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sustaining practice Blog Posts- Page 15 of 22 - The Open College of the Arts

To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.

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sustaining practice


Setting out on textiles journey: Foundations textiles thumb

Setting out on textiles journey: Foundations textiles

What I learned here was not a specific technique but the process to research, not only in media but also in daily life, and to experiment material manipulation, then to combine these to create something conceptual, visible and tangible. Besides, some findings in the process led me to unrestricted exploration out of the course guide. I feel I have set out on my textiles journey. I do not know where it leads, and that’s why I take it!

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Burrowing into your writing –Close observation thumb

Burrowing into your writing –Close observation

One of my own methods of creating new ideas, new characters or new scenes for my stories, is to begin a regular, gentle, mindless activity (walking alone is my favourite) to allow those deep, deep insights to emerge. I can return from a walk, or from listening to a piece of music, with new scenes ready to be written, or new understanding about my character’s lives.

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Inventing the truth and bargaining with the light thumb

Inventing the truth and bargaining with the light

I don’t know how may of you managed to get to the Hay Festival via zoom but the three trips I took were well worth those (imagined) miles from Bristol to Hay on Wye across the Severn and then north; and am I in Herefordshire or Wales when I get there? It all depends. Makes me think of Philippe Sands’ East West Street  where he writes about Lvov, Lviv and Lemburg – all the same town. At least Hay is still called Hay whichever country it’s in. But it’s a good example of how slippery the truth of history and story-telling is.

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Study event review: OCA Europe thumb

Study event review: OCA Europe

As part of our annual virtual meetings with other international students, the Europe regional group invited tutor Hayley Lock to join us. Earlier in the year, many of the group had mentioned feeling a bit trapped by the medium of their degree and whether something ‘fitted’ into painting or photography or textiles. Hayley’s practice seemed to offer an opportunity to talk about breaking free of medium-specificity.

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Virtual study event: Masterclass with composer Laura Rossi thumb

Virtual study event: Masterclass with composer Laura Rossi

On Saturday 4 July, acclaimed composer Laura Rossi (http://www.laurarossi.com) will be holding an online masterclass exclusively for OCA students on composing for the screen. This is an exciting opportunity to speak to a professional composer and get an insight into the film music industry.

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Presenting work digitally thumb

Presenting work digitally

I am excited to share with you today a presentation made by Catherine Lewis who is currently studying Textiles 3: Personal Specialism. She made a recording to present her work to me during this time of COVID19, when physical work cannot be sent in the post.

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Student stories: OCA BA (Hons) Photography thumb

Student stories: OCA BA (Hons) Photography

A group of OCA students, who are currently completing the Sustaining Your Practice module in the BA (Hons) degree in photography, recently came together to have their work displayed online in Source magazine.

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Who is Acting? Tightening Up Agency in Storytelling. thumb

Who is Acting? Tightening Up Agency in Storytelling.

The heart of any story is somebody (or a group of somebodies), and the things that they do, their actions, in response to their desires and aversions. If you keep the focus on this, you will be able to tell much more powerful stories.

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A musical collaboration for World Oceans Day thumb

A musical collaboration for World Oceans Day

I’ve just completed a short collaborative piece with Music Programme Leader Carla Rees in celebration of World Oceans Day, which occurs every year on June 8. Across the world there are close to 3000 events in 150 countries designed to celebrate and focus our attention onto the value of the world’s oceans and what we can do to conserve and protect them and allow them to flourish.

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New course: Visual Exploration thumb

New course: Visual Exploration

The Visual Exploration unit supports a self-directed approach to exploring and articulating your personal creative voice by extending a process-led approach to how you generate ideas, develop visual and technical skills across a choice of media and technologies, and by establishing new ways of working by undertaking self-initiated projects and reflecting on the creative processes of other practitioners.

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