Applicant Name: Gemma Firth
Field of Specialist Activity: Visual Artist who specialises in Drawing and Painting that uses this practice to develop workshops, both online and in person.
The Masters Project Title: Developing an Online Learning Platform; Promoting Skills-Based Learning That is Informed by an Artist’s perspective and practice.
Statement Of Intent
Overview:
My project focuses on the development of online workshops based upon my practice of drawing and painting. Producing workshops is an aspect of my practice because of my interests in educating others in what I do, how I produce work and developing young people’s creative skillset through the work I create. As my Masters Project Title states, my project is framed around producing an online learning platform that promotes skills based learning specifically informed by an artist’s perspective and practice. Therefore, myself as the artist is teaching my specialism to young people in a remote/virtual manner.
The purpose of teaching young people remotely through an online workshop, or in a wide format in the form of a learning platform, will give me the opportunity to provide a service to a wider demographic and potentially make my educational content into a business venture that allows schools to utilise it as teaching material that supplements the curriculum. As the workshops are inspired and directly influenced by my practice, this project is also underpinned by my creative endeavours and specifically my attempts to develop my abilities in drawing. Analysing and experimenting with my own practice has allowed me to identify, develop and produce pieces of work that focus on the fundamentals of drawing, that I have then been able to translate into workshops through the knowledge I have gained. This multi-layered approach has allowed me to pursue both my interests of teaching others and the development of my personal practice into one, succinct body of work.
Research undertaken within this project has, and continues to be linked to education, it’s downfalls when discussing the arts and how artists can be more involved in enriching and expanding the curriculum. Understanding the shortcomings of the education system has been widely documented within my blog and has subsequently highlighted that there is a need for artists within education to ensure young people are getting hands on, skills based education that nutures the talents of the younger generation.
Further to this, throughout my practical work I have been undertaking regular research into artists who use their specialism to teach others. This continues to be an important part of my project because it directly informs me about how artists use their specialism and translate it into an educational forum for others to build their skills upon. Having such understanding has allowed me to develop a thorough workshop that discusses a key fundamental of drawing, as well as inform me of the relevant content that needed to be within it.
When discussing the aims and outcomes of my proposed practice, I will be discussing what I aim to produce, as well as how I aim to present and exhibit the differing components. As my project is multi-layered, as described in the earlier overview, putting emphasis on what I will produce and how I will present each component is important to see my ultimate goal for this body of work. My aims are as follows:
I aim to have a completed online learning platform in the form of a website that includes my written workshops, supporting videos and e-resources. The website will include a forum page whereby students can share their work and receive feedback from myself and their peers.
I aim to exhibit my own work in an exhibition to show what I have been working on creatively. This will also include some immersive elements that students can participate in. I have had some thought about using QR codes alongside my work to explain the process and to also give students small tasks while they are viewing my work, possibly from the workshop content I have been working on, to give them things to work on and think abut during the exhibition process. This is something I want to discuss further with my supervisors in terms of being able to execute extra, technology based elements into the exhibition space. As a result of this, one major aim is to make the experience of viewing my work more immersive and more educational where possible.
I aim to have created 3 or 4 further drawings in a similar manner to what I have been working on throughout the project. Currently I have been working at A2 and have eight drawings at this scale thus far, however if there is a possibility to work at A1 or A0 for a couple of these pieces, this is something I would like to focus on for the benefit of the exhibition, as well as the workshops.
I aim to continue to make clear connections between my practice, its fundamentals and purpose and crucially how it can inform the education of young people. This will be done through continued production of educational content alongside the proposed practical work.
Many of these aims have been similar since the beginning of the project in terms of the process and format, however I am setting out clear elements that I want to produce by the end of this body of work. Therefore, the outcomes will be as follows;
A fully functioning Online Learning Platform
Completed Online workshops on the fundamentals of drawing
An exhibition of my physical work with elements of the interactive nature of my workshops.
These three outcomes will be included within my submission along with supporting work that has facilitated in the creation of these elements.
My practice as a whole relates to specific aspects of creative practice because it uses my personal creative practice as the point of influence to build workshops, e-resources and educational content for young people to supplement their learning. As my current project is multi-layered in this manner, my practice influences what is taught, how it is taught and the emphasis of skills based learning is put to the forefront of what students will be able to learn. Basing what students learn on processes I specialise in shows that I have considered my strengths, how I use them and how I can translate them into beneficial information for young people to develop their understanding of drawing in similar areas.
Description of Intended Work:
My intentions for my final submission will include a catalogue of elements that best show the multi-layered nature of this project. This will include both physical work in the form of drawings, sketches and sketchbooks that document my process and digital elements that include the online learning platform and the online workshops that form a part of this. I see my final submission being the culmination of what I have been working on across the entire project in terms of physical work, the building of workshops and the online learning platform. However, for the benefit of this statement of intent, I intend to identify the main elements of the submission in as much detail as possible, with an understanding that there is room for this to alter slightly.
I intend to produce as the final submission / further information:
A fully functioning learning platform: This is something I am currently working on and includes the workshop content. Currently I have one, three part or three session workshop which looks in depth on perspective. This will form a significant part of this area of submission, along with the website itself and the potential of other, smaller workshop activities. The website itself will have information on myself as an artist, how I use my practice as a tool to teach others and other features such as a forum for participants to share their work in and a space for video content. The site will be a mixture of elements I have been consistently working on throughout the entirety of this body of work.
I will submit a body of physical work which includes the work I have done thus far in the project, the related sketchbooks and a further three to four pieces. These pieces would ideally be A1/A0 depending on availability of materials and will be done in a mixture of fine liner and pencil/charcoal. Again, these pieces will be a part of influencing any educational content I make, thus giving the online learning platform more resources inspired and influenced by my practice as an artist.
There is also an aim to exhibit my work, and therefore the plans for this will be included within the submission to indicate how I have considered mixing elements of presenting physical work along with the interactive side from the learning platform. I would like to have an exhibition that includes both aspects of my work through the use of smaller tasks that are accessible through QR codes, where students can go around the gallery and draw. These tasks would be available on my website. I think this is an aspect of my submission that needs further planning and consideration, however the intention to combine the two elements is important to show the multi-faceted nature of my project, and how my practice influences the educational aspects of what I have been creating. Having an exhibition that has both elements would give me the opportunity to invite young people into the space to allow them to be involved in the educational element while viewing the work so that they could potentially include the visit in their arts studies. I think this would be a good combination of students learning art skills at their own pace in an immersive environment where they can see work from an artist.
These outlined outcomes relate to my previous work and development because they are both a culmination and continuation of what I have been working on throughout the entire project, as well as my previous areas of study before the MA. Finding new and innovative ways to educate others through the use of written workshops has been a progression from my in person workshops on my degree course. Due to the world’s circumstances, I tasked myself with looking at new ways to reach people with meaningful arts education, while taking note of the issues in the education system and where artists could be best used to supplement young people’s learning. My project up until this stage and until the final submission will show how artists can reach young people in an educational manner solely based other specialisms, so we are still teaching what we know while reaching a wider demographic. This will be shown further through the exhibition being about both aspects of the project because it will show those viewing the work how to create their own, and ultimately become immersed in drawing as a whole.
The progression from my previous work in terms of the physical work is shown through my process and how I am making more creative decisions with my work in terms of the fundamentals of drawing, how I interpret the subject matter I use and the selection of subject matter. I think I am making more subtle choices that change the overall outcomes of the pieces and making more of an effort to note the important parts of my practice to then educate others. I see my practice as a wider process that incorporates the creation of workshops, as well as physical artwork.
The project has also benefitted my drawing skills, where I am making more decisions on the use of mark making techniques, composition and use of media to ensure I am producing higher quality drawings. Although it is still an aim to work at a larger scale, I still believe that there has been a gradual and smooth progression in how I draw and how I generally approach working in my chosen medium due to this project.
Research:
In terms of supporting research for this project and specifically this submission, I will be referring to the research undertaken in past modules, as well as consistent artist research to ensure I am improving and developing my understanding of my personal practice, which will inevitably translate into my workshop content. I will also research into similar websites who provide educational content for young people to see how they are formatting their resources and to look at how their websites are navigated. Looking at prior modules research, as well as referring to my own critical reflections, all of which is available on my blog, will ensure I am keeping within the realms of providing a service that supplements the education system, allowing students to learn at their own pace and the promoting of skills based learning from an artist’s perspective. I intend to use the research to further my understanding of both my practice and how I can translate important techniques into educational content for my workshops, with the aim to benefit young people’s development. Constantly keeping myself well-informed about how I can improve within my practice will help further my abilities to put meaningful workshops together than aid the understanding of others.
Key References and Other Important Sources:
Artist research (in terms of application, use of medium, techniques and how they use their specialism to teach others): Karen Wicks, Neil Whitehead, Nick Coupland and Matteo Massagrande. Also I will also take reference from artist research from earlier in my project which is found on my blog.
Other Educational Platforms: TheDrawingCamp, AccessArts, Tate’s interactive pages
- I will also refer to my critical reflections, various areas of analysis and blog research. This is to remind myself of where I need to improve and the direction I want the project to continue going in.
Methodology:
The methods I intend to use throughout this stage of my project will remain similar to other phases of this body of work. The main element of my project is working in a system of analysing my process, then embarking on a piece of work, noting the techniques and processes I have used, then translating what I deem to be important within my practice into a workshop theme or specific task. I do not envisage this changing as I think this process works in order for me to produce educational resources about my specialism and keep the content current and succinct.
However, as I am working to a project outcome, I will be producing work for exhibiting as well as to inform my workshops, therefore my practice has another level of importance to it. I will be using large scale, A1/A0 paper, fine liner pen, charcoal and graphite to produce my drawings, while documenting how I am creating each piece for potential workshops or e-resources for the learning platform. Upscaling the paper will give greater progression to my practice as I have not yet been able to develop larger pieces. It therefore feels like a positive yet gradual next step for myself creatively. I will also be selecting references that follow along with the small, handmade structure or shed theme I have consistently worked upon as I feel this is my strongest area of work in my current practice as well as it it fitting within the themes in the workshops. As explained previously, my project is a multi-layered processes, and therefore I will be considering all aspects to ensure the best outcome.
Also planning the way I will be exhibiting the pieces will also be important and will require discussion between the supervisors and myself to ensure that I can create an environment that includes both the online and practical work in one space. I intend to begin some early planning of this to then discuss with my supervisors in the coming weeks.
Materials I intend on using: - Paper (A1/A0) (depending on availability) - If this is not available to me, I will continue working at A2 with the focus being on the quality of the work rather than it’s scale.
Fineliner pens
Charcoal
Graphite
Online / Computers - Workshop Related elements
Photographic References
Issues of Concern:
The availability of larger scale paper and the amount of pens to execute 3/4 large pieces with high levels of detail. Having the materials available is something that I may require college assistance with.
Issues around exhibiting my work in terms of the space and how to best execute my want to combine the online and in person methods. However, I will draw up some plans before discussing this with the supervisors.
Practical Issues:
Material availability - I think I will require multiple packs of archival ink pens and larger paper for the module. If this is possible, I would just need an order made for some materials that I can utilise as soon as possible
Exhibiting my work: In terms of logistics, timing of the exhibition and the potential of having students come and interact with the online aspect while viewing my work. This is something I want to draw plans up for in full first. However, it is something I have been considering within earlier stages of the project and would hope to be able to execute in some form. Applicant Name: Gemma Firth
Field of Specialist Activity: Visual Artist who specialises in Drawing and Painting that uses this practice to develop workshops, both online and in person.
The Masters Project Title: Developing an Online Learning Platform; Promoting Skills-Based Learning That is Informed by an Artist’s perspective and practice.
Statement Of Intent
Overview:
My project focuses on the development of online workshops based upon my practice of drawing and painting. Producing workshops is an aspect of my practice because of my interests in educating others in what I do, how I produce work and developing young people’s creative skillset through the work I create. As my Masters Project Title states, my project is framed around producing an online learning platform that promotes skills based learning specifically informed by an artist’s perspective and practice. Therefore, myself as the artist is teaching my specialism to young people in a remote/virtual manner.
The purpose of teaching young people remotely through an online workshop, or in a wide format in the form of a learning platform, will give me the opportunity to provide a service to a wider demographic and potentially make my educational content into a business venture that allows schools to utilise it as teaching material that supplements the curriculum. As the workshops are inspired and directly influenced by my practice, this project is also underpinned by my creative endeavours and specifically my attempts to develop my abilities in drawing. Analysing and experimenting with my own practice has allowed me to identify, develop and produce pieces of work that focus on the fundamentals of drawing, that I have then been able to translate into workshops through the knowledge I have gained. This multi-layered approach has allowed me to pursue both my interests of teaching others and the development of my personal practice into one, succinct body of work.
Research undertaken within this project has, and continues to be linked to education, it’s downfalls when discussing the arts and how artists can be more involved in enriching and expanding the curriculum. Understanding the shortcomings of the education system has been widely documented within my blog and has subsequently highlighted that there is a need for artists within education to ensure young people are getting hands on, skills based education that nutures the talents of the younger generation.
Further to this, throughout my practical work I have been undertaking regular research into artists who use their specialism to teach others. This continues to be an important part of my project because it directly informs me about how artists use their specialism and translate it into an educational forum for others to build their skills upon. Having such understanding has allowed me to develop a thorough workshop that discusses a key fundamental of drawing, as well as inform me of the relevant content that needed to be within it.
When discussing the aims and outcomes of my proposed practice, I will be discussing what I aim to produce, as well as how I aim to present and exhibit the differing components. As my project is multi-layered, as described in the earlier overview, putting emphasis on what I will produce and how I will present each component is important to see my ultimate goal for this body of work. My aims are as follows:
I aim to have a completed online learning platform in the form of a website that includes my written workshops, supporting videos and e-resources. The website will include a forum page whereby students can share their work and receive feedback from myself and their peers.
I aim to exhibit my own work in an exhibition to show what I have been working on creatively. This will also include some immersive elements that students can participate in. I have had some thought about using QR codes alongside my work to explain the process and to also give students small tasks while they are viewing my work, possibly from the workshop content I have been working on, to give them things to work on and think abut during the exhibition process. This is something I want to discuss further with my supervisors in terms of being able to execute extra, technology based elements into the exhibition space. As a result of this, one major aim is to make the experience of viewing my work more immersive and more educational where possible.
I aim to have created 3 or 4 further drawings in a similar manner to what I have been working on throughout the project. Currently I have been working at A2 and have eight drawings at this scale thus far, however if there is a possibility to work at A1 or A0 for a couple of these pieces, this is something I would like to focus on for the benefit of the exhibition, as well as the workshops.
I aim to continue to make clear connections between my practice, its fundamentals and purpose and crucially how it can inform the education of young people. This will be done through continued production of educational content alongside the proposed practical work.
Many of these aims have been similar since the beginning of the project in terms of the process and format, however I am setting out clear elements that I want to produce by the end of this body of work. Therefore, the outcomes will be as follows;
A fully functioning Online Learning Platform
Completed Online workshops on the fundamentals of drawing
An exhibition of my physical work with elements of the interactive nature of my workshops.
These three outcomes will be included within my submission along with supporting work that has facilitated in the creation of these elements.
My practice as a whole relates to specific aspects of creative practice because it uses my personal creative practice as the point of influence to build workshops, e-resources and educational content for young people to supplement their learning. As my current project is multi-layered in this manner, my practice influences what is taught, how it is taught and the emphasis of skills based learning is put to the forefront of what students will be able to learn. Basing what students learn on processes I specialise in shows that I have considered my strengths, how I use them and how I can translate them into beneficial information for young people to develop their understanding of drawing in similar areas.
Description of Intended Work:
My intentions for my final submission will include a catalogue of elements that best show the multi-layered nature of this project. This will include both physical work in the form of drawings, sketches and sketchbooks that document my process and digital elements that include the online learning platform and the online workshops that form a part of this. I see my final submission being the culmination of what I have been working on across the entire project in terms of physical work, the building of workshops and the online learning platform. However, for the benefit of this statement of intent, I intend to identify the main elements of the submission in as much detail as possible, with an understanding that there is room for this to alter slightly.
I intend to produce as the final submission / further information:
A fully functioning learning platform: This is something I am currently working on and includes the workshop content. Currently I have one, three part or three session workshop which looks in depth on perspective. This will form a significant part of this area of submission, along with the website itself and the potential of other, smaller workshop activities. The website itself will have information on myself as an artist, how I use my practice as a tool to teach others and other features such as a forum for participants to share their work in and a space for video content. The site will be a mixture of elements I have been consistently working on throughout the entirety of this body of work.
I will submit a body of physical work which includes the work I have done thus far in the project, the related sketchbooks and a further three to four pieces. These pieces would ideally be A1/A0 depending on availability of materials and will be done in a mixture of fine liner and pencil/charcoal. Again, these pieces will be a part of influencing any educational content I make, thus giving the online learning platform more resources inspired and influenced by my practice as an artist.
There is also an aim to exhibit my work, and therefore the plans for this will be included within the submission to indicate how I have considered mixing elements of presenting physical work along with the interactive side from the learning platform. I would like to have an exhibition that includes both aspects of my work through the use of smaller tasks that are accessible through QR codes, where students can go around the gallery and draw. These tasks would be available on my website. I think this is an aspect of my submission that needs further planning and consideration, however the intention to combine the two elements is important to show the multi-faceted nature of my project, and how my practice influences the educational aspects of what I have been creating. Having an exhibition that has both elements would give me the opportunity to invite young people into the space to allow them to be involved in the educational element while viewing the work so that they could potentially include the visit in their arts studies. I think this would be a good combination of students learning art skills at their own pace in an immersive environment where they can see work from an artist.
These outlined outcomes relate to my previous work and development because they are both a culmination and continuation of what I have been working on throughout the entire project, as well as my previous areas of study before the MA. Finding new and innovative ways to educate others through the use of written workshops has been a progression from my in person workshops on my degree course. Due to the world’s circumstances, I tasked myself with looking at new ways to reach people with meaningful arts education, while taking note of the issues in the education system and where artists could be best used to supplement young people’s learning. My project up until this stage and until the final submission will show how artists can reach young people in an educational manner solely based other specialisms, so we are still teaching what we know while reaching a wider demographic. This will be shown further through the exhibition being about both aspects of the project because it will show those viewing the work how to create their own, and ultimately become immersed in drawing as a whole.
The progression from my previous work in terms of the physical work is shown through my process and how I am making more creative decisions with my work in terms of the fundamentals of drawing, how I interpret the subject matter I use and the selection of subject matter. I think I am making more subtle choices that change the overall outcomes of the pieces and making more of an effort to note the important parts of my practice to then educate others. I see my practice as a wider process that incorporates the creation of workshops, as well as physical artwork.
The project has also benefitted my drawing skills, where I am making more decisions on the use of mark making techniques, composition and use of media to ensure I am producing higher quality drawings. Although it is still an aim to work at a larger scale, I still believe that there has been a gradual and smooth progression in how I draw and how I generally approach working in my chosen medium due to this project.
Research:
In terms of supporting research for this project and specifically this submission, I will be referring to the research undertaken in past modules, as well as consistent artist research to ensure I am improving and developing my understanding of my personal practice, which will inevitably translate into my workshop content. I will also research into similar websites who provide educational content for young people to see how they are formatting their resources and to look at how their websites are navigated. Looking at prior modules research, as well as referring to my own critical reflections, all of which is available on my blog, will ensure I am keeping within the realms of providing a service that supplements the education system, allowing students to learn at their own pace and the promoting of skills based learning from an artist’s perspective. I intend to use the research to further my understanding of both my practice and how I can translate important techniques into educational content for my workshops, with the aim to benefit young people’s development. Constantly keeping myself well-informed about how I can improve within my practice will help further my abilities to put meaningful workshops together than aid the understanding of others.
Key References and Other Important Sources:
Artist research (in terms of application, use of medium, techniques and how they use their specialism to teach others): Karen Wicks, Neil Whitehead, Nick Coupland and Matteo Massagrande. Also I will also take reference from artist research from earlier in my project which is found on my blog.
Other Educational Platforms: TheDrawingCamp, AccessArts, Tate’s interactive pages
- I will also refer to my critical reflections, various areas of analysis and blog research. This is to remind myself of where I need to improve and the direction I want the project to continue going in.
Methodology:
The methods I intend to use throughout this stage of my project will remain similar to other phases of this body of work. The main element of my project is working in a system of analysing my process, then embarking on a piece of work, noting the techniques and processes I have used, then translating what I deem to be important within my practice into a workshop theme or specific task. I do not envisage this changing as I think this process works in order for me to produce educational resources about my specialism and keep the content current and succinct.
However, as I am working to a project outcome, I will be producing work for exhibiting as well as to inform my workshops, therefore my practice has another level of importance to it. I will be using large scale, A1/A0 paper, fine liner pen, charcoal and graphite to produce my drawings, while documenting how I am creating each piece for potential workshops or e-resources for the learning platform. Upscaling the paper will give greater progression to my practice as I have not yet been able to develop larger pieces. It therefore feels like a positive yet gradual next step for myself creatively. I will also be selecting references that follow along with the small, handmade structure or shed theme I have consistently worked upon as I feel this is my strongest area of work in my current practice as well as it it fitting within the themes in the workshops. As explained previously, my project is a multi-layered processes, and therefore I will be considering all aspects to ensure the best outcome.
Also planning the way I will be exhibiting the pieces will also be important and will require discussion between the supervisors and myself to ensure that I can create an environment that includes both the online and practical work in one space. I intend to begin some early planning of this to then discuss with my supervisors in the coming weeks.
Materials I intend on using: - Paper (A1/A0) (depending on availability) - If this is not available to me, I will continue working at A2 with the focus being on the quality of the work rather than it’s scale.
Fineliner pens
Charcoal
Graphite
Online / Computers - Workshop Related elements
Photographic References
Issues of Concern:
The availability of larger scale paper and the amount of pens to execute 3/4 large pieces with high levels of detail. Having the materials available is something that I may require college assistance with.
Issues around exhibiting my work in terms of the space and how to best execute my want to combine the online and in person methods. However, I will draw up some plans before discussing this with the supervisors.
Practical Issues:
Material availability - I think I will require multiple packs of archival ink pens and larger paper for the module. If this is possible, I would just need an order made for some materials that I can utilise as soon as possible
Exhibiting my work: In terms of logistics, timing of the exhibition and the potential of having students come and interact with the online aspect while viewing my work. This is something I want to draw plans up for in full first. However, it is something I have been considering within earlier stages of the project and would hope to be able to execute in some form.
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