Thursday 30 July 2009

Busy busy busy!


Okayyyy... it has been a while, but I have been really busy-honest! Last week I was down in London attending The Goldsmiths Company Jewellery Undergraduate Summer School at Goldsmiths Hall. 20 Undergraduates from all over Britain attended, and I met some really fantastic people-it was really interesting to hear from other undergrads...and also reassuring, I think they're all just as scared as I am!

The tutorials were run by Dr Stuart Devlin, and Peter Taylor, Director or Training and Technology at Goldsmiths Hall and based on creativity, idea generation and new technologies within the craft-all of which were extremely beneficial. The studies centered on group discussions, to sketching sessions...on the first day Stuart even had us drawing a simple cube in 3D and rendering it! But to our surprise, the majority,if not all of us couldn't get it quite right. The emphasis on drawing, however simple, allows for even better idea generation. The easier you can draw an idea on paper from your head, there more ideas you can get out! Otherwise,as Stuart told us, we are preventing our own creativity from producing the best ideas. Which after the idea generating exercises last week, I can see how true it is!

Within a full timetable including Assay office visits, workshop visits and the valuable trade industry evening, I can say that last week was amazing, and I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to go.

The passion these amazing people have for our craft is staggering, the contribution both have already made to our trade is outstanding, and they are desperate to keep that alive in the jewellery and metalwork students. From both of their careers profiles I think all 20 of us have learned to aim high-because we never know where we might end up in 10,20,30 years time. We are the future of our craft after all, who will be there to support it when these amazing people are no longer here? Scary thought.

Till later x

PS. Will hopefully get round to posting about dissertation work and practical work...once I get is figured out in my own head! After last week my mind is full to bursting!