University College Falmouth

Today is the day that marks the end of my degree: results day! I wasn’t expecting to find out while sitting in Wetherspoons waiting for my breakfast to arrive, but nevertheless, I’m pleased with my 2:1. Even better, I got a 1st for my dissertation, which is encouraging as I really would like to explore the writing route alongside my studio practice.

So, it seems this will be my final post for Degrees Unedited- a sad moment! Much as I can’t believe how fast the degree show went, it seems impossible that the trials and tribulations of third year have been documented in 26 posts. It has, however, been a thoroughly enjoyable and beneficial experience. I won’t bore you with this for too long, but I’d like to thank Richard for all his input and advice, Leo Fitzmaurice for choosing me to win a Bloggers’ Reward (it was a big confidence boost and I can’t wait to start my residency so I can get stuck into all those art materials), and to everyone that has read and commented. I start my residency in September and look forward to starting a postgrad blog documenting a whole new year of work.

For now, over and out.

Today is the last day the degree show is up- it’s gone so much faster than I anticipated! The last week or so has been so busy, and it’s been too long since I last posted.

Anyway, everything seems to have gone smoothly, and now it’s just time to take down all the work and wait for our results. I’ve learnt a lot about how exhibitions work from taking part in this one. DO be very organised and take control of your own work regarding networking and pricing, DON’T take chances when it comes to hanging your work and being sure whether it will stay on the wall or not (thankfully this applies to my friend’s work and not mine!).

Though I am proud of the show and really enjoyed the experience of being in it, in some ways it seems anticlimactic. The amount of thought, pressure and preparation that went into the three years of the degree, and especially the past 2 or 3 months, seems so out of proportion with the week that has just whizzed by! It’s almost as if we should have all our masses of support work and sketchbooks out to prove to the exhibition visitors that so much more has gone into it than meets the eye.

However, I don’t want to end on a negative note. I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from the show that I can take onto the next stage- I feel proud of what we’ve all achieved, as well as prepared and excited about venturing into the world of the postgrad. I can’t ask for much more than that!

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I’m the tiredest I’ve been in a long time, and the phrase “blood, sweat and tears” most definitely applies, but… my show is up!

I won’t put any pictures of my space itself up yet, I’ll keep you waiting until the exhibition opens (15th June), but I’ll give you a sneak peek of the recently-completed and newly-titled Palindrome. Look at that pristine wall!

It’s been a stressful hanging week, but nonetheless enjoyable. Things started off well (though I did spend most of Tuesday putting 2500 pieces of velcro on the back of wooden squares for my friend), but it all went a bit pear-shaped when it came to actually hanging the work. Two of the walls were really hard, which made getting nails and screws in very difficult, especially for me and poor Virginia with her recently repaired collarbone. We even cracked one of my mirror paintings trying to hammer a nail in, though I’ve tried to work it into the composition! In the end though, the boy hanging work in the space next to me came to the rescue, and by the end of the day the paintings were eventually hung.

Today I’ve been putting the finishing touches to things, making labels and painting the floor. A couple of last-minute things to do tomorrow, and then I’m free to enjoy the very long weekend til all support work is due in on Wednesday… and then I really will be finished!

From what I’ve seen so far, the show is looking really good. I can’t wait to see what everyone’s been up to while I’ve been beavering away at the bottom of the campus.

Studio time remaining: 1 day

Before I remove the last traces of my presence from my space, it’s time for some studio nostalgia.

Things I will miss:

The space itself, which holds so many memories of inspiration, productivity, boredom, excitement, blood, sweat and tears

Seeing the work of people around me evolving

Tutorials with the lovely Virginia

Living just around the corner from the studio

My comfy chair, which is so superior to everyone else’s plastic school chairs

Friends leaving crazy notes on paper towels masking-taped to the wall

My little palette table that I can drag around the studio with me

Having a store room in which to shove dormant work/paintings in disgrace

The strange intermittant tooting noises from the docks

Eavesdropping on hilarious conversations

Always having someone whose workspace is messier than mine

Things I will not miss:

Having a very spidery space, and texting friends to come and rescue me from them

Being situated right next to the fire exit where the smokers congregate

The hole in the ceiling above my desk- who knows what horrendous creatures inhabit it!

The Space Junk, a.k.a. the retro, completely pointless heater above my head that occasionally rattles into action and sucks all other sound from the room

Irritating studio neighbours

The black hole which certain materials (most recently my beloved mechanical pencil) mysteriously get sucked into. It seems to have a penchant for red oil paint

Now it’s time to turn it into a blank canvas once again. I wonder what adventures the next studio space will bring?

Countdown to show hanging: 1.5 weeks

At the moment I’m flitting between nervous, excited, and positively terrified! Thankfully I’d say 75% excited.

This time next week I’ll be preparing to clear my studio, which will be sad (and challenging- I’m terrified of the amount of spiders I’ll have to contend with), but this week there hasn’t been much I can report on, other than a very sore hand from the amount of mirror plates I’ve been screwing onto paintings.

I’m still going with the snowflake painting I’ve mentioned in previous posts, but will save the pictures for when it’s finished- I need to build up an air of mystery! I said I wouldn’t start any new work now, but I couldn’t resist (see photograph). Hopefully as they’re small boards I’ll be able to finish them before the end of next week.

So this is more of a checking-in post than one with anything interesting to say. Before I go and rip my hand to shreds some more, good luck to everyone already hanging their shows, and I look forward to seeing the results!