As a nu-Luddite (I have an Ipod) I have only just worked out how to get images on here. Wow. Embarrassing.
My work seems to be going well. A brief worry that I would have to produce as much as a dear friend of mine, who is working to be a production thrower i.e. mugs everywhere, for the final show has been dismissed and I need to concentrate on bases, thickness, and firings. My previous posts have discussed (cough cough) my decision to do what I want now, and it seems to be met with fair-to-positive approval.
I've also managed to start setting up my own website through a business grant I received, which is exciting. And sorting out a residency as well. Also exciting. And applying for an MA. Cor blimey.
All this means is that the final semester will be busy but it feels correct; all the work so far has built up to this time. The students who didn't bother last year, or even the first year, who weren't as committed or concerned – it's starting to show. The opportunities for those who are passionate are suddenly all the more obvious, as are the lack of routes to take for those who have thrown away three years. I'm not saying this with malice but fact. I worked like a demon first year; second year suffered some emotional issues (read, went crazy) and missed out; this year I have set out to achieve good things and I am achieving good things. Like anything you learn or realise in life, you wish they had explained it to you at the start.
I won't lie and say that I'm not gently, and increasingly, panicky about next year. Well, not even next year – a few months. But I am also gently, increasingly, excited. The desire to put on a great show is driving my work forward in a way I would never have anticipated. Maybe this is the bit where you're not a student anymore, you're a maker, or artist, or designer. The grown-up wants to stop playing and start showing people just what you've got.
All this is also brought on by the various rumours about our particular university encouraging voluntary redundancies. Discussing it in the department, the verdict is that this first year (graduates in 2011) will be the last to go through the doors, at least for our little corner of the School of Art and Design. The way of all flesh is, seemingly, the way of all clay.
