Masters Degree in Fine Art - 1st module complete

On Tuesday I handed in my portfolio, sketchbook, final piece and summary essay for my first module: Critical Practice in Fine Art, at Cambridge School of Art. This was meant to be the product of 300 hours of research but I managed to tot up 510 hours (with 158 of those being work in the studio)!
I thought you’d like to take a little look at what I’ve produced. I’ll also seek to answer your questions of why I’m doing a Masters Degree at all, and whether it’s living up to expectations!

Read back through my previous 2 blogs (month 1 & month 2) to see the outline of what my course entails and what my project has been about. But basically I’ve been seeking to transfer what I do with paint as an artist into printmaking, aiming to produce prints with impact that feel alive.

My Theme

The theme I’ve worked towards is ‘What Matters’ and is concerned with giving our attention to the things that matter in the midst of a busy life full of distraction and demands. I’ve looked to use vibrant pattern to symbolise busyness and detail, and expressive gesture to represent focus and attention to the moment.

My Work

To conclude my body of work I first created a triptych, each piece on 70x100cm paper and tissue, collaged screen print & lithography.

My final piece was A0 (84 × 119cm) - paper, drafting film and plastic, collaged screen print & lithography.

My Essay

Here is the summary report of my project, for those of you who like all the details!

My Sketchbook

A key element of my hand in and work this term was my ‘sketchbook’ where I catalogued all my research and thinking, all my mistakes and discoveries. This is 100s of pages and will no longer close, so I can’t show you all of it, but here are a few example pages. If you are local you are more than welcome to come and take a proper look once I get it back in February

My Portfolio

To finish I handed in a portfolio of my body of work, showing all that has led up to my concluding pieces. Here’s a little video to take you through it.

Seeing as this is my first module I feel rather clueless as to what type of grade and feedback I will receive. I know I’ve worked hard and I’ve handed in a lot. But whether it ticks the right boxes for the examiners still waits to be seen! I’ve not had a massive amount of feedback but think I’ve got the general feeling that they would say if I wasn’t heading in the right direction!

Why am I doing an MA?

I have reached a stage in my fledgling art business and career where I feel, before I go any further, I want to go deeper. The entrepreneurial side of being an artist can overwhelm and I was finding the admin of the business was consuming the creating side, with me spending less and less time in my studio. Some areas of my career have snowballed, especially the live art side, and I felt I needed time to catch up a little, realising I was painting more in front of an audience, than I was in private where I could experiment and develop. I was hungry to learn and hungry to play and desperate to set some clearer boundaries to my life. I see this as a rest of my life thing and want to establish some good patterns of behaviour.
I had originally looked at doing an art degree but because I’ve done a teaching degree I wouldn’t receive any funding. I’d never considered an MA as I thought it would be too academic, although I didn’t officially know I had dyslexia back then, I knew I found it hard to read and write and hated that side of education, but after investigation I discovered that the course at Cambridge School of Art was practice based and that the leader thought my work of the appropriate standard, the government were ‘happy’ to fund a postgraduate degree and it actually would fit much better with family life.

 … and does it meet my expectations?

I would like to receive good grades that reflect all the work I’ve put in this term BUT actually I already feel that this MA has ticked all the boxes for me and as long as I’m allowed to keep going for the full 2 years, then that’s what really matters.
I started the term with practically no experience of printmaking or collage and, although I’m just getting started, I have learnt and grown so much in these areas, and in a way that compliments and enhances my current art practice.
My past experience of art history had completely put me off any type of proper research but being forced to consider theories within the art world and artists relevant to my practice has expanded my mind and developed in me a new passion to learn.
I’ve established some boundaries to studio, research, business and family life that feel a lot healthier and much more fulfilling. To be honest I feel like I’ve finally burst out of the housewife/‘stay at home mum’ bubble I’ve uneasily inhabited for the past 18 years and I’m feeling more alive than I’ve felt in a long time!!
As an aside I’ve been diagnosed with dyslexia (discovered I share a super power with some seriously impressive individuals!) - which is providing me with support and technology and insight into myself that can only serve to enhance my life.


I’m happy to have reached the Christmas holidays, I’ve been working really hard and need a break. But I’m already looking forward to starting the next module and scheming of what things I can get my teeth into next!