will make this work very well. 

I have also been thinking about how to enhance digital print, when applied to home furnishings.  I drew the pomegranates with the calyx facing me, and it occured to me that if this were a cushion front, I could hand stitch the calyx to make it physically stand proud and come forward, to give an element of dimensionality.  What about greatly increasing the scale of the calyx?  Also what about drawing the pomegranate from the rear, and stitching the end of the stalk so it stood proud, and using this for the back of the cushion.

Feeling virtuous!

I am feeling very virtuous today.  I have been to uni and handed in my essay!  It was due this Friday 14 December, and I finished mine last night, so I could submit it 4 days early.  I hate working right up to a deadline, so I planned to get it completed early, in case there was any illness or upset to delay completion.

I have been thinking about the purpose of the under-graduate essay.  Lots of people complain that they get fed up of reading other people's opinions, and want to write their own thoughts in their essay.  The conclusion that I have drawn about this is that you only get to write your own opinion at doctorate level.  Under-grads are meant to write their essay with the purpose of creating an informed opinion of their own.  Opinion means "personal view, not necessarily based on fact".  By reading widely around your subject, you are able to gain enough knowledge, hopefully, based on quite a lot of fact and well reasoned conclusions, so you gain an informed opinion.  Under-grads spend 3 years assimilating a lot of knowledge, none of which is original thought.  The knowledge acquired is new to the student, but is not new in the wider educational establishment. Lots of students want to write their own views, because they think their own thoughts are more interesting, but really we do not need to re-invent the wheel.  Just read what has already been written!

If we continue with further studies, a Masters is, I think, a more specialised and narrow field of study, but still does not require original thought.  It is narrower than previous studies, so needs a greater depth of analysis to enable it being a higher qualification.  It is only a Doctorate where original research and design needs to take place.  I'm a long way off that.

Positioning my work and making it contemporary

I went to a plenary session yesterday and had a very interesting conversation about whether people on my course this year should have studied Product Development or Contemporary Applied Art.  Some students are struggling to write their essays or develop their final project, partly because they want to use items in commercial catalogues as inspiration.  On the CAA course this is not acceptable.  I was absolutely staggered that anyone would want to use anything in an Argos catalogue (Yuk!) as inspiration.  It would never have occured to me!  But as one of the younger students (who is very bright and astute) explained to me, if you want to design commercial products, like lengths of fabric that Debenhams might buy, you would look closely at what is commercially available. 

Our course module from the first year, on Post Modernism, made it quite clear that applied art tended to be used in short run, limited edition art works, if they were applied to a commercial product.  They tended to use hand techniques, supported by digital technology.  They were not run in wholly mechanised or digitised processes.  Does it show my limited thinking that it had never occurred to me that Product Design was the high volume, commercial, version of our CAA course?  It would just never occur to me to look to commercial catalogues to gain inspiration.  I have certainly looked at the displays in department stores to gain inspiration on how to display goods to best effect, and how to apply hand drawn imagery to commercial textile and ceramic products.  I just did not see my work in the mass market context, although I am interested in practical applications for my output. 

This student said that she looked at commercial catalogues because she was interested in the practical application of her artwork.  As she does the "with Marketing" option, her work is focussed on identifying a market to which to play and then exploiting it to maximum capacity.  Whereas my work is about me enjoying the design process and working out how my liking for practicality, can best utilise digital print to create short runs of limited edition furnishing fabric.  It had just never occurred to me that the Product Design degree could be an option for an artist!   I think I have spent too much time worrying about being seen as a middle age, middle class hobby crafter, and consequently not even considered commerciality.

I have also thought quite a lot about the specific attributes of digital print and how it fits with my work.  I think my coloured pencil weekend will give me the ability to use a lot of different colours from the hand blending techniques.  Digital print interprets fine colour changes very well, so this shows how my drawing linked with this style of print makes my work contemporary.  Digital print is expensive because of the amount of ink used for detailed colour interpretation, but technology enables specific tailoring of design to be completed.  I like cushions where the image is cropped eg you get a pomegranate design, but you place the image so that the right side and bottom are cropped out of the image and only two thirds of the fruit can be seen.  If this were cut out of a repeating pattern on fabric, there would be a lot of wastage.  But with digital print, you could just section out the area that you wanted, and print just the one square.  Or if you wanted 20 exactly the same, you could do a tile repeat of just the section you wanted, and maximise fabric usage.  Or if you wanted a couple of cushions with mirror images to  sit at either end of a settee, you could just do two, using the flip function on Photoshop.  Once again, using technology to make work contemporary.

A weekend at Missenden Abbey

This weekend, My sister-in-law, Shirley, and I went to Missenden to do an art class "Drawing Fruit and Vegetables in Coloured Pencils".  We had a wonderful time.  Roger Reynolds is a botanical artist who uses Castell Beyer pencils, which I had never used before.  Neither have I ever been taught how to use coloured pencils.  Castell Beyer are watercolour pencils - soluble in water - but we did not use any water, although we were shown how to blend them with Zest-it, which is a solvent.  I did not use this technique.

The first session showed us how to layer colour.  I expected to have to layer colour, but did not realise it is easier to layer from the shadows up to the highlights.  Also Roger explained how to deal with the "daffodil problem".  Daffodils have a lot of shadow and there is a technique how to get subtle shadows in very light toned colour.  To blend shadows on a yellow flower, ie shades of grey in yellow, you use the exact opposite colour.  I knew how to do this with paint and dye, by using a tiny spot of the opposite colour to tone down the brilliance. In coloured pencil, you use the pale lilac pencil to shade yellow, because you have the equivalent tonal value purple to the yellow.  I had often wondered why anyone would use a pale lilac pencil, as it is the colour I never use.  But if you just want to knock back the brilliance of a yellow pencil, use a bit of lilac underneath.  Like most techniques, it is obvious, once you understand the principle.

We spent the weekend drawing pointsettia plants.  Botanical drawing takes a long time.  Everyone else worked at about life size - the plants were about 3" tall - but I instantly enlarged them so my drawing fitted the page, with leaves touching the edges of the paper.  I learned a lot about blending coloured pencils and although my drawing was not as detailed as everyone else's, I was very pleased with my progress.  I can see me using this technique for subsquent digital print, and my purpose is not to draw in a photo-realistic style, but to get fairly good representation that shows it remains a pencil drawing.  If you want a photograph, take a photograph.  I want my imagery to look like it is hand drawn, without being stylised.

I did not complete my image, but it is good enough to put in my pomegranate sketchbook, as it reminds me a lot about the different skills I used to create the image. These included sketching the initial outline in HB pencil; regularly dusting the pencil crumbs off the page with a soft brush; using a really, really sharp pencil; press fairly hard; observe in detail; analyse colour by identifying the main overtone, then work out the shadow by using the opposite colour on the colour wheel.

A productive weekend.

Approaching Essay Deadline

I have spent the last 7 days working on my essay.  It has reached a fairly refined state now.  I have about 5,200 words written out of 6,000. 

I was worrying about taking on board the advice from my tutor to include some information about the slow textile movement, but have now worked out my rationale on why I shall ignore the advice.  I have received a case study from Linda Kemshall, a top English textile artist.  I want to make best use of this data, and use another 300 words to bring the analysis of her work to about 800 words.  This means I have 500 words left for the conclusion.  Unless I prune other parts of the essay, I won't have the word count to add another section.  And I have remembered one of the key points made at the beginning of our plenary sessions.  "Make fewer points and explore them thoroughly".  So I shall ignore the slow textile movement, explore the case study thoroughly and make sure that the conclusion sums up well.  The introduction will be re-written to explain the themes of the essay, the main body will explore these themes thoroughly, and the conclusion will reiterate the themes and link them together.  In other words, "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you've told them". 

I have 10 days to the deadline.  I have to finish the case study (300 words); write the conclusion (500 words);  source images, write the Illustrations list; and conduct final edit and proof reading; then print, bind and hand in.  This is achieveable in the time available.  I aim to hand in on Monday afternoon, 10 December.  I absolutely cannot handle rushing at the last minute - if I worked up to the deadline of 14 December, I would be at emotional melt down.  This is not good for me or anyone else!

A week of essay writing

I have felt unable to write on my blog for the last week, because I was focussed on writing my essay and felt I had nothing to say.  But this morning, after a week's silence on the blog front, I have drawn some significant conclusions about my working style.  

I have been unable to work in a creative way on my artwork since I got stuck into the essay.  I had put this down to a reaction against my working life, where I have multi-tasked for as long I can remember.  Since I retired, I have not been able to focus on more than one task at a time, which I have accepted as a pleasant benefit of slowing down as I no longer work for a living. 

However I have been writing my essay about factors required to conduct creative thinking.  And I identified that creative thinking requires an environment where playfulness is allowed.  While I have been working on my essay - which is serious research and writing - I have not allowed myself permission to play!  I have planned my time up to the essay deadline of 14 December, and had enough sense to allocate myself rest days.  (As a former shift worker, you have rest days rather than weekends)  But on rest days, I have only allowed myself to do a restricted range of activities - like going to the V&A to listen to a day lecture on Ravilious (an Essex printer).  Other rest days were allocated to going to Bridgwater to be fitted for a new bike (for a summer holiday with my husband cycling Lands End to John O'Groats) or going on a drawing weekend with my sister-in-law who has a weekend's respite from caring for her Mum who has dementia.  So my rest days were related to research or to activities that supported or benefited other people.  No time was allocated to me just having fun and doing what I enjoy, like drawing!   I think my protestant work ethic is over-riding my creativity.

But having said that, it was the research into creativity and playfulness that enabled me to have the shaft of self-awareness that informed my practice (or non-practice as the case may be!)

I have also had further thoughts about how the sense of touch is very, very important to me.  Again this is as a result of my essay research.  I have known for a long time that I like practical application of artwork, so I enjoy textile art, specifically the creation of furnishing fabric. I thought it was about looking at things and enjoying the visual sense.  But I have discovered I enjoy the link between sight and touch.  The necessity of touching and feeling fabric when it is used as furnishing fabric is very important to me.  I don't need to make art objects, and part of this feeling is about art objects not usually being available to touch.  I know I am a very tactile person and I like to keep my hands busy.  I have only just worked out that my sense of touch is constantly in use and I like to handle objects/materials a lot. 

I also see a link between touch (which is static) and kinetics (which is about movement) which gives feeling when hands are moved across a surface.  The tactile sense from the moving hands is called feeling. Emotions are also described as feelings.  I see the linguistic synonism of emotion and touch, as feeling, as significant. There is also the linguistic term tact, which means the verbal adroitness of dealing with the feelings of people.  Words, hands and emotions, and how they are used, all link together for me.

I had a tutorial with Sara a couple of days ago to discuss my essay, which I think is coming on quite well.  I had printed the 4000 words written so far, and in the right hand margin, summarised each paragraph in 4/5 words.  Sara was interested in this way of working. I wanted to identify whether the essay flowed in a logical manner.  I had laid out the 10 pages of the essay so that only the top page, and all the right hand margins were visible.  Sara was quite impressed with the way I had laid it out, and recommended I photograph it.  I was a little surprised at this, because it seemed an obvious way to show the key points, without the visual distraction of all the script. 

A busy week of ups and downs

I seem to have spent the last week working solidly, but with peaks and troughs of success. 

I spent a couple of days reading and paraphrasing my essay.  I've got to about the half way stage with my word count, and was quite pleased with the way paragraphs are coming together.  I'm starting to get a flow running through the essay, rather than isolated paragraphs. 

At the weekend I spent quite a lot of time putting together my presentation for my Degree Planning module, ready for Monday.  However I felt the presentation itself was a damp squib.  I have not done a lot of drawing preparation for the module, but I have done a lot of thinking, which was the basis of my delivery.  I had 3 previous sketchbooks which I was going to use to illustrate how I prepare and research, and how I use colour to convey emotion.  I have discovered that I operate on a high level of emotion, and I have intuitively used colour for years to convey this.  It is only in the last few months that I have realised this.  But I think the tutor missed the point that I was using the sketchbooks to illustrate points, rather than using them as work I have done this semester.  I spoke about using pomegranates because they were part of my zeitgeist from my Study Abroad year, and I want to use their colours to represent peace, joy and contentment (my current emotions).  Red, orange and yellow are not normally associated with these emotions but I think by combining them with other colours, I can achieve the right emotional feel.  The tutor dismissed my comments with " you need to use colour intuitively, not bother with emotional feel" and appeared quite disinterested.    I think she completely missed my point.  This is my work, and the emotional feel matters to me.

Because other students were quite interested in my drawn sketchbooks, I think I did not show my current working sketchbook which is full of my research and thought processes for the Pomegranate project.  So the tutor did not see just how much work I have done.  I suspect I have been marked down for this. 

I find it really odd that at these presentations, the tutor does not give feedback on what goes well/badly.  I specifically asked for feedback, and the other students made some contributions, but the tutor said very little.  It makes me feel very uncomfortable to think that I am being marked down when I have asked for feedback and not received it.  I feel I have been judged and assessed but I won't be told the outcome until it is too late.  I remember speaking to other students who graduated last year, who had this tutor. A couple were disappointed and upset when they only achieved a very basic pass, when they felt their tutorials had been going well.  They felt they had been let down as they had not been given any indication that their work was inadequate and they did not expect to get such a low grade.  When I have been an assessor, we were taught that in continual assessment, people should know their anticipated grade because of the feedback they had received along the way.  A low grade should never come as a shock.  And when I was in Australia last year, the critique of work could be absolutely savage - I can't say I liked it, but at least I did know what went well/badly with my work and how other students viewed/interpreted my work.  Back in the UK, we seem to be losing the quality of critique/feedback on practical work.

On the following day, Tuesday, I started proofreading the most recent parts of my essay.  I began to get vision disturbance, and blossomed into a migraine for the first time in 20 years!  That knocked out any work on Tuesday!  I think reading books and computer screens, combined with being upset about my disastrous presentation caused it.

On Wednesday, I went to the Essay Plenary session.  My Essay Tutor, Sara, gave me back the first draft of my essay, with some really positive feedback remarks.  This bucked me up no end.  She had given advice to cut a couple of paragraphs which were going off at a tangent to my main argument - and during the week, I had already done this.  I was pleased that I was already editing in line with tutorial advice.    Strangely, my headache finally lifted at this stage!  And it took me years to work out that I operate on a high level of emotion!

Yesterday, I had another extensive session on my essay, and I now have about 4,500 words.  I am still waiting for the case study research to reach me, which I plan to write about for 800 words. so I think I am now close to the word limit of 6,000 words. Time to start pruning and editing.

Further thoughts on My Identity

I am still chewing over my identity as an artist.   I had a tutorial on Wednesday with Sara, my tutor.  I was saying that I was struggling with the art work for my pomegranates and that I knew this struggle was a normal part of my learning style.  I know I have to work through this grief, and that it will all come right in the end.  I said I was not really interested in the art object, but that I enjoyed colour, pattern and composition of a piece of cloth.  I am interested in the practical application of things, not the beautiful, useless object.  I chose to do this BA course because it was about Contemporary Applied Art, not fine art.  I don't do things to put on the wall.

Sara made an off-the-cuff remark that this indicated that I was a designer, not an artist.  This stopped me in my tracks, as I was not clear of the difference. 

So, a textile artist is more conceptual, and applies his/her art to an end product. The artist plans for the object and for the specified environment.

A textile designer is less conceptual (but still has a concept) and designs for a range of fabrics (not end products).  Likely to produce lots of swatches (yippee - I love making swatchbooks).  The designer leaves the choice of end product to someone else - ie what the fabric is used for, is up to the maker. 

This fits with my preference not to be a completer-finisher.  The completer-finisher is the team person who ensures I's are dotted and Ts crossed.  Every detail is present and correct.  I hate this role - once I've done 85% of a task, I've lost interest.  I want to move on to the next thing.  I am quite happy for someone else to do all the little tidying-up things and make it perfect.  So I am happy for someone else to use my product and make something beautiful from it.  My contribution was the design and making of the fabric.

I am a textile designer.

Hollywood Costume exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum

Yesterday I had a day trip to London to the V&A Museum.  I intended to do some serious reading at the National Art Library, but I forgot it is closed on Mondays!

So instead I saw the Hollywood Costume exhibition.  One of the good things about my student membership at the V&A is that I can see any exhibition, free, at any time, without having to book in advance or wait until the next viewing slot is available.  Great!

Although I am not a costume designer (or even interested in film) I found some very pertinent points made by the quotes of designers at the exhibition.

MGM Costume Designer Adrian (1903-1959) said

"Few people in an audience, watching a great screen production realise the importance of any gown worn by the female star.  They may notice that it is attractive, that they would like to have it copied, that it is becoming.  But the fact that it was definitely planned to mirror some definite mood, to be as much a part of the play as the lines or the scenery, seldom occurs to them.  But that, most assuredly, is true".

Costumes have to fit with weather, date location and genre of the film.  They have to fit the scene and the story.  Costumes exist within narrative and visual context.

Details function as clues for social and emotional signposts for the audience.  Costume designers create stories for each film character.

Ellen Morojnick (b 1949) said "Contemporary costume is very difficult to design.  Modern costume design is successful if the audience do not notice them but connect to characters nonetheless.  Contemporary costume means you have to work twice as hard to make them disappear."

When it is well designed, costume embodies the psychological, social and emotional condition of the character at a particular moment in the story. 

Costumes ... channel ... new people.  The actor's gait, posture, gesture, and their entire physicality are informed by what they wear.

All the above gives a lot of food for thought, albeit slightly adapted for my use in textile print for domestic interiors.  But the principles are the same.  Basic reflections on what is important have been given to me by the designers of the Hollywood Costume exhibition.  Now I just need to apply the principles to my own work!

Third plenary session

This was another fascinating session.  We were given some of last year's degree essays and asked to mark them.  We had to identify 3 good points, 3 areas for improvement and then grade and justify the it.

Key points for essay writing were:

- Use the introduction to manage the expectations of the reader.
- Use the title to set the expectation of the reader
- Proof read - constantly - for spelling, grammar, articulacy
- Constantly question "says who", "more", "spellcheck"
- Set your structure clearly (if you are waffling, the structure is not right)
- Give a good bibliography (use the Skills Guide to get this right)
- Stick to your point
- Develop your point thoroughly
- Define your technical terms.

Review of 2012 Applied Arts degree results

On Monday, our Programme Leader, Antje, gave a fascinating plenary session about the reasons why last year's students achieved the results they did, in their final year project.  This explained what individuals had done either well or badly, to achieve the outcome that was their final mark. 

Positive key points were:

- Print onto a wide range of media (fabric, metal, glass, wallpaper) to show a wide ranging  notion of print. 
- Conduct in-depth research and do a lot of development work.
- Vary the scale of what you work on, and only work up finished pieces where the increase or reduction complements the outcome
- If you are working for a site specific installation, ensure the work fits, is appropriate to and complements the site.
- Make sure your concept supports the worked outcome
- Consider quirky and powerful imagery, performance art, and entrepreneurship.
- Have considerable support materials to show how you developed your work.
- Integrate your techniques into your materials.
- Make sure the detailing is immaculate
- When using new technology and hand craft, ensure high skills displayed throughout.
- Experiment with your technique and work your ideas thoroughly through variations on a theme
- Ensure your concept is robust
- Consider how best to display your work as part of your design development
- Experiment widely with print techniques.
- Make sure your message/concept is clear.


Things to avoid

- Don't say in your project specification that you are going to produce 5 posters, then only develop 3.
- Don't use sloppy technique and process to make your outcome.
- Don't mount and display your work using sloppy process.
- Don't use the first materials that come to hand.  Consider how your fabrics (etc) support the story you are telling
- Don't leave your best work in your portfolio
- Do not assume that winning a prize (eg Chancellor's Award) means your work fits your specification or meets the requirements of the final project brief.

I have highlighted 4 key points from the end of the lecture

* More variety in outcomes and scale
* 25% of marks are for support materials
* Continue to develop good ideas
* Differentiate your outcomes.

Statistically Government targets state they expect degree results to show 58% of candidates achieve a 2:1 or 1st.  53% of last year's students achieved this level, so Antje will be justifying how she and the verifiers came to this conclusion.  However, I suspect we had more than our allocated expectation of Firsts (because there was some truly excellent work on display), and probably more fails than would normally be expected.  But having listened to the reasoning, I could see how the results came out the way they did.  (I suspect I would be a hard marker!)

A busy day at the V&A

Actually I have had a busy week.  I had a tutorial for my art work and we identified I need to do lots more drawing of pomegranates, focussing on use of colour and composition.  I think I will continue working large but may end up making my own sketchbooks.  We noted that I really dislike hard drawn lines round objects, so I often cut round them, and I particularly dislike white backgrounds.  I have also worked out  something fundamental about my use of sketchbooks and my use of pattern.  For some time  I have been cutting into the page so that I can see something from the page behind so there is some patterning in the ground, rather than flat colour.  The cutaway pages create a visual that includes pattern (related or unrelated) as a background to the primary pattern.

In my essay tute I had good feedback on my paraphrasing practice, and received some  good tips on how to introduce a writer's work.  For the second time, Steven recommended that we use the V&A print study room and the National Art library.

So today, I took myself off to the V&A.  Two hours travelling each way, but because I used to do this every day as a commuter, only doing it occasionally makes it a doddle.  I found the Print Study Room, signed in, and found how to request textile specific prints and drawings from the archive.  I looked at some original William Morris and Byrne Jones drawings amongst others.  You are advised to keep documents  flat and fully supported on the tables, without overhanging.  No gloves required, but clean hands are essential.

Then I went to the National Art Library (upstairs at the V&A), made the arrangements for a library card to entitle me to use the reference library.  you either pre-order on line 3 days in advance, or submit a paper slip on arrival, the request goes to the archive on the hour and will be back at the desk c20 mins later.

The librarian showed me how to access journals on line, and I managed to access an article I had failed to access through UH Studynet.   Although it is a lot of travelling, I am inclined to make this a regular weekly trip, because I work more intensely for the 5 hours I am there, and am more successful in accessing pertinent material quickly.  This makes study a more productive and less frustrating experience.

Second plenary session

A couple of days ago I participated in thesecond plenary session for the Applied Artists who are writing their degree essay this year.  We are given very good support to be able to write a decent essay, and are taken through various exercises to practice certain skills. 

This week's exercise was about how to write with authority.  Succinctly, we do this via critical analysis (I've never been strong on analysis, so I sat up, listened carefully, and paid attention).

- Read widely
- Actively critique others' ideas.
- Question whether it is good material
- Identify strengths and weaknesses of argument
- Use evidence to back up, as authority
- Read articles, understand the jargon, change to layman's terms in your mind, then in your own words, rewrite in academically appropriate language.
- Seek teh nuances in the text
- Acknowledge the work of other researchers by using phrases like " Chanelle argues that ..."

It's not easy, but we really are shown exactly what we have to do.  And some of the students pay attention, and others ... sadly do not.

Getting my essay started - time to remain calm

It is normal for me to undergo quite a lot of anxiety prior to getting started on a new piece of work.  I  have now attended two plenary sessions for my essay, and after being quite anxious about whether my subject was worthy and whether I could cope with the academic requirements, have relaxed a bit. 

I try to be a good student, by attending all plenary sessions, listening to tutors and students and taking adequate notes.  (I don't trust my memory, so notes are essential).  I have been appalled by some of the behaviour of some attendes at the plenary sessions - if you don't pay attention (especially when you are not the brightest star in the sky) you can only expect to fail later.  However, having taken copious notes, I am quite surprised at how helpful (if obvious) the essay writing instructions are:

- Create a system for collecting material (set up an indexed file).  I will need 20-30 sources, 5-6 major sources.
- A high level of research will make my work trustworthy.
- Google and Google Scholar
- A higher level of access is available via UHVPN.  Access this via username@student via the University of Hertfordshire VPN.  Then access Google Scholar. 
- Use National Art & Design Library at the V&A
- Use databases via Voyager/Scholar - these are robust and peer reviewed.
- Use authoritative sources - ie says who?
- Do not use hobbyist sources - I am not a middle age, middle class hobbyist.  I am a textile print artist!
-Robust sources reference ideas across several disciplines
- Once you have found a good writer, google the person's nam
- Seek discrepancies between information sources. This enables development of informed opinion
- Use most recent source.
- Present the evidence and take a stand (this should not be a problem for me!).
- Identify the new and the contentious
- Identify who has disagreed with your key points
- Seek academic writers who have noted the same patterns and search further.
- Query whether commentators have had the same message.  Identify similarities and differences
- I am not writing for the ordinary person - I am writing for the educated textile
person.  (But I want my work to be inclusive and accessible, not exclusive and inaccessible - so choose words carefully).
- Make fewer quality points - quality not quantity
- Recognise the pertinence of your points
- Lemon squeezer - make a good exploration of your points
Talk about creative decisions and criteria - What are you trying to do; who else is doing interesting stuff; why is it interesting?
- Dovetail theory and practice to maximise your time.
- Duplicate dissertation notes into practical sketchbook.
- Identify what you want to say.  Edit to only the most important.
- What is relevant to me as a creative practitioner?
- After Research (then and only then!) include own opinions.
- In research, you will kiss a lot of frogs before you find the prince! (I am starting to find this out!)

Essay aesthetics come at the end.  This is a creative process.

Time to get to work.

A weekend at Missenden Abbey

I spent an enjoyable weekend at Missenden Abbey.  As usual I stayed with Aunt Joan, who is a sprightly 90 year old, visually impaired person.  She provided accommodation, and I provided family conversation, and we had a lovely time together. 

This weekend I was doing two day classes, on Art Nouveau and Art Deco.  I had always thought of Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau and Art Deco as three separate design styles but discovered that they melded into one another without specific start and finish times.  In particular, I had thought of Charles Rennie Mackintosh as a completely separate style from Scotland, but actually he melded all three styles together, and was included in the Art Nouveau day, much to my surprise.  His work had a strong Arts & Crafts ethic - quality of design, truth to materials, honesty in construction - with Art Nouveau curves from plant forms, and the angular grid forms of Art Deco.

It was good to listen to a lecturer, Jenny Spiers, who was in command of her subject, and enthusiastic about the differences in historical art styles.  She does a further series of lectures, which are more about the history of art linked to political and social scenarios.  I'm particularly keen to attend her Art and the Dictators lectures, which hopefully Missenden Abbey will put on next year.

Understanding how my textile practice is "contemporary"

I am a textile printer, and I took this as my specialism largely because I had a back problem that flared up in my first year studies. Print was one of the few activities that did not aggravate it, and was an unfamiliar field to me, so I felt I had a lot to learn in an accessible and enjoyable field.   At that stage in 2010, the 2D workshop focussed on manual screen printing, because we did not have a digital printer.  I very much enjoy screen printing.  However, I am acutely aware that the 21st century is the age of digital.  So I need to understand, and get to grips with, the role of digital technology in my practice if I want it to fit with my degree "Contemporary Applied Art".

I can see benefits and disbenefits to technology in my practice, some of which are quite specific to me.  The forms of digital technology that spring to mind are camera, photocopier, computer hardware, computer software, computerised textile printer.  Digital technology is part of modern life and I am competent (in varying degrees) to use all the above media.  However I am a textile artist, not a computer operator.   So this means I need to be competent to the level required, but don't need knowledge/curiosity beyond this.  I have basic skills with Photoshop which I find a slow and frustrating system.  However, reading of other artists, shows this is a common experience, while acknowledging Photoshop is the most used and best package to learn.  Also, the static arm position while making extensive use of the mouse, traps a nerve in my neck, so makes me reluctant to make extensive use of computers.  Too much time sitting also aggravates my back pain.  If I decided to use digital print (which I think I must, as it is so pertinent to contemporaneous-ness in textile print), I need to be selective about how much I use it.  I anticipate doing most of the design work manually (to maximise haptic emotions) and using PS to convey design work to the printer.  This may change, as my skills develop.

I suppose my feelings about the computer are that I control the computer.  It does not control me.  I am the master, it is the slave.  It does what I comand (so I need the skills) but I am not limited to what it does.  I have infinitely more skills that it!  I need to identify what Photoshop (and others?) do well for my artwork and where it enables effects that cannot be achieved by manual screen printing.  At the moment, I think that flat printing effects that utilise overlaid colour are best done by screen print (think William Morris designs) but if you want watercolour multicolour wash effects, then digital print is the appropriate technique.

I find the digital camera to be a boon.  I was careful about using film cameras because I was worried about wasting film, and unhappy about the toxic chemicals used in processing.  However, digital cameras have relieved me of worrying about waste, because I take lots of photos, delete those that are naff, store most pictures on a disc, and then only print those that I want to use as sketchbook material.  This also has the benefit that I feel quite at liberty to cut them up, as I can always reprint a whole image.

I have used the digital textile printer at University on two occasions.  The first time the digiprinter was set up to print transfer ink on paper.  This worked well.  The main problem I can see here is that our heat presses have a face plate about 50cm square.  This is fine if you are working to a cushion size but is not suitable if I want to create meterage for curtaining.  I did some test prints, and concluded that the heat press needs to be set to 200 degrees and timed for 30 secs.  I don't see me working  with digital transfer ink because of the size limitations of the press, and the non-biodegradability of the man-made fibres required for transfer ink to work.

The second time I used the digital printer, I used printing ink on cotton.  This was lovely.  Again I used small sample designs, steamed the fabric to set the ink, washed and pressed it. However because I wanted a flat colour background, when Lisa set the printer computer to do a half drop repeat, extraneous lines appeared on the edge of the repeat because my photoshop skills were not good enough during the preparation stage.  I can see photoshop skills will be essential to my practice.  I need to work out how to combine the haptic joy of manual design with a technical competence at the computing side!

I suppose what I am trying to articulate is, what, for me is the role of creative digital practice in handcraft?  The way I feel now, is that digital tools support creative practice, but they are not a replacement for it.  Digital tools record initial inspiration, and transfer developed ideas from sketchbook to printing media.  Digital tools can also assist with manipulation of material (photoshop etc) and communication with others (email and internet) but this is a function and not the purpose or end product for me.  Also for me, the handling, the materiality and the skills of craftsmen/women are a vital part of the process of making.  The object that I create facilitates my expression of emotions and enables me to draw creative conclusions, and somehow viewers perceive this.  When I was working on a series of work about my husband's camping cups, my tutor observed that the cups were affectionately drawn.  I was surprised that she had drawn this conclusion, but her words exactly expressed how I felt about my husband, Jim, his travels and achievements.

Joy, peace and contentment - my emotional zeitgeist

I'm thinking about how to structure the practical research for my degree project.  The reason why I have the statement "Joy, Peace and Contentment" in my blog title is that these are the most common emotions I experience when I am doing practical artwork.  This is the emotional feel I want to come across in my work.  I have managed to express other emotions in my art work, such as sadness, grief and humour, over the last few years.   The changes I have achieved in my life now mean I am mostly in the joy, peace and contentment sphere. Joy, peace and contentment are my emotional zeitgeist. I also do anxiety and frustration, but this is usually when I am trying to work up a new project or am working to deadlines, so this is self-inflicted and by choice, so I can't complain, but agree with my husband's comment "you are always like this at the beginning/end of a project, and we both know it comes with the territory and you WILL cope".

I think my degree essay and project will be strongly linked.  I like the haptic sensations of artwork and I want to link my work with my recent experiences in Australia.  I did half a sketchbook on a pomegranate that grew outside the house where we lived.  Now Jim and I are back in the UK, I want to develop this pomegranate theme with the historical styles of textile print throughout the 20th century in Britain.  So I have read a book on Pattern Design in the UK and want to work up a series of repeating textile designs in a variety of design styles using the pomegranate.  Can you imagine repeat pomegranate designs, in Arts & Crafts, art nouveau, art deco, Weiner Werkstatte, modernism, contemporary, psychedelia, op and pop art, country cottage, power? I can.  Also, the word pomegranate means apple, multi-seeded.  I think the multiple interpretations of a repeated print pomegranate, sits well with the meaning of the name.

My reading to date (largely Dr Cathy Treadaway) has raised the concept of "disciplined noticing", which I think would be useful to the development of my practice.  In the process of manually working up repeat patterns in different art styles, I want to document how it makes me feel, and whether the haptic interaction with the art materials enhances my ideas generation and evolution of design.  Does this subsequently lead to my work having personal symbolism and value (like my previous work about family issues)?  Or will the positive emotions of joy, peace and contentment give a different "emotional charge".  Will the emotional reception of the viewer be affected, or not?  Does this matter?  Or is my emotional sensation while making, just of relevance to me?

Thoughts from the Swimming Pool

I swim a couple of times a week, and sometimes my most productive thinking comes when I am flogging up and down the pool.  I am acutely aware that I need to start the thinking about my degree essay, but this thinking session was more about my textile print project and my identity.  Hopefully it will get me started towards the essay thougth process.

I am trying to understand my personal artistic zeitgeist.  I know I like the hand drawn (reaction against the modern computerised, technology driven age), and I like pattern.  I like the practical application of pattern making, so I want to make printed fabrics that get used in the domestic interior.  I like drawing small objects - often domestic things around me - and this moves from crockery, cutlery and kitchen items, to fruit and veg.  I see myself as an intelligent woman, and a textile artist.   I also know what I do not want to be - or to be seen as by others - a middle aged, middle class craft hobbyist.  This fills me with dread.  I am quite ok that other people may be quite happy to fill this arena, but I cringe that others looking at me might think I make little things to be put on the wall.  I want to master pattern making so that I can make fabrics that are good enough to be used in the domestic interior, but specifically without the impression that the finished object (cushion, upholstered furniture, curtains, etc) has been made by a hobbyist.  So, a really professional outcome where the product looks considered and fitted to its environment.

I am interested in domestic interiors and what factors drove the development of style and technique.  I am curious about the drivers rather than interior design per se.  I have a place on a 10 week series of lectures at the V&A "Home Sweet Home" which covers development of the home environment from Victorian times up to the present day.  Unfortunately this does not start until January 2013, which is after my degree essay is due.  I think this class might cover a lot of the pertinent material for my sphere of interest, but I can't change any of the timescales.

However I do have one massive asset as a student - time.  I have retired from full time work, and am studying part time.  So I have 2 years in which to develop my pattern making, and technical print skills - which is twice what the full timers get.  Also I do not need to fund my studies with part-time employment, and my husband is very supportive.  He is also retired, but views my textile degree as having the same importance as paid employment.  So when I go to uni, he assumes the role of house-husband and maintains our home so that my contribution is limited to cooking and shopping.  This means the rest of our time is spent enjoying each other's company

I am fascinated by how pattern has developed, and have realised that some print fashions have been due to the effects given by specific techniques.  I will probably focus on screen printing and digital printing.  (At least at this stage, this is what I think I will focus on - it may change!)  Screen printing has been popular for 50 years and can be used to achieve the effects of Arts and Crafts designs, which were block and roller printed.  I won't be doing block and roller printing because I can't carve blocks, and we don't have the commercial roller printing machines, but screen printing will give the relevant effect.  Digital printing is very much of today's age.  The University of Herts has just obtained a digital printer, that will digitally print onto whole rolls of cloth.  I know I need to master this as it is the primary 21st century technique, although I have concerns about my limited photoshop skills and how too much work with the computer mouse traps a nerve in my neck. 

My design style is very busy.  I had not realised this until my Drawing tutor gave me feedback that my work was very busy, probably because I had had a busy life. Which I have had, to date.  I had not realised just how much what we are, comes out and is expressed in our work.  I have completed 30 years of paid employment.  28 years full time, latterly irregular rotating shift work, then changing to part time unsocial hours work, combined with parental care responsilities and part time study.  What amazes me, is that I had not linked the busy life, with a busy artistic style!

Since my Dad died two years ago (he had Alzheimer's disease) my life has simplified, and I wonder whether my art and design work will simplify likewise.  When I was in Australia last year, I did a lot of artwork that expressed my feelings about caring for my Dad, with his difficult behaviour.   I like an intellectual content and challenging messages in my own and other people's work, but I feel as if I have expressed my challenges.   When I look at my sketchbooks, I can see that I have expressed a lot of emotion through my artwork.  I have done projects on parents who have given children up for adoption, first world war, inherited objects, and care responsibilities.  The colours and techniques used have been unconsciously chosen to represent the emotions felt.  But now I feel I am moving to a more intellectual level of design, where I want to understand why historical styles used their colours, techniques etc.  This will broaden my understanding of external factors, before I apply the knowledge to personal and internal factors.

As you can see, I think a lot when swimming!

Back to school

Last week I went back to school.  A four month summer break is too long, especially when you have returned from a Study Abroad, and no-one gives you the summer project, despite making your return apparent to the tutors during the summer holidays. 

I am a part time mature student, so the "final year" that full time students attend, will extend to two years for me.  I studied full time during my study abroad year at Curtin University, Perth, and found it enjoyable but incredibly demanding.  As I want to enjoy the journey of study, and do not need to crack on and get my degree completed in order to go to work and pay off debts like the young students, I returned to part-time study, attending 2 days per week. 

My modules this year are Degree Planning, and Degree Essay. Degree Planning takes place over the whole year, and is about identifying my practice and working up a concept and conducting the design exploration.  The degree essay is to be  completed by 14 December and is an exploration of an area of my interest.  It will be somewhere around the history of textile design and what drives the zeitgeist (spirit of the age) as demonstrated in furnishing fabrics.