BTEC Art & Design, where do I begin? I went into the course looking to further my creativity and expand on my artistic abilities. I wasn't quite sure what I actually wanted out of the course. Did I want to be a painter? Did I want to create art that told the world how I really felt or did I just want to find myself? These are a few things I often wondered during the length of the course.
The first year of the course was exciting. I was meeting new people, exploring the history of art and more importantly, breaking out of a shell I had been stuck in for many years. I looked forward to every Friday because I knew we had printmaking; something I really enjoyed learning about! I didn't expect that there would be so much work required on an art course and that often led to a lot of stressing out. I think aside from printmaking, my favourite unit during the first year had to be Fine Art. I wasn't hugely into painting and I didn't really push it as far as I could have, but I enjoyed painting and I had never even tried Oil Paint prior to that unit. I was pleased with my final pieces and looking back, I feel I could have done something bigger with a bit more craziness to it. Maybe that's just Lucinda's style rubbing off on me!
The second year of the course was a little bit more relaxed, well after Christmas at least. Prior to Christmas, I was still in "First Year" mode and still over-thinking everything, stressing out over what was needed and so forth. I came back from the holidays and adapted a more care-free mentality. I didn't see the point in stressing out over the projects. Sure, I was in college to learn and progress forward, but I wanted it to be good and fun too. Cutting out the negative parts of college helped greatly with this and in doing so, my days became more enjoyable I won't lie though, college can be really draining, even when you are just sitting around yapping and drinking coffee! More often that not, I was knackered! While I did initially have a negative view on the unit, I did actually enjoy Paper-making (except when the table was being hogged for hordes of pointless paper!) my final piece came out exactly as I had hoped, though again, I wish I could have pushed it a little further. I always enjoy Photography and I knew I could have done a lot more with the unit, I just feel awkward with photographing people because people generally don't like to have their photograph taken.
I must admit, I was a little nervous when it got closer to the end of the year. Everybody seemed to be stressing out over their work but the only thing that worried me was actually getting it printed. Honestly, I was more bricking it for the exhibition. I've never done anything like that before so I didn't know what to expect. Part of me thought I had to do a massive presentation in front of a mass of people! It was actually a pretty fun event and it was cool to meet my classmates friends and parents. I may of had one too many glasses of wine to drink, maybe that helped. I was really pleased that Kirsty won the Artist's Award because she progressed well this year and found out exactly what she wants to do. Alice and Ivy both winning an award was greatly deserved too, though I'd have personally liked to have seen Rosie and Lucinda win something also. The joint-Student of the Year award thing was pretty lame. It had zero logic behind it and I feel it was only done to please both sides of the class. Even myself getting a set of fancy sketchbooks was over the top.
Anyway, enough about that. Overall, the course was enjoyable and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to pursue a creative future. I've met lots of great people on this course, some I never want to lose contact with. Some I couldn't wait to see the back of. I'm definitely going to miss getting up at 7am (nope) and spending all day at college, wasting months doing nothing and rushing everything at the last minute. In all seriousness though, I will miss the thought-provoking discussions that were in and out of the class room, being exposed to new things and even life itself. BTEC Art & Design has taught me many things, some not even related to art and while I sometimes had a difference of opinion with my tutors, I couldn't have asked for better.
Niall & Siobhan, you guys are what defines the course and makes it what it is. You are so different from each other, yet have this passion that you want to share with everybody. I've never seen that before and I doubt I'll see it again. Seriously from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
To anyone who may read this and is thinking about doing an art course, here is my advice to you:
- Don't over-think your projects so much. Follow the guidelines and do EXACTLY what YOU want to do within them.
- Research is very boring but it has to be done. Once it's out of the way, you can get on to the practical work. Go wild.
- There is no limit to what you can produce. Don't be scared of something being too big! You're allowed!
- Don't waste your printing allowance on 50 pages of the same image. Fit as many pictures as you can on a single sheet of A4. You'll save money this way!
- Don't buy crappy Spray Mount! The difference between a £4 can and a £10 can is huge!
- Make sure you have the basics: Scissors, Glue Sticks and at least a Pencil. You'd be surprised how many people still couldn't manage that!
- Most importantly: Keep an open mind! You will encounter all types of crazy stuff!!
If only I could have spoken to my past self...
