University Update

Before the Easter Holidays, I made the most important decision in my life; university choices.

As you know, I have had offers from Manchester Metropolitan (280 points), Birmingham City (280 points) and De Montfort (260 points). In case you don’t know, an A* is 140, A: 120, B: 100, C: 80, D: 60.

In the worst case scenario, if I got an A* in Textiles, B in Art and a D in Spanish that would still give me a total of 300 points.

On this basis, I have chosen Machester Metropolitan as my Firm Choice (1st) and De Montfort as my Insurance choice (2nd). It looks like every interview I went to has paid off considerably (considering in two out of the three I would receive an offer the next day).

I am very happy with my choices, and I am very glad I have made them. I would be equally happy at either universities, however I think Manchester has the better course and is more suited for what I would like to study; Interior Design but more geared towards architecture.

Motivation

For me, I find motivation one of the hardest things to capture, and preserve – especially when it comes to working on Fine Art or Textiles. There is always a distraction of some sort… A television show I “must” catch up with, blogging -even, or simply talking to someone who means everything.

When I have the inspiration and motivation to work, I tend to be slow and it becomes tedious yet I know that I should be working for as long as possible. Of course, this doesn’t always hold up for long before I encounter at least one of my many distractions.

However, when I don’t have the motivation – just like today – I tend to “flake”. Everything immediately becomes a “big deal” for no reason and I begin to forget my pathways for each subject…

I have been searching for an answer for all of this since September, and I have fallen short. I have a number of Tumblr accounts with inspiration blogs – they pick up, they flop – and they now seem to mean nothing.

Let’s just hope next week is a better one.

My Textiles Dissertation …

This week, I seem to have a lot more free time that I thought I would (not a lot of homework/work done in free lessons). Therefore, I have taken this time as an opportunity to start finalising my Textiles dissertation from the coursework project. (The dissertation is an “essay” of artist evaluations which link together to answer a particular question in which you intend to research and answer using the evaluations as help).

The question I have asked is: How have artists used distortion to alter our perception of the world around us?

In this, I have a number of artist evaluations lined up. Ptolemy Mann, Matthew Harris, Bjorn Dahlem and Eva Hesse – all of which are very fascinating and have a key role in making my project a success.

So far, I have written over 3,000 words for this (which is the equivalent to 12 pages – with images). This does also include all of the information I have gathered together from the internet – which will all be referenced at the end of the essay.

Ideally, I would like to finish this dissertation this week, but I think that will be unlikely to happen as I have a lot of other things I need to do which need to come first. The whole thing doesn’t need to be handed in properly until late May, but I think it would be a good idea to get the majority of it done now.

Also, I still have my Fine Art dissertation to put together too which I think will take slightly longer than my Textiles as all of my artists haven’t been properly evaluated yet.

The pressure’s on!

At Least I’m Doing Something Right …

Yesterday evening, I recieved an email from UCAS notifying me of a change in my application… I logged on etc, and there it is. Something I have been hoping for for about 3 months.

An offer from Manchester Metropolitan University (Manchester School of Art).

It’s 280 UCAS tariff points (300 points is BBB, so this is basically BBC) and I really think this is achievable!

I cannot express how proud of myself I am at this moment in my life. I have never felt like there are people out there who admire my work as much as the women did on Wednesday. I feel proud.

I think Manchester is the place where I need to go to progress further.

My Interview …

So today I have been to Manchester and back, and I think the interview went pretty well!! So a very good day indeed.

There was only two of us being interviewed this afternoon – which shocked me! – but apparently they only have between 35 and 40 students per year as students in total… And considering the amount of people who apply (something stupid like 400) I am feeling rather proud and confident that I was given the opportunity to attend an interview there.

The women who interviewed us gave us a quick talk/presentation on the course as a whole; what sort of work they do each year, competitions and various study trips. Something that was made very clear was that the course was definitely driven more to the architectural side rather than interior furnishings (that would be the worst course for me …). And because of this, I knew I was in the right place.

Even sat in “The Gallery” (a little cafe which holds live music from time to time!) I knew that I was sitting in the right place…

I think everything is coming together slowly now… And all I really need to do is focus on my school work to make sure I get the best possible grades in August – and one’s which I deserve!!

My Most Important Day … EVER

Tomorrow is the big day… My interview at Manchester Metropolitan University. I have been through my portfolio, and everything is looking good – everything which I want to take and be viewed is all in there.

I am feeling really pumped up and confident for the interview. Yes, I am taking fewer pieces of work than my other interviews, but I would rather be given the opportunity to speak a lot (and in depth) about my work than small little junks about a larger amount, if given the chance.

I may of course not be spoken to by the people who see my portfolio, but I think it is organised well enough to not necessarily need me there to emphasise it. If however they require more information or an in-depth explanation about my pieces then I am ready and feeling confident enough to show them my enthusiasm.

I hope to photograph my portfolio for you all to see after tomorrow’s interview.

I will of course let you all know how it goes! So stay tuned!

And So Another Week Starts…

The start of this week hasn’t been the greatest… I have a terrible cold, and a tonne of work to catch up with from last week. Such a mistake which I don’t seem to learn from.

However, the majority of this work is now complete, so I can focus on finishing the little things. I am glad I came home early today – I needed the extra time to tie up loose ends (with work I mean, not social matters – they seem pretty irrelevant these days!!).

The main thing which has been on my mind today is my interview on Wednesday at Manchester Metropolitan University. This is the most important interview this year – scratch that – my whole LIFE. I can’t blow this, I really can’t.

These next five weeks are tough – I need to have both my Fine Art and Textiles exam projects pretty much finished (or as close as…).

This is a really tough call, but I know I can do it. In the last year I have become quite an ambitious person, and in interviews in particular, I really do become quite a confident and come out of my shell really…

I cannot wait to be at university – studying in order to get the job I really do want in life. Ideally, working with a firm of architects (an international firm so I can travel).

Time to get back to work then… Otherwise these dreams definitely won’t happen!!!

The Pressure’s On …

Today, I have spent a considerable amount of time tying up lose ends from my coursework topics “Microscopic Worlds” and “Precise Chaos”. I’ve taken two contact sheets and written their write ups, along with finishing some time consuming artist evaluations.

I am glad all of the written work is completely finished for Fine Art now, but I still need to finish all of my practical work for the unit, photograph it and then mount that all up in my sketchbook – if I can get that back that is!!

For Textiles, I need to go out and quickly take a small contact sheet of photographs (which would have been in preparation for my final piece). When I am back in school I will need to borrow the drama studio’s lighting to photograph my final piece.

For the time being, I can write introductions to the exam title so I can go back to school and show my teachers exactly where I want my project to go and what it will be based upon.

I will also need to take some photographs of these ideas tomorrow; Fine Art – experimenting with different dyes (food colouring in water etc) and maybe different mouths (teeth which have decayed/rotting teeth). And Textiles – buildings (contrasts between historic and modern, new and old).

I will share some of my snaps with you tomorrow to show you how I get on.

A Quick Update!

A lot has happened in the last two months; interviews, exams and those dreadful deadlines.

So let’s start with the interviews…

As you already know, I have attended an interview at De Montfort University in Leicester and I was successful in receiving an offer of 260 ucas points (so about BCC – pretty reasonable and accessible).

My last choice – University of Central Lancashire – gave me an interview but because of its location I declined. At this stage I was already given the offer from De Montfort and therefore knew that I was happy with this even if that was the only offer I was given.

I have also attended an interview at Birmingham City University which was successful again, and therefore offered 280 ucas points (BBC – again, quite reasonable!) so I am very happy with these as I could see myself at either university.

Earlier this week, I was notified of a third interview – Manchester Metropolitan – later this month. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting this AT ALL. When I started to apply to these universities I knew this was the most difficult one to get accepted to and therefore for me – a long shot. However, I am EXTREMELY excited to be given this opportunity, so I really need to enhance my portfolio further.

When I recieved my second offer from Birmingham City, I was pretty astonished… I never thought I would be in “demand” – as it were! – and definitely never thought they would enjoy my work that much.

The exam I sat in January was retaking my AS Spanish (inc. speaking) which I was quite confident with – more so than last summer!! The results come out early March, so we’ll see!

The two main deadlines I’ve had were for Unit 03 for both Fine Art and Textiles which was very difficult to meet indeed… Especially as I do both arts.

Now they’re all out of the way (for now!!!), I have the confidence to start my Exam Units for Fine Art and Textiles.

Check out my design inspiration blog: http://i-will-be-a-designer.tumblr.com

An Update – My First Interview!

I think it’s about time I gave everyone an update on what I’ve been up to this last week and why I haven’t been posting!!

For the first part of this week I have been gathering together all of my recent work to put into a portfolio. After this was all together and looking as sleek as possible, I set off for my first interview at De Montfort (Leicester) on Tuesday.

It was a great experience, but probably one of the most nerve-racking at the same time! The man who was interviewing me asked why I wanted to study interior design and why DMU. I told him, and we talked about interior design as a whole for about ten minutes – it was very informal, almost like a chat, which was such a relief.

Having had our conversation I was feeling very confident about my portfolio of work I’d brought along with me and felt quite pumped up to express my passion.

After going through the whole thing, he told me that he really admired my work and the variety of things I’d bought along. He said I would bring a lot to the course and that he is going to recommend me a place. This doesn’t mean I have a place, but it means that I am almost there!!

Going back to DMU felt incredible. Other than possibly Manchester Metropolitan, it is definitely one I can clearly picture myself studying at.

With the first interview out of the way, I am now feeling a lot more confident for the others!

(I will be uploading some pictures of my portfolio over the weekend).