We had our first lecture of the second year today which I was very excited about. As another student said it felt like ages since we'd seen each other and no time at all all at once!
We spent some time discussing the research paper and getting some of the pedantic questions we all had cleared up. We had the chance to talk in small groups about it for a few minutes which was lovely. I was in a pair with Thomas which I really enjoyed - it feels like ages since I spoke to him. He's a very dedicated art teacher and I always find it reignites my teaching memories and passion when I hear him talk. I'm really interested in his research area, loosely it's about why more boys don't study art. Having a 7 year old son who's not half as interested in drawing as his big sister makes me rather interested in the topic. He seemed genuinely interested in my topic and intrigued that I'd noticed the connection between Cezanne and Neil Bousfield in the study of place and how that relates to my practise. I've suddenly realised I felt like I had a much more solid grasp on my subject than I did last year when I was talking about it. It was a good feeling!
Most excitingly we get to participate in the print sale to raise funds for the end of the year. I'm absolutely thrilled about this, although feeling slightly under pressure as a printmaker to produce an amazing print!! I know that many others have experimented with different print techniques over the years so I'm not going to let it put me off. The brief is an edition of 10 on A3 paper. We only have a month and given the drying times etc it's not long, I'm debating which technique to use and also had a vague idea of doing something completely random and using old lino plates to see what I might be able to get out of them. I did a course at West Dean that involved using old plates to create something new and I was rather pleased with the new print I managed to make from the old plates:
I'm wondering whether I could do something similar but using more of the textures etc that I've been exploring recently to create something exciting.
Finally I must comment on the story that Jonathan reminded us of from last year... how google discovered that kind teams are more successful. Jonathans ethos of inclusivity and accessibility for all of us is amazing and I always feel inspired by the example he sets. His pointing out that he'd spent the summer writing for his PhD so understood exactly how we might feel about our research papers gave me a real feeling of togetherness.
It was a lovely session overall, nice to be eased back into the routine but also exciting to get started on the next phase of our studies!