OCA Textiles BA

Mallory-Grace Eloise - 21 - OCA Textiles learning log

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Reflective writing video notes

3 step process, looking back, analyzing, and looking forward to the future

Look at a past event in context and see the things that surround it

Should write about thoughts during the event, after it, and since. Should also include how you felt.

Why, how, implications (so what?

Description is important but should be kept to a minimum, a small description then reflection

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This exercise was interesting for me to do as I had to think about the construction of shapes and how the larger shapes were made up of construction lines and smaller shapes.

I found it challenging to figure out what aggregate shapes were within the larger objects but I think overall I learned a lot about constructing drawings.

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Line and Shape: Line and Aggregate Shape

Video notes:

Contour line: the outer edge of a shape

Construction / diagrammatic line: construction lines are like the scaffolding of a drawing but are removed towards the end

Aggregate: combining different parts into one whole

Aggregate shape: unites a drawing’s disparate individual elements

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Drawing blind and from memory was an interesting exercise to complete. I find my blind drawings very interesting to look at as you almost have to infer the subject of the drawings "between the lines".

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For this exercise, I had to use continuous lines with two mediums to create drawings of 3 of my objects. I found this exercise a lot of fun as it was a challenge to remember to not lift my pencil or crayon from the page and instead keep my lines continuous.

Overall I am pleased with how this exercise turned out, I think the created images are interesting and fun to look at due to the nature of the lines.

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This exercise was also a struggle, for similar reasons to the pencil / first medium example of the task. However for some reason I found myself less bothered over specific details when working in an ink medium with a brush.

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This exercise was very unfamiliar to me as I am not at all used to observational drawing, especially not with my left hand. I found it challenging to complete, as I like my drawings to look neat and well put together, which was not possible for a drawing with my left hand. In retrospect, I also should have made my drawings much larger to fill the page and space I had.

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Unconventional tool mark-making

I found this a very fun exercise to complete. It was very interesting to see how different objects made different marks using my ink. The different tools I had made resulted in a variety of marks being made and a variety of textures and shapes on the page.

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Tool making reflections

For this exercise, I went to a local park and foraged for sticks, bark, leaves, and other natural materials such as seeds. Once I got home I thoroughly de-bugged my materials and then began the process of binding the materials to sticks I had from an old and dried reed diffuser. It was very fun and interesting to me while on my walk imagining what kind of marks different materials and objects would make, and while turning them into tools was not possible for everything I gathered, I am proud of how the ones I did make turned out.

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Word association mark-making reflections

I found this exercise very interesting to complete. The concept of words shaping my marks on the paper was new to me, and I was interested to see what the end result would be. It is also very interesting to me to observe the difference medium makes in my marks, wether it was pencil or ink and a brush impacted the result, even when I was attempting to make the same marks in response to the same stimuli.

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Pencil mark-making reflections

I was familiar with the concept of mark-making from some previous studies I had undertaken, but it is still a practice that felt unfamiliar to me. I prefer to work with a specific goal in mind and use measured strokes to achieve that goal. Because of this using a playful approach does not come naturally to me. Despite this, I tried my best to be very free with my mark-making without a specific outcome in mind. During the mark-making I was concerned with "doing it correctly" however soon into the exercise I realized there was no correct way of making marks with a pencil on paper, and I relaxed significantly.

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Exercise 2: Student Checklist Questionnaire

What will you be assessed against at the end of this course unit? 

Learning objects and assessment criteria.

In what way is creativity developed? 

In a cycle, through contextual research and reflective thinking and analysis.

Why is it important to develop a network with your peers? 

To feed your own creativity, broaden your horizons and stay motivated.

Where can you find the Health and Safety information? 

OCA Learn.

Which platform provides you with the facility to create a Learning Log? 

OCA spaces, or alternative micro-blogging platforms.

Which are the three main areas of critical thinking that you will use during your studies?

Reflective thinking, contextual research, self-analysis.

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Reflective thinking activity

Reflective thinking is the process of looking back at a project or event and considering it analytically.

The two phases of reflective thinking are different in their immediacy. The first phase is either during or immediately after while the second phase is after some distance has occurred. The first phase seems to me to be a lot more emotion-driven while the second phase feels more academically driven.

Reflective thinking is important to my studies as it allows more room for creative growth and progress and can help outline the best path for you to take in order to become the artist you yourself would most like to be.

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Reflective thinking

"It is a critical and reflexive process of self enquiry and transformation or desire and becoming the practitioner you desire to be." - Christoper Johns

A tool for improvement - adds value to studies by consolidating and evidencing learning. As creative - encourages the creation of robust and original work.

Stella Cottrell describes reflective thinking as having two phases, one of gathering and the other of examining. Gathering - generating ideas and raw content Examining - analysis and synthesis of this content

Phase one is making notes when details, thoughts, and emotions are still fresh

immediate - written while still fresh

chronological - noted as it happens

emotional - provides a chance to explore feelings

detailed - likely to contain information that over time loses relevancy

fragmented - different things appear to be significant at different times

Phase two brings depth to thinking and learning

holistic - looking back over experience as a whole

distance - stand back to gain perspective

analytical - examine reflections critically

synthesis - bringing together scattered thoughts

extrapolation - teasing out meaning and significance

Phase one

During the making what were you thinking?

What are your feelings towards the making process?

What are your first thoughts about the outcomes?

Phase two

What did you learn through carrying out the process?

How do initial outcomes compare to the desired outcomes?

What do you need to do next?

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Analyzing your own work activity

Analyzing your own work means looking at your own work under a magnifying glass, and contrasting it with contextual research, so you can better understand your own work.

The investigated cycle involves making leading to examining, to judgment, to choosing, and returning to making.

A list of elements that may appear in my creative work would be feelings, colour, and, scale.

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Analyzing your own work

Analysis of your work is the purposeful examination of creative output in order to recognize individual qualities. Done by gathering research and making connections with contextual research. Important to analyze your own work so you can understand it with clarity and depth, make informed judgments on quality, and demonstrate academic thinking. Will enable you to see what is there, understand what this means, and make informed decisions on how to progress. Important to familiarise ourselves with assessment criteria and learning objectives. The creative practice involves a cycle of investigation: Making leads to examining, examining leads to judgment judgment leads to choosing choosing returns you to making. Thinking requires observation, assessment, and decision-making.

Criteria for analysis:

Course unit learning outcomes and assessment criteria

Own aesthetic sensibilities

Contextual research

Own aims

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Contextual research activity

The two different sources of contextual research are primary and secondary. A list of places I may go to find contextual research suitable for my studies (both primary and secondary):

Museum

Gallery

Exhibition

Pinterest

Books

Online archives

Online exhibitions

Conferences

My research

Art by Karin van der Linden.

Linden works primarily with orphaned materials and the concept of memories, her own and others, which she combines with a variety of textile mediums to convey her message. "Memories offer Karin fixed values, with which she gives her work meaning and direction." Museum, V., 2022. Karin van de Linden exhibits 'Remember me' - Museum Valkenburg. [online] Museum Valkenburg. Available at: <https://www.museumvalkenburg.nl/en/news/karin-van-de-linden-exhibits-remember-me/> [Accessed 30 September 2022].

The piece is created using materials that would otherwise go to waste or be forgotten about, combined with embroidery and handmade appliques which convey the striking message of the piece. The contrast between the materials used being so nearly forgotten, and the overall message of the piece being memories strikes a tone for the piece of intention and direction. The piece features staining - potentially done intentionally - which to me suggests age, a staining of time.