Its been a bit of a week. The culture shock continues. I still feel incredibly old and I guess the students wonder what/who I am. We had introductory sessions this week. Tuesday was good as we got to do some drawing, but the course seems to be building in a high degree of self reflection, and rather less of the practical stuff I had hoped for- but it is early days.
On Monday we were introduced to our Contextualising Craft Practice Module- week 1 was about being inquisitive with our reading- searching out references for stuff and automatic writing.
On Tuesday, we were introduced to visual research and development- mind blasting and drawing and the concept of keeping a technical file, as well as a sketch book, a collection of visual material, and a visual diary for each specialism, plus producing samples using the various techniques we are going to learn. It all seems a bit confused at the moment and I'm really not clear about what is expected, but I am sure things will improve!
On Wednesday, we were introduced to the specialist craft module. There are 4 specialisms: knit, stitch, print and weave. I'm starting with the stitch/embroidery rotation which I'm pleased about. This starts next week.
On Thursday, because the rug tufter is broken, I stayed at home and produced 5 drawings/paintings as part of the visual research and development module. This took a few frustrating hours as I wasn't that satisfied with the results; they seemed so superficial. The pictures were about building on the images we had collected from our visit to the Hepworth Gallery. Mike and I took a trip up there at lunchtime, just to check I had collected all the information I needed as the visit will be the subject of my first uni blog (or learning development journal), which is also a requirement as part of our integrated learning portfolio module, where we reflect on the development of academic skills. It is all very different from my first degree experience!
Friday was the introduction to the integrated learning portfolio module, which seems super detailed in terms of the amount of cataloguing of events/learning that we have to undertake.
Yesterday was spent getting my accounts up to date- it seemed odd sorting out what is probably the last of my old career. Today I began a wall hanging 1m x 1m which I am hoping will be good enough to go to the Christmas Fair but it needs an amount of work yet!
Tomorrow we are introduced to the second years, who every week will be helping us with our learning. I feel a bit at sea with it all at the moment, but the only way is up!
No comments:
Post a Comment