Masters Degree in Fine Art - my 1st month

As many of you know, a month ago I started a Master degree in Fine Art at Anglia Ruskin University, here in Cambridge. Well it’s already been over a month and I thought you’d like to know how it’s going.

Firstly let me give you a little look round!

The Course

I am doing the part time option over 2 years, not planning to actually do it part time (!) but to allow myself access to all the benefits of the place for 2 years rather than 1, and to space my assignments out a bit more than they would be! Most people do the course part time unless they are from overseas.
I purposefully chose this particular course because there is an emphasis on the practical stuff. Things are pretty much self directed, with a slight emphasis each module/trimester to work towards, we work according to where we want out art to develop.

My first module is called ‘Critical Practice’ and (as far as I understand it!) is just about relating what we are working on to the wider art world, developing a body of work with a purpose and evaluating/adapting as you go. We are expected to give 300 hours to research (academic and studio based), with a 1000 word proposal to say what we’re aiming at (which I handed in last week) and 1000 word summary to say where you’ve got to. You also hand in a sketchbook showing your research and a portfolio of work created.
Timetabled teaching is on Wednesdays which includes seminars, crits, talks, visits, tutoring etc, plus optional demonstrations, workshops and talks on other days.
We have a 6000 word dissertation to hand in at the end of year 1 and we work towards an exhibition at the end of year 2.

The Work

Click here to read my full proposal for this module
My art, in a nutshell, is aimed at doing people good through the use of colour, gesture and pattern. Thus far in my career I’ve focussed on painting but with all the teaching and equipment available I’ve decided to start my course by embracing printmaking and to explore how to translate the essence of my artwork into this new medium.
So far I have done inductions and demonstrations in monoprint, screen print, lithography, relief print, risograph and laser cutting. I feel like I’m learning lots of new things, not only the art processes but my artistic vocabulary now includes words like gestural, painterly, autographic, rastoring, registration tabs and proofs (all new to me) not to mention from last week’s essay - exigency, philologist, anachronism, privative, caesura, primordial, contiguousness and dishomogeneity! I think I might use the 1st list more than the 2nd!

Mulling things over

One of the things I’ve been wondering about is how much do I just enjoy the chance to try lots of the new things and use the facilities available now and how much do I let myself be steered by what is translatable into working in my studio beyond these 2 years - what if I fall in love with screen printing?!
I’m also trying to work out how much to just play and let myself learn, when I have to try and produce something of quality in a medium I’ve never used by the end of December! I was reminded the other day by an artists friend that actually focussing on quantity rather than quality tends to produce better results, as there is less pressure on the individual piece - so I’m going to let that lead me for a bit.

New Adventure

I’m learning loads and thoroughly enjoying myself! The people in my group are so lovely, with a wide range of ages, experience and nationalities, I already feel like I’ve made some brilliant friends.
I’m taking advantage of everything that’s on offer, including the study skills support - which I’m really impressed with. I’ve always struggled academically, I find reading and writing a massive challenge - I promised myself that I would never have to go back to school or write another essay - and yet here I am! I’ve actually been screened for dyslexia and am told it looks very likely - I have a 3 hour formal assessment this week. I now have a lovely blue overlay to help the letters on a page to be less uncomfortable to look at.
Although this is a ‘part time’ course I have decided to go into college every day and treat this as a job. The separation from the demands and distractions of family life is really helping me to work more efficiently and to set clearer boundaries of when work ends and family fits in. I’m working on MA work 4 days a week and giving 1 day to my art business. I’m busy but am really happy with how things are working and actually feel less stressed than usual.

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