Saturday 12 March 2011


The Big Review

The last 2 weeks have been particularly intense. I've been stitching like crazy to make sure that I had something substantial to show on Review Day. This is our last hurdle before the BIG ONE and although not traumatic like the assessment before Christmas it was quite intimidating. You have to present your work to a panel of 3 tutors (one of which was my own lovely Kay Swancutt thank goodness) and basically justify the conceptual aspects plus all the work and how you wish to hang it at the final exhibition. The role of the panel which for me included such luminaries as Catherine Dormer and Sarah Braddock-Clark, is to challenge any fixed ideas you may have and they certainly didn't go easy but I think it went fairly well as I was still open to suggestions about the work and it has made me rethink a few things and ask myself why about a couple of others.
So now its the big push until the end.
One surprising thing that has emerged that everybody seems to wrap themselves up in the work esp. the path even the tutors were doing at the review.

The spring and summer panels are complete and I am well on with the stitching of the Autumn panel so just the winter one to complete. Then its getting back to the woods to complete the photography of the work (they really liked this so its got to form part of the exhibition) and then get everything ready for the big day in May. There are images of the others work on www.jctextilearts.com under the section grad 2011 if you're interested.

Otherwise its all been a bit up and down. More support needed for the daughter (down) a lovely trip to the Foundling Museum with Janette and some of the ERTF (up)Barney was poorly again(down) We had close family being operated on this week - one was donating a kidney to his wife - both came through ,so far so good (down and up) and I've just heard that some of the lovely ladies from Articulation (the Canadian textile artists we are collaborating with for an exhibition next year) are coming over to see the graduate exhibition so we are going to all go out and have a lovely lunch while they are here (definitely up!)
So for now its a case of 'keep on carrying on' as they say.