To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.
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The purpose of studies is to build you up – strong – like a statue. First with lots of scaffolding but, over the course of time, the scaffolding is successively removed as to reveal a structure capable of standing on its own two feet – even in the strong winds and rain of criticism.
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Marilyn’s capacity for self-caricature had always been an essential part of her role as an American icon. In her early photographs she appears upholstered and underwired like a cross between Mae West and the Statue of Liberty.
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The razzmatazz of celebrity endorsements that marked the last days of Hillary Clinton’s election campaign has led me to wonder this morning which performer Donald Trump will now appoint to sing at his inauguration in December. Whoever it is, their performance is unlikely to surpass Marilyn Monroe’s notoriously suggestive rendition of Happy Birthday, which she sang to her lover Jack Kennedy in 1962.
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I am at the start of Level 3 (assignment 2) and experiencing the same feelings I had with my first course, Drawing 1, in what feels like a life-time ago in 2012…
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In the final assignment of the Film Culture course the student is asked to consider the influence of an individual director within the context of a cinematic movement. From time to time an audience can find itself well blessed with works from number of hugely influential and talented auteurs and 2016 has been no exception. I want to consider two directors whose work has resulted me in spending many emotional hours in darkness amongst the company of strangers.
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If you are interested in using embroidery in your own creative practice I suggest you research widely, exploring the approaches of other contemporary practitioners. Be open-minded about the surfaces you stitch into, the places where embroidery can appear, the patterns and designs you create and what can be communicated through stitch.
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OCA tutor and assessor Bryan Eccleshall looks at the work of Fiona Tracey. He examines how she uses mindmaps of images drawn and collated to relate things together.
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Many OCA textile students come to their studies after years of developing and becoming highly skilled in a range of traditional textile techniques. I am writing a series of blog posts that introduces a number of contemporary practitioners. My hope is to widen the knowledge base of our textile students, broaden your outlook to different possibilities and encourage OCA textile students to create innovative engaging and contemporary textiles during their studies. I am starting with crochet.
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OCA tutors and assessors Christian Lloyd and Beth Dawson look at the work of OCA students who use thumbnail sketches and drawings as a way to figure out composition and communicate specific ideas.
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On Sunday 13 November OCA tutor and programme leader Rebecca Fairley will host a study visit to two venues in Manchester. In the morning the group will visit The Whitworth then move onto Manchester Art Gallery for the afternoon. The day will be full of gorgeous textiles from stylish mid century fabrics to cutting edge fashion.
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