Part Three: Pausing between assignment 2 & 3

The pressure is officially now on....

Time was running out for finishing the work for this module, fortunately the OCA staff have come through and allowed me to extend the deadline. That deadline which seemed so far away at the start of the course.

I think my big mistake (yes, apart from procrastination) was not letting the staff know as soon as I encountered any problems (health and family issues, not "I just can't do it" issues.)

So, having just returned from the UK I know I have to concentrate and work hard for the next few months.

I have received good feedback on Assignment 2 and some constructive hints and tips from my tutor on how to make improvements to the work that will be presented for assessment.

So far the main pointers to look at are:

• "your development would benefit from some opportunity to undertake practical workshops"

This will be difficult to achieve, but something I will try to book myself on over the next year - not being in the UK is a problem many of the OCA students have to contend with. A compromise to this could be setting time aside to experiment with different techniques and materials.

• To try not to add unnecessary details to your work (the pencil shadows). Achieve a better result by concentrating on mixing the colours of the shadows with paint.

• Read some basic design books to expand my design knowledge. (book list to follow)

• Research point "Understanding the Textile World" Kantha embroidery - linking to a contemporary embroiderer would have been a good addition.

Jean Draper's work will be added to the post.

• When reviewing my work - "try to vocalise why an image works for you and not another. Trust your instincts, but always ask why."

I find this hard when I go to see an exhibition never mind when I look at my own work - this point is a real challenge.
I think I may need to take more notes as I work through an exercise.
I have always tried to say why I have chosen a certain image to work on - but realise that I forget to point out why the other images were not followed through any further. 
I try to update my blog post as soon as I finish each exercise - but even when I do that, I find time has elapsed from my first thought to finished piece.

• Visual diary - "try to show that you are keeping a visual diary of ideas and especially sketches from what you are seeing in the visual environment."

This has been missed out so far - and I intend to address this.
I spend a lot of time thinking about things - but if I don't draw / write the ideas down - how will the tutor / assessor know that i think about design, colour, artists and textiles in ways that aren't just associated with the proscribed projects and exercises.

The suggested books are:

• Colour and Fiber: Patricia Lambert, Barbara Staepelaere, Mary Fry
• Kandinski: Point of line to plane
• Basic Design: The Dynamics of Visual Form

By addressing these points I should be able to improve not only the quality of my work, but also gain a better understanding of the techniques and materials that I will be using (and get an "A"!)