MA in Textile Design - a mature student's journey

Fish design on neoprene Lots of fishies on neoprene  Camo and macrame mood board Geometrics and stars mood board Far East mood board

Happened last week, Thursday to be precise. Here's what I did well: Didn't fall over on the way to the front of the class Cracked a few jokes Started the talk off well Engaged with the audience - asked them questions The powerpoint presentation worked well Here's what didn't go that brilliantly - and I realised this straight away after: Talked too quickly, started of well, dipped down in the middle, but I think I pulled it back at the end Had too much text on the screen - should be points and then I elaborate on them Didn't make that much eye contact with the audience - well I tried but when I looked up the majority of the audience were on their phones :-) All in all, I'm glad its over, but part of me would like to do it again only better. Today, Monday, I went to North Leamington High School to start my teaching experience with Kati Nelson (teacher) and 4 year 12 Textile A-Level students. I took in my large sketchbook, a quilt I'...

Yesterday I asked to be shown how to use one of the looms and I spent nearly the whole day there working out different designs. I'm here again today, trying to mix in some macrame into it. Its great to be here when its quiet. Only me and a guy doing rug tufting - that's next on my list of things to try.

I have to tell you about the Li Edelkoort talk we went to last Wednesday in London - I've started to write the notes up but I've left my book at home so I can't right now. So here's what I got up to last week. Foils in the print room, silver and gold grids, first and second picture. I also did the same grids in the embroidery room, third picture. And then finally I stitched a star design on top of the foil squares, last picture. I wasn't particularly happy with the foil because it was a bit untidy, but you live and learn, or as I say 'everyday is a school day'. Embroidery, once I got the hang of the machine was a dream in comparison and the technician was super helpful.

Yesterday I spent all day (apart from a lecture in the afternoon) working on my designs in CAD, Photoshop and Illustrator. Here are a few of my designs, next step to embroider/print/do something more with. I'm happy with my progress and I'm glad I took the time to just get on with it. Doing something new is always a bit daunting, but with hindsight you wonder what all the worry was about in the first place. Today its fabric shopping and macrame workshop in the afternoon.

Last week I had a tutorial with one of the lecturers and I felt elated afterwards with a lot of positive feedback. But, over the weekend I started to suffer from a lack of confidence in my work. I'd been in the print room and seen some of the work the 2nd or 3rd years were producing and my work felt basic and stuck in 1998 (when I finished my last degree).  I'm guessing/hoping that a lot of mature students feel like this or they do if they have a few years out of full time education. It also doesn't help that I've gone from earning money to not earning very much at all and a panic sets in when you need to pay for car repairs (£320) then car insurance for the year (£250) then dog jabs at the vets (£68, annual check up jab and rabies), it all starts to tot up. I am so lucky to have a super supportive husband and I worry that I need to do his justice by completing this course to the best of my ability. Anyway, I asked for a tutorial today and expressed my concerns. ...

Not the best start to the day yesterday when my homemade tomato soup decided to make a bid for freedom and leak into my rucksack. You know that feeling you get when you put on a rucksack and wonder why your bum is wet, no/yes, well that was me on the way to the train station. My pencil case took the majority of the liquid so when I got to the station I made a bee line for the ladies and nabbed a load of tissue. Luckily the train was 5 minutes late so I was actually on time to catch it. I sat by the doors so as not to stink the train out with what can only be described as a sickie smell. At Uni I worked on my Brexit presentation until 2pm when Auriol and I had a health and safety induction in the knitting/weaving room with Sheila. What a lovely lady. After that I just wanted to get home to wash and to put the rucksack in the washing machine. Today we have a presentation from a visual co-ordinator at Urban Outfitters.

So this morning, bright and early I had a group tutorial with one of the lecturers, Heather. The small group of 4 students took turns to update Heather on where we were up to with our portfolio and seminar presentations. I felt quite confident with my portfolio work, my two sketchbooks are both nearly full of a load of ideas. However I wanted guidance on the next step for my portfolio work because at the moment I feel like I'm being too broad and I need to narrow it down and start to have a more clearly defined goal. Heather told me as much too. So her advice was I need to do some reflection on my work and look at what I've been doing and where I want to go next.  So what I might do is write a short brief for myself, a few sentences, put that in my sketch book and work from that. Next steps, I also need to look at doing some digital printing onto fabrics that I might use if I was to design a collection. And get some fabric samples. I also told her I had changed my mind ab...

I spent this afternoon in the print room working on my stars and grid designs. I picture the grids and stars being on a pair of lycra leggings for the gym. I'll have to start sketching out some ideas of what they could look like but its a start.

This afternoon we had an interesting talk by  David Peebles, Sales Manager, The Custard Factory in Digbeth. The Custard Factory is an independent retail, digital business and alternative culture district five minutes from the Bullring. He talked about the retail environment in Birmingham and how the Digbeth area has changed since they set up shop about 25 years ago. He also mentioned an idea of opening up the railway arches to house shops which would link Digbeth with the Bullring - great idea - would it ever happen? The Custard Factory court businesses that might lure consumers away from the main shopping area in Birmingham but they also house businesses that cannot afford London prices or get the staff to commute or live in and around London e.g. Asos finance is based on site. I pass the Custard Factory on my daily commute, you can see it from the train window. It does look fascinating, trendy, hip, cool etc etc. You can also see how this area would attract the alternative ...

  Why can't I arrange my boxes better? Oh well, I'll call it a design feature!

So after teaching this morning I went to Uni and did some sketch book work before going to the Embroidery room for an induction on the smocking machine. I'd kind of already had one but if you are like me I like to be shown how to use something a few times then have a go myself before it really sinks in about how to use it. Again, about ten people had signed up for the induction but only four showed up. I find this frustrating so god knows what the technicians/lecturers must think. Afterwards we went to the weaving/knitting room and arranged an induction for that room next Wednesday. I can't help but think that the inductions could have been arranged a bit better. I understand that we are all adults and that we should be taking ownership of what we want to do and when and arrange our own inductions. But I think the technicians find it frustrating that there is no communication from our course leaders on what inductions the MA students might want. I think they (the technician...

A mixed day yesterday, I was in at my usual time, straight to the MA room and there was a BA tutorial going on. I asked if it was ok to use the room and I was given the go ahead. Great, set up my laptop and start to write my presentation that needs to be in in 3 weeks or so. I'm trying to get this bit out of the way because I know I'll need time to perfect the powerpoint part of the presentation because this is not a strong point for me. My presentation is on Trend Prediction, looking at the history of it, how they go about doing it, how prediction has changed with the arrival of social media and then what Li Edelkoort will talk about in her presentation that I am going to on the 23rd. I need to come up with some sort of argument, so my presentation is different should anyone else decide to do something along the same lines. I'm not sure what this is yet, traditional vs modern trend prediction - is the traditional method still valid. I also caught up with my Cr...

Had a really brilliant week at Uni. I spent most of the week working on my designs and attending an inspirational lecture by textile designer Laura Slater.   So far our lectures have been given by people working and living in London. So, you do start to panic that to find work it would mean a move to London (never going to happen). Laura moved back home to Wakefield, just outside of Leeds, to set up her own studio and to lecture two days a week at a local college/Uni after she finished her Masters from the Royal College of Art. Since moving back she has established herself as a freelance textile designer and has collaborated with Heals, Harvey Nicols, Le Bon Marche and the Yorkshire Sculpture Garden to name but a few. I talked the lecture through with my husband when I got home that evening and I was buzzing. It was reassuring to know that you don't have to move or take a job in London to succeed in design, phew!! Here are a few photos of some of my work this week which inc...