Resolution

The second review helped me evaluate and consider what I was going to refine for the final submission, which was the brooches I felt these were the most developed component of the assemblages. Also the review helped me make a strategy for unit X and what I wanted to take forward in that unit. After the second review I felt like I wasn’t really focusing and was doing a bit of everything and not resolving anything. After the presentation I planned my time out and really focused on getting the brooches made and refined, I feel I did this successfully.

 As I only completed components of what I originally set out to do which was an assemblage made up of a textured ceramic base with a stand and wearable piece, I didn’t fully complete the brief I set for myself. However I am pleased with the pieces I have developed and definitely want to carry on with the ceramic aspect of this project in unit X. Time management in this project was a lot better than in previous projects but I think that’s due to having a longer unit and experience from previous units. Due to poor health I had to take time off intermittently I believe that this had an effect on the flow and continuity of my project. However I feel I managed to sustain and remain interested in the programme of study I initiated.

As I’ve said before my long term ambition is to teach and I have been gaining experience and making contacts alongside this unit that will hopefully assist me when I apply for my PGCE. I wish to continue my own practice alongside teaching so I wanted to really understand who I am and what my practice is about during this year. I feel over the last three years I have gained a better sense of myself and where I fit within the vast world of three dimensional design.

During unit X I have a few different lines of testing I would like to pursue, I definitely want to continue with the same theme and inspiration which is memory, loss and family heirlooms looking at maybe the ceramic box idea I had that could change in to a wearable or trinkets and small objects that still hold narrative and memory but look decorative that could possibly be displayed on a dressing table?  Also I have ideas of branching off from the brooch idea to make other wearable’s such as pendants and earrings.  

 Transparency of the porcelain is something I am keen to experiment with during unit X

Development

The feedback from the first review helped me to clarify a few of the ideas that were a bit vague. Such as what memories did I want to incorporate in to my work? I decided that my own memories would give me a lot of range and they are something that I feel passionate about. They give me a different kind of motivation other than the motivation I have to make and create objects; I can take a memory and make it tangible. The idea of what we display and what we hide away also intrigued me. As many of the memories and photographs I am using for inspiration are personal and private I don’t want to share them completely. As I result of this I thought about what I would display and what I would hide away, one of the ideas I came up with was a perhaps joining together a piece of copper that has an imprint of a silhouette and a piece of porcelain with a ceramic transfer of the original photograph on it. I would most likely use these pieces as brooches and pendant that way the memory each piece represents will be close to the heart and body. The combination of materials could be very seductive and different I would like the pieces to be wearable but also unusual because the ambition for my practice is to become a contemporary designer maker of saleable small objects and jewellery.

Another idea I have been working on is to use different imagery and materials to create small assemblages and collections. I have gathered all of the material experiments I have done such as fly pressed forms, porcelain tiles imprinted with silhouettes and wires gathered together to perhaps form pieces of jewellery. I have been experimenting with different compositions and combinations of materials and pieces. I find these groupings visually intriguing but at the same time the materials provide a subtle colour palette so although there’s a lot of different things going on they all relate and work together.  I do need to spend time working out ways to connect things and other technical skills I am trying to do this as and when I need to so that my time isn’t consumed by just technical experimentation's. 

My strategies for moving my ideas forward and resolving them are to continue working on these ideas and refining and resolving them. I would like to have a collection of pieces at the end of the project but possibly one or two really polished and developed pieces. I need to really get behind my ideas and stick with them, and not worry and procrastinate. I have the ideas and test pieces but I need to select those that I want to push forward and refine such as the ceramic and metal pieces and the assemblages I understand it will be difficult to manage my time and I am trying to plan and use the time left efficiently using a self-devised timetable.

In addition to my practical work I am still undertaking work experience at a high school this is coming to an end next week. However I have learnt a lot during my time there and realised that I have obtained a lot of knowledge about art and design during my own time in education and feel confident about now passing that on to others. I have secured a yearlong placement starting this September. This is definitely the career I want to get in to and I feel that my own practice and my ambition to teach are driving each other forward.