OCA preloader logo
Textiles Blog Posts- Page 3 of 10 - The Open College of the Arts

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

#WeAreOCA

The Open College of the Arts' blog

Browsing Category:

Textiles


Study event review: Halifax OCA-North Meeting thumb

Study event review: Halifax OCA-North Meeting

Our group comprised textiles, painting/drawing and photography students at all three levels. This, in itself, was an important factor contributing to open and critical discussion. Added to this was Rebecca’s excellent talk on her own practice and formation as an artist and tutor. Following this she led a discussion on work that several of us had brought along.

Read More
Textile study weekend March 2019 thumb

Textile study weekend March 2019

The overall aim of this weekend is to bring together textiles students from across the UK and further afield to focus on practice, critical thinking, a critical evaluation and the impact on the standards of student work. Join OCA tutors Rebecca Fairley and Neil Musson in Bristol on the 9 and 10.

Read More
Using traditional textiles today thumb

Using traditional textiles today

Often when thinking about textiles utility comes to mind. This connotation is largely attributed the medium’s rich history across a variety of cultures, from decorative medieval unicorn tapestries woven from wool and silk thread; to the Kente fabrics of 17th century Ashanti weavers today in Ghana; to Peruvian woven rugs and tapestries of the Quechua tradition. An integral part of community and daily life, textile fabrication has provided people with shelter, costuming, decoration, protection comfort… and has also been used to document and express narrative.

Read More
Unexpected discoveries in routine environments thumb

Unexpected discoveries in routine environments

Thea Anning’s creative journey finding hidden gems through ‘Everyday’ experiences. The Tate Modern has just launched the first major exhibition of Anni Albers’ life works.  Albers study at the Bauhaus during the early 1920’s led into textiles due to her being refused entry to painting on the grounds of being female.  She became one of […]

Read More
Critical thinking skills workshops for OCA textiles students thumb

Critical thinking skills workshops for OCA textiles students

Critical thinking skills are vital if you are going to be successful in your undergraduate studies but organising your thoughts in this way can feel confusing and mysterious. From the conversations I have had with many of you on the textile’s forum and with my individual students it is clear that lots of you desire more support and guidance. What I also picked up is that there is a feeling you need a safe place to ask questions and voice your concerns. Therefore, during this coming November, I will be leading 3 online study workshops for textiles students based around the critical thinking skills required for degree level study.

Read More
Summer assessment – colour thumb

Summer assessment – colour

It is no surprise then that OCA textile students are experimenting with bright colour palettes, demonstrating their understanding and synthesis of current colour trends.

Read More
More is more, the rest is a bore – and the wonderful world of Amardeep Kaur thumb

More is more, the rest is a bore – and the wonderful world of Amardeep Kaur

So, it was with great excitement at the recent Assessment event in Barnsley that we delved into Amardeep Kaur’s world. As a current OCA Textiles student, she has used her recent course to wholeheartedly embrace colour, pattern, motif, print and stitch techniques in order to initiate a strongly personal journey with a rich signature of bold colour and stylised design with a growing confidence shown through additional surface embellishments.

Read More
In conversation with: Rebecca Fairley thumb

In conversation with: Rebecca Fairley

As part of the #weareoca30 campaign we are having creative conversations with some of our tutors. Watch and listen to OCA Programme Leader for Textiles, Rebecca Fairley, answering questions from students.

Read More
Experimenting to move forward thumb

Experimenting to move forward

Experimentation is a very important part of the creative process. It is through trying different ways, mixing techniques, combining processes, challenging your thinking that we come up with unexpected and new outcomes, it is the way to move forward. I would like to share a few textile artists with you, that take experimentation very seriously, hoping that they inspire you.

Read More
Study visit review: 2018 RCA Textiles summer show thumb

Study visit review: 2018 RCA Textiles summer show

The 2018 MA Textiles summer show at the Royal College of Art was a heady mix of product, experimentation and conceptual thinking. Having curated the show I took the opportunity to invite OCA students to view the work. The aim was to discuss the diversity in order to question the definition of the term ‘textiles’. 15 OCA students attended on a sunny summer Sunday to explore the galleries before meeting for a very lively discussion.

Read More