Keep Calm and Carry On

I couldn't afford to travel the world in order to 'find myself', so I did the next best thing and went to art school. After completing my first year of Fine Art for Design BA Hons. I find the change in my thinking, views and attitude to be staggering. Before the course I was unsure of what kind of work I wanted to create and how people would find what I do interesting in any sort of way. This first year has helped me to understand that art doesn't have to be accurate, resemble reality or be to everybodys taste at all - it is a study of how we as artists perceive the world.

Rather than go to a university where their sole focus was all about money and how many students they could cram into one class; I decided to go somewhere that cared about who you are and saw you as an individual. The thing I love about my course is that I have the oppurtunity to be myself, and whatever mad shit comes out of my mouth or brain it isn't frowned upon or discouraged.

I would never have expected to be producing the kind of work that I am doing now, and in all honesty if I went anywhere else my creativity would have been stifled and I would have had to conform to what they wanted me to be. I couldn't ask for better tutors or classmates, we are like one big family, a huge collaboration if you will.

I'm sure that my ideas have become more informed and better developed since I started this course, its helped me become comfortable with who I am and how I think. This first year has gone incredibly fast, but I have enjoyed every single minute of it and I truly value the encouragement and support I have received from everybody.

In this first year I have identified where my strengths and interests lie and how I can use those to my advantage. I've discovered a newfound love of typography and writing and I will incorporate this into my work more and experiment with its possibilites.

Every single project I have done so far has benefited me greatly, in particular the collaboration as it forced me to work with others and come out of my comfort zone. I am proud with the results and outcomes as well as what I gained along the way. I can say for certain that I will miss Batley Art School terribly at the end of the third year, I intend to make the most of the two years that I have left and cherish all of the the things that I learn and do.