Richard Taylor asks on the www.a-n.co.uk/students home page ‘What’s the pace of a part-time student? Is the work more contemplative or do other commitments conflict with creativity? Marion Piper at Buckinghamshire New University takes us through her painting process: what do you have to exchange?’
Thank you Richard for asking these questions. I am just coming to the end of the third year of a part time course, which is spread over five years. Each semester seems to have whizzed by, and I am only now just beginning to reflect on some of work I did in the first level. The opportunity to take time in this process is, for me, a deeply valuable one. I can see there, the starting points of the ideas I am working with now. At the time I had no idea what I was doing or why. I have been able to spend all of level five working on one inquiry, that of pursuing my visual language in paint. Perhaps, I may have rushed with less time?
During the first level of the course I worked collage and print and have set myself the limit of paint only for this last 18months. I have a sense of all the things I want to investigate ranged up in front of me, delicious choices that lie in wait.
I have decided not to write about my other commitments in my blog, although they are immensely important to me. I want to focus on the development my critical thinking in relation to my work. I tend to keep this reflection separate, which minimises the conflict for me.
Our part time course is structured to allow us to research our dissertation over the coming semester, without any studio practice requirements, although we are allotted a studio space. We then return for three semesters to focus on our final work. I observe that the busier a part time student is, the harder they work. Focused time in the studio, for us has great value.
