How Creativity Can Help Your Mental Health
Happiness has a domino effect. Creativity has a domino effect. Research has shown that within 45 minutes of doing something creative, the levels of stress hormone cortisol is massively reduced.
Read MoreTo find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.
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Skip NavigationHappiness has a domino effect. Creativity has a domino effect. Research has shown that within 45 minutes of doing something creative, the levels of stress hormone cortisol is massively reduced.
Read MoreThis September, Chelsea College of Art, showed the best of their MA Textile Design students work. I went to visit the exhibition in the main gallery space next to the Tate Britain in London. It is a fantastic space for students working in different fields within Art and Design. I very much recommend our students […]
Read MoreI have just finished my five-date solo piano tour, ONE, which featured me as the performer, Debbie Sharp as a video installation artist, and Jacob Thompson-Bell as producer. It was a lot of fun, if a bit exhausting, and it was great to see some OCA students in the audience at two of the gigs.
Read MoreOn a warm July morning, twenty one musicians descended on Harlaxton manor for five days of flute playing and composing at the annual rarescale summer school. An eclectic bunch, the flautists ranged from talented amateurs to music college graduates embarking on performing careers, and the composition group consisted of undergraduate music students and early career composers.
Read MoreI have this conversation with students time after time about how a practitioner can explore what they perceive to be drawing. It can be a really interesting or frustrating chat – I genuinely do love to hear what others see drawing as, and what they themselves do in response to that word. Some like to really explore and experiment, whereas others just want to perfect a certain technique, or maybe don’t feel they want to or can push those boundaries. For me, drawing is a translation, from one view to another.
Read MoreWithin the context of postmodern critical theory, the primacy of television, and the rampant culture of commodification sweeping America, artists like Bickerton endeavoured to reframe the practice of art production in response to the new, seductive mechanisms of desire at work in society.
Read MoreI have had a few exhibitions over the years and hopefully expect more, one man shows are hard work and are never to be approached without a clear idea of the subject and the aims of the show
Read More‘My Sketchbook is a witness of what I am experiencing, scribbling things whenever they happen’ Vincent Van Gogh
Read MoreYou may be familiar with the idea of writing a first draft of an essay, and then editing it down to get to the final version? In my view, to edit a body of work is something that needs to be done continuously and not done just at the end, through reflecting on what ideas/techniques are working and what isn’t and making the decision to either take them forwards or ‘edit’ them out and leave them behind. Editing your work ensures that ideas are always pushed forwards and projects aren’t left to become stagnant and uninspire.
Read MoreLast month I was invited to give a masterclass in moving image to a group of young artists in Almaty Kazakhstan, for the ‘School of Artistic Gesture’ as part of an initiative of ArbatFest – an independent arts festival that has been going for seven years in the city.
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