Looking back over this last year of uni and thinking about the work I have made and I can honestly say I am so pleased with the paintings I have created. At the beginning of third year I had a very different idea in my head of the work I wanted to make, mainly because of the link with my dissertation and studio practice. But when my dissertation was completed and I got back in the studio I really didn’t feel a connection with the work I was making and couldn’t see this idea progressing any further in a positive way. Plus if I couldn’t enjoy and connect with my work then how could I expect the viewer to.
But after changing my project to the current one I really enjoyed being in the studio again, which I am so pleased about. It would of been horrible not enjoying my last year of uni because I wasn’t enjoying the work I was making and it would seem silly to continue a project I didn’t enjoy just because the topic linked with my dissertation.
This project has given me the opportunity to look at artist’s work I already knew a bit about as well as discovering new artists like Samantha Keely Smith, Paul Bennett and Jessica Oliver.
The paintings I have created have been exactly what I set out to achieve and I think looking back over my work from this year I can see a real progression since I started the final year, as well as since starting uni in first year. When I first started this course I dont think I would of planned to be working on a large scale like I currently am. But now whenever I imagine a piece in my head that I want to create I cant think of it being much smaller than the paintings I have up for the degree show.
I have had some ideas about how I want this project to continue after I have finished uni and have mentioned them in a previous post. So hopefully once I leave uni and move back to Harwich I can continue my practice on the current scale I am working on and that my painting technique will improve over time so I can create some really amazing pieces.
