Cumbria College of Art and Design 83-84
1 year Foundation course.
Sunderland Polytechnic - glass and ceramic design. 84-87
3 year degree course BA Hons.
Did you have to do a foundation course?
It was seen as a good thing to do to do the foundation and it was a good job I did it because there was such a big jump from doing something in the art department in school to doing something in college. At college they didn't tell you to do a representational drawing of something, they gave you a twig and said: 'Make Marks!"
I had come from a farm in Cumbria and the idea of sitting and drawing a nude with a twig was hilarious. I didn't appreciate at the time what they were trying to do, which was just expand your experience of looking at things and making marks and picking out key things from general observations. Almost, less is more.
Did you get technical training?
My degree course was divided into two sections - ceramics and glass. Glass blowing, stained glass and kiln-formed glass were new to all of us. We were given direct training on those skills, but I had done an A level in ceramics and I felt that in ceramics we didn't get the same level of input so being really into learning about new things I concentrated on glass.
What is the most important thing to look at when choosing a course - the lecturers, the course content or the other students?
Whether your lecturer is active within research is important, and would indicate someone who is still excited by what they are teaching. The teaching is less likely to be run of the mill. Someone who is still exhibiting their work won't be stuck in the expertise they had when they were young, they will move on with the new technologies. This is especially imprtant in applied arts. More and more often it is the technicians who will be your first port of call when asking for help. Your lecturers will be there for tutorials, but a good and enthusiastic technician can make all the difference.
Look at your studio space when you look at a course. If you have your own studio space you can see your projects develop. In some courses you only get your own practical 'making' space in the 3rd year.
The course should not be too small because you want to have good interaction with peer group assessments etc. A very important thing is up-to-date equipment in all the resource areas that is familiar to those having to work it. Not just that they have got the equipment but they know what to do with it, and that they are willing to allow you to explore new ways of using it.
When you go to look at a course talk to the students who are already there - to different year groups, not just the final year.
Look at what sort of support you would get if you are dyslexic, good counselling (pastoral care), the area you are going to be living in for the next three years, whether you are going to like living there.
Did you move to Carlise or stay at home during your foundation year?
We had to go home at weekends because the landlady wanted us out. This was unsettling. I didn't particularly like it at Carlise and I nearly left. It wasn't the people - the nature of foundation is that you have to try different things out and I found it difficult having to do things that werent really my bag
I loved moving to Sunderland. It is not a beautiful city but the people were very friendly and that appealed to me. I wasn't intending to go to college really, i was just going through the motions. The art department of the polytechnic was in beautiful buildings out of the main campus. I went there because I wanted to do ceramics and another medium so that I didn't put all my eggs in one basket. When I arrived in the city, the people in the centre were really friendly, it didn't feel like a big city. I was carrying around a big cow's bottom made of wood, which was a wardrobe for accessories. Strangely enough i didnt get any comments!
I spent the three years partying - I made really good friends who are still part of my adult life. You find a lot of people in the same place who have similar interests to yourself and you experience new things together with them. there would always be a party to go to, you were your own boss. it was great.
How has going to college affected the way you work now?
Would you have been able to develop in the way you have without that input and experience?
I went back to college and did teacher training, then I taught for about 5 years in Appleby primary, then I taught ceramics at Caldew School.
Is that unusual?
They had a ceramics department - it has been killed off now. When I got there you could tell by the ceiling it was seen as a lark. There were clay blobs hurled at the celing like stalactites. I had to be much more strict than I wanted to be so I could get them to do some work. This is a problem in school now - you have to be someone you don't want to be for a bit in order to get their respect and start being able to teach. I didn't like that so I went fo a job at Cumbria College of Art & Design in 1997 as senior technician demonstrator in ceramics. I learnt a lot in that job, through staff development courses, through the other lecturers and from the students. It was a massive learning curve the first two years - you have to know about lots of different techniques and skills to be able to advise the students, because you are the one there all the time.
What has been your main influence?
My main influence is from my teacher at school - he is the one I owe the most to - Ken Halsall. He will still say 'there is not a decent handle among them Gwen - but with a twinkle in his eye. hHe was the one who made me feel i could go further with my ceramics. He gave me some self-belief. College was the next step, and I am grateful for that. Then learning on the job as a techie has really helped to enrich my work.