Life drawing

Sorry for the lack of postings on my behalf recently - been really busy and loaded with the cold. I'm just going to give a brief summary of what's been happening on a over the last couple of weeks.

My second week in printmaking was quite productive. Managed to get some prints done for experimentation in the studio. Only problem was the bill but you dont get anything for free.

Last week I was in life drawing, which was brilliant as always. It's such a fantastic way of spending my time as it allows me to generate a lot of work and develop my drawing skills. Also, I find it really useful to contextualise my life drawings and make them relevant to my studio work. Unfortunately I had to go home early on Tuesday because I was feeling (and sounding) so unwell and disrupting the class with my coughing and spluttering. Wednesday I was still feeling awful but decided to spend the day in the studio putting up images on my studio walls, researching in the library and, for the first time in aaages, painting! I really enjoyed my little bit of painting. I photocopied some life drawings and worked into them with ink pen and gouache. I was quite pleased with them.

Next week Im offskie to London for 3 days. I'm really looking forward to it, going on lots of gallery visits. Oh! That reminds me tomorrow (saturday) I'm going to the preview of David Shrigleys new exhibition in the southside studios. Cannot wait - I love his work.

Photography - lightroom

Today I had my second part of the CAF electives. They split the goup in half, so we were five people during the first half of the day and for the second half of the day the rest of the group got to try the same stuff.

We met with Stephen (I think :-) Who is a technician in the photo department. We were working on lighting in the lightroom they have in the Richmond Building where the photodepartment have all of their fascilities. The lightroom is a studio space with lots of flashes and lighting equipment and an advanced kind of tripod thing (sorry, I was more concerned with learning to use the equipment, than learning the names of them it seems). He had set up an analogue camera for us, but using a digital back, so that the images were immediately transferred to the mac we had in the studio. Really nice, as we could keep better track of what the changes in lighting actually did to the photographs. Also we learnt to syncronize the flashes and to do meterreading, setting the apperture and working on the focus. I know it seems pretty obvious, but as I have always worked with a digital camera it is really good to have proper run through of bascis, and I have never had the chance to work in a proper lightstudio, which was really fun! The people I was together with and me are planning to try and book out the lightstudio at a later time so that we can practice a bit more.

Historical and Critical studies

As an undergraduate in SoFA about 20% of my degree is from the department of Historical and Critical studies (H&C). If you are in the School of Design the same percentage for H&C is also recquired.

As a third year student I have started preparing to write a bigger paper, either an extended essay or a dissertation (I haven't decided which yet). The course consists of lectures and group tutorials combined with individual tutorials. Last term I made a book review and this term I have to extend my horizon a little and write a critical review of sources, which ideally will form the basis I will use for researching (and writing) my extended essay.

During the year we have one day a week set aside for lectures with H&C. This year it is Tuesdays, ideally I should have used the rest of the day on research and preparing for H&C as well, but I normally end up doing reading and research for H&C during Reading Week and just before delivery of whatever it is we are delivering. Without a deadline I don't think I would be able to produce anything at all, but it is quite a hassle when I get to the point where I basically have to lock myself up in my flat for a week to be able to do it.

However I am planning to write the CRS and the extended essay on how art is financed, using contracts and interviews -primary sources, as the basis for my research, adding in articles and reviews from newspapers and some financial theory I guess. I have to read something which can help me perform the analysis of the source material as well.

So far we have had lectures on basic research skills, dealing with how to access to archives and how to use them when you get in, object based research, research based on interviews and other verbal sources, research from written mediums particularly looking at newspapers etc. Most of the lectures focus on a critical approach to your source.

I guess this sounds a bit boring, but I just find it really interesting how you can generate knowledge by this way of research, the perspectives you get etc. It is very useful to how I might be able to develop my practice and definitely helps inform how I percieve research in a studio based practice. My biggest worry is more to not get too excited about this kind of academic research as opposed to other ways of researching.

Open Day Postgrad

This Saturday 10-16.
Registration will be in the Mackintosh building in the entrance area, tea and coffee in the Gallery.
Link to information about the day, the program etc.

CAF electives

In the School of Fina Art (SoFA) we are currently doing an interdepartmental exchange. One day a week we get to go to a different department for workshops, lectures and tutorials.

We could choose between, video, installation, working on a church project, drawing workshops, printmaking and photography. I chose the latter, and the lecture yesterday was very good. It is sooo nice when you come out of a lecture just teeming with ideas. Next week we are doing a workshop in the Photography department. I am really looking forward to it. It looks like we are going to get a lot of individual feedback and tutorials, and I think this could help improve and develop how I use photography in my work.

Research Museum of Transport

In between working in the studio, trying to do research on site and going to lectures I went to the Transport Museum in Glasgow for research on cars. They have a lovely section with old and newer cars from Britain and Europe.
I did drawings and ttok notes of peoples comments to eachother. Actually quite happy with the outcome, and slightly changing the angle on the research I am doing for the PAP.

Fieldtrip Cove Park

Early Wednesday this week I got in a bus with most of the other students doing Environmental Art 3rd year. We were 14 people, as a few couldn't make it due to other obligations.

We were going to Cove Park to do research, make work and to have fun together! These trips are so good for the social environment in the group. We do some of the work involved in the trip ourselves. Our lecturer have organized transportation and lodging, but we have to organize food. We are also given a brief for the research.
The practical stuff - buying/making food was organized in a routa, so we were five people to buy and cook food for everyone each day. We managed to make som really nice meals together!

On our way to Cove Park we stoped very briefly in Helensburgh to buy food for the next couple of days and to get lunch. From Helensburgh we went to Faslane Peace Camp which is located close to the Faslane Navy Base, just north of Helensburgh. It was quite fascinating for me to see the peacecamp as we don't really have permanent peace camps like this in Norway. We also looked around to see Faslane Navy Base, from the other side of the loch, and at the entrance to Coulport Navy Base. Coulport is on the peninsula west of Helensburgh where Cove Park is.

This first day was very busy. In addition to seeing the navy bases from afar we also went to a studio visit. Christine Borland and Ross Sinclair has a studio together in what used to be a church. They let us walk around and have a look at what they are working on, and talked about what it is like to have a studio practice, when having been without a permanent studio for most of their career. Its just wonderful to get to see their work and to hear them talk quite personally about what it is like for them to be practicing artists.

In the evening we had a great meal together and also held presentations for eachother on various features on the peninsula, among them the peace camps, the botanical garden, Mackintosh and Greek Thomas etc. It was all very entertaining.

The second day most of the group went off to see the botanical garden, but I went for a walk on the peninsula. The wheather was really bad, but I managed to get some photographs I am happy with.

For the Friday we were all supposed to do individual research, but because of work I had to leave early from Cove Park and get back to Glasgow. Hopefully some of the work I did on Thursday is good enough for printing. If nothing else I had a really nice walk in the rain.

My work last term evolved very much around walking as primary research and looking at Richard Long and Hamish Fulton's work. I am still trying to resolve bits and pieces of that term, meaning, how walking might sit within my practice, and how I can resolve it for finished pieces of work.

Advisory day and Portfolio day

Both Leeanne and myself were working on Friday and Saturday on the Advisory day and the Portfolio Day. It was really nice to meet so many who are interested in the school and thinking about applying.
For those of you who were not there we have a new Applicant Advisory Day and Portfolio Drop-In scheduled in February for route B applicants (look at the above link for more info).

On Advisory Day we start with tea and coffee, before lectures giving an introduction to the school and what it is like to study here. Then we take you all on a campus tour to give you an opportunity to see the studios, workshops and get a little bit more of a feel for what it is like here. After lunch it is possible to visit and talk to the lecturers in the department you are more interested in. At the end of the day there is a lecture on how to apply, with particular focus on putting together a portfolio.
This is a good opportunity to see the school and get a little bit of a feel for what it might be like to study here.

A lot of applicants are worried about their portfolios. On the Saturday following the Applicant Advisory Day we have a Portfolio Drop-In. We display examples of portfolios which led the applicant to be given an offer to study at GSA. This is a good opportunity to see how other people have organized their portfolios. In addition you can sit down with a lecturer for a one-to-one session, looking at your work and your folio and being given direct feedback on it. This is quite informal and is a very good opportunity for those who have questions about how to do their folios for the application.

If you have any questions about these days please email us.

Busy Busy

Yesterday was a busy day for me. So busy infact that I forgot to do a couple of things I was meant to (so annoying!). I got up to the printmaking department at 9.30am where I sat pasting pages and pages of an old blog documenting my relationship into my sketch book. It took ages, but was good to read over. It allowed me to deeply reflect on the nature of the relationship I had with my ex. It inspired a few ideas for some work which I hope to make later on today.

Then, later went to buy supplies from the artstore to make a little drying line in my studio (to allow oiled paper to dry). Money is really becoming an issue again, especially with the trip to London coming up. After lunch, I went back up to screenprinting and finally exposed my 4 colour separation image on the UV machine. My initial prints were just wee quickies to stick into my sketchbook and get back into the swing of things in printmaking. I love the proccess involved in screenprinting. There is a lot of washing and the bonus of being able to use a power hose :-) hehe. Again, the issue of money cropped up because I owed the lithography technician money from last year and had to buy my own inks for screenprinting yesterday. I managed to get 5 prints done quite quickly because most other people were on their lunch break.

Then I went down to the computer suite in lithography to check out the best way to get to london. We saw cheap flights for about £11 which tempted me but its the hassel getting from stanstead to the city centre. So I think we've just decided to get the train - £50 return. Not too bad but still, £50 I could do with keeping. To finish the day, my friend and I spend an hour or so oiling and hanging up paper. I was so tired when I got home I didn't even make it to the gym, which means I'll be making up for it tonight.

Methods and Materials Workshop

Today, I had signed up to take part in a Methods and Materials Workshop with Stuart McKenzie, one of my 2nd year tutors. I knew before I had signed up I would enjoy it but it exceeded my expections. The aim of the workshop was to deepen students knowledge of practical and technical issues relating to drawing and paper. It covered a huge range of issues like surfaces, surface prep, pallette management, mediums, glazing, and much much more. I think this kind of workshop teaching method is absolutely vital to art education and something which I would like to see much more of at the art school. Here's a nice quote by Stuart which really sums up my own feelings on the matter.

"it should however be remembered that the learning of the skill base, materials and methods also has a theoretical as well as practical application and it should be remembered that you are learning a visual language and that the act of painting is not merely a craft but an intellectual activity."

The other fantastic thing about one of my course tutors delivering this workshop was the ability for him to help relate the practical side of materials and methods to our project brief this term.

In term 2, we have been assigned a brief, which is a relief to me after a very open first term (no specific project brief). However the freedom allowed in term one did allow me to find and explore something which truly interested me. So in that sense it was very beneficial (it was just the lack of confidence to commit to only one idea from vast amounts of ideas) Anyways, here is my brief for the term:

"The aim of the project in Term 2 is to expand the range of possibilities available in your work. Building upon the skills and ideas developed in Term 1, you are encouraged to expand and develop the possibilities in you work as a whole in response to the underlying theme of multiple or sequence, narrative or time based elements such as an artist book, sequence of drawings or paintings, series of prints, objects constructed in multiple or any other permutation of this theme."

After the break up with my boyfriend, I've managed to continue to develop my method of working last term involving the theme of love and loss, memory and philosophy. Just hope it goes as good as it looks in my head.

Tutorials

The first individual tutorials were on Friday. For the tutorials I generally hang some photos and try to organize my notes etc so that its possible for other people to have a look through them and actually understand what's going on.
The individual tutorial is with our lecturer. Is was quite good, giving me a time to reflect a little bit about what the PAP is about, and how I am going to manage the project. The lecturers are normally good at giving feedback and providing you with information about other artists etc that they think you might find interesting. However I think the group tutorials are better.

For the group tutorials we are about seven people (in SEA at least) who meet up with a tutor and look at each others work, comment on it and make suggestions.
In my presentation I focused on the site that I have picked, and how I can work within that site, asking people to join me in a brainstorm for ideas etc. Also I wanted feedback on how I can reach different audiences for the PAP.
It takes a lot of time and energy to do the group tutorials and the group crits, but they are very helpful when it is finally your turn and you get to feed off everyone elses experience and knowledge.

Yesterday I finally managed to go to the library as well (Lucky me!). I have been putting it off for almost a week, partly because I am not sure exactly what I am looking for, so I am blindly trying to look for something that will inform the PAP and be useful, in addition I am not really very motivated for going to the library itself. They have tons of useful stuff in the library, and when I get there I am always a bit surprised at why I don't go there more often, however I would enjoy this part so much more if I could skip the whole looking for right book/article/dvd/slide whatever it is, and just sit down with it to read/watch it with a nice cup of tea and everything.

Tomorrow I am going to Cove Park, northwest of Glasgow, with the rest of the students in Environmental Art. We are staying away for three nights to do research and have a good time together. I am really looking forward to it, although I have to be back here on Friday already to work on the Advisory Day.

Term 2

So, last week was the beginning of term 2 (yr 2) of my time in painting & printmaking. It was a relatively quiet week, just signing up to our elective Studio and Historical and Critical Studies courses, and attended a couple of introductory lectures. Thankfully, I have not been allocated a new studio space so mines is as comfy as ever (Photos to follow). However, already I've found myself extremely stressed already at the site of my new timetable which includes a trip to London in 4 weeks! Also, my boyfriend and I broke up on Thursday making it difficult to focus on school work but it's getting better now.

My time over the next two weeks will be spent in the printmaking department (Screenprinting) so right now I'm trying to use my time to research. My work this term will probably focus on the break-up, so that if anything, it provides some catharsis. Well, more photos and thoughts coming soon!

Bye!

Studio

So this is my studio space. Most students have their own studio spaces in which we spend most of our working time - or at least I do. Its good to take part in the conversations, debates and plain fun that goes on in the studio - and as assessment draws closer people will spend more and more time there, getting sick of each other, being annoyed but also having a great time and enjoying each others company - believe it or not.

Site research

Today I have been out and about in Glasgow looking for a site for the Public Art Project. I mainly looked at three sites, the Concert Car Park, The Car Park connected to Buchanan Galleries and the Botanical Gardens.

The Botanical Gardens are very nice park area and also have some lovely greenhouses. Its a really nice area at summer, but at this time of year rainy and misty and very quiet. It makes you appreciate the heat inside, and the silence somehow makes me more aware of all of the smells from the plants.

This term is the best and hardest working term. A lot of work is to be produced in eight weeks, before the interim review in March. The review is not quite as serious as the regular assessment at the end of Term1, but it is the last formal feedback you get before Final Assessment, which in my case will be in mid-May already. I guess it seems like a long time to, but I feel that it is just around the corner.

Oh and in addition to walking about the city looking for sites I also did some window shopping :-) The sales are quite good, although many started before Christmas this year, there are still some good pieces left. I bought a sweater in one of my favourite stores on Byres Road.

Byres Road is in the West End of Glasgow, close to Glasgow University. There are quite a lot of pubs, cafes and shops and quite a few university students.

Back to school

After a nice and long X-mas holiday I am back in Glasgow. School started yesterday with a brief introduction to the next term by our lecturers, before some of us went to the pub for pints and a chat. It is really nice to be back and see how everyone has been during the holidays.

The next term will be really busy. In Environmental Art, which I study, we normally do a Public Art Project (PAP) during the second term of the year. It is a lot of work, negotiating a place and trying to make an artwork in another context than the gallery space. Very challenging and normally a lot of fun. The photo is from the PAP I did last year. I don`t really know what I doing this year yet, but as the project has to be finished in about eight weeks, I have to start narrowing it down quite quickly. The next couple of days I'll be out hunting for a suitable place to work in.

When I got back on Saturday the flat was freezing, and after two days of intense heating the falt was still only 16C, quite a bit beneath what I consider to be ideal indoor temperatur. Fortunately it is a bit better today.