Professionalism and Employability Task

At the beginning of Level 5 when we were handed this task, I had no idea what I was going to write, but as we have moved through this year I feel that I have really progressed and am beginning to realise things about the way that I work and where I hope to fit into the industry. The first term of Level 5 was very up and down; one minute I thought I knew what I wanted to do and the next minute I had changed my mind again. Its been a time of development and I am learning a lot about myself as a creative person; more and more each day. The ‘Locating’ unit has been the most useful and I feel I know myself so much better. I have found it easier and ideas have come more naturally to me. The chaotic mess I was in last term, seems to have become a little more organised through this unit. I think I have worked out that I like to have some sort of final outcome to work towards, what I haven’t worked out though, is whether or not it has to be something I have set myself or if it can be something that someone else has set for me. I have really enjoyed being able to make up my own brief, and work towards something of my own, and I am beginning to question whether this means I might work better on my own in the future.

When thinking about the context of my personal practice, I’m still a little unsure of exactly what path within textiles that I want to go down. There are lots of things I am still keen to experiment with, however, through the last unit I have really enjoyed working towards a final outcome in the textile jewellery area and particularly working towards a bespoke market. Being able to design and make products for this kind of market, has allowed me to think more artistically and less commercially which I have liked doing and I have found it more exciting. At the beginning of the year, I really didn’t know much at all about this area of the market, but my knowledge has greatly expanded and I now know all about the pros and cons of being self employed thanks to some really insightful lectures this term. The key person to really inspire me has been Daniel Heath. I found the experience of Daniel Heath’s lecture really invaluable and it has inspired me to seriously think about pursuing self employment; an avenue which I thought i'd never go down. I gained a lot from his lecture, and I feel like being self employed may be something i’d now consider. One of the key things I took from the lecture, was that each project is new and different from the last one when you are self employed, and I find this aspect appealing as I like change, and I work much better when I am challenged. The other key person to inspire me this term has been Karen Nicol. I found her to be very genuine and she talked openly about her experiences in the industry. One of the key things which I picked up on in Karen’s lecture, was how she was able to work on projects all around the world. I found this so inspiring as bringing culture into my work is important to me and I always look at culture for inspiration. Even though working for myself seems very daunting at the moment, I do think that it may suit both my personality and my creative practice.

As I have already mentioned briefly above, I think that the audience in which I want to work towards, remains in the bespoke high end market area. I don’t think that my practice relates to one age group specifically; its open to anyone in that bracket. I feel like my practice is aimed at this target market because I like to create unique and bespoke pieces which are artistic but still functional as a product. To show an example of this, I haveshown below one of my textile jewellery pieces which I have made recently through ‘Locating’.

I feel that my work is artistic like a bespoke product should be, as well as one off; no piece will be exactly the same  as they are all handmade which means they fit into the bespoke market rather than any other market area. In order to explain the desired audience a little better, I have shown a few examples of other practitioners who are working towards the same area as me. 

The first artist is Erin Considine. Erin is a New York based Jeweler who also works with weave. She makes her products by hand and each one is unique as she crafts her jewellery from found items around New York.  Her jewellery is aimed at a high end market. Other practitioners working towards the same audience as me include Daniel Heath, Claire Ann O’Brien, and Karen Nicol. All of these 
artists are self employed and are designer makers. 

Erin Considine. Lunate Fringe.

In terms of the future of my practice, I have recently put a lot of thought into this. I have decided that if I do want to be self employed, the next best step for me is to get as much work experience as possible with practitioners who are self employed too. After my final year, I then want to continue to gain more experience, and then I would also like to continue to develop my skills and enrol on a MA Textiles degree. I think this will enable me to have enough time, experience and maturity to start thinking about branching out on my own.

Daniel Heath. High-Wire Wallpaper 

I am aware that setting up to work for myself is going to be an extremely challenging process. Between now and then I need to begin thinking about costs, and start researching where I can get possible funding. In order to set up a successful practice of my own, I also believe it will be worthwhile thinking about factors that will affect my practice and I think one of the main factors will be producing my products in an environmentally friendly way. I will               take a leaf out of Erin’s book and use as many natural dyes and pigments as possible.

References:
 Lectures this term
http://erinconsidine.com
http://www.danielheath.co.uk