Third year is well and truly coming round fast and with just a couple of weeks left now of ‘summer’ (if you could really call it that with all the rain) Ive realised I should probably start making moves towards creating a blog to display all my work. Hate hate hate trying to promote myself, but hey ho, here we go, i will try my best.
Thinking off a theme to generate work from this year has really been difficult for me, the last two years learning all new skills and introducing new materials to me has really changed the way I work. Instead of doing working from ideas I want to explore, I have instead tried to create work from the materials themselves - without much success I must add. True i have made some lovely little pieces and ideas, but I don’t feel as though its drawn me in, made me want to put my all in and show the world what i can do (having said that, I like to do work for myself, personal exploration and all that jazz).
Ceramics has been a true love of mine over the past two years, previous to that i had no experience with the material at all, which is why i assume i took such a fondness to it. Being able to manipulate clay into new forms is beautiful, watching it happen right before your eyes, the slightest movement of your fingers and the shape will bend and grow, just like that.
Previous to the course at NTU I did art GCSE, A level and then onto a foundation course in Leamington. All of which i excelled in and to my surprise got top grades (A*, A*, Distinction). The thought of being put into a whole class of people who would be at the same level as me was extremely daunting, so much competition. But I realise now i was looking at it all wrong, actually you learn so much from people in a group like that, you all share the same passions and you all encourage each other and help each other grow. Its pretty cool actually.
So yeh, anyway, this year I want to take a ‘new’ approach. I say ‘new’ in abbreviations, because actually it’s not going to be new at all. I want to go back to the way i used to work, the way that inspired me and made me excited. I want that back. Instead of trying to reach targets and meet expectations with materials, the way I’ve been taught the past two years, I am instead going to take and idea and run with it, see where it takes me, explore, develop, expand and get EXCITED about all the things I discover. Along the way within the processes, i will work with my materials, whatever feels comfortable, natural or needed. Anything that supports my work.
Here we go.
