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SHOWCASEOpen College o the Arts

2010 No. 6

Whos who atOCA

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OCA student:Sarah Dodds

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OCA tutor: PatMoloney OCA

4 & 5

student:Anne Holyhead

BA (hons)Textiles

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Inside

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Showcaseis published by the Open College o

the Arts.

Open College of the Arts

The Michael Young Arts Centre,Redbrook Business Park

Wilthorpe Road, Barnsley S75 1JN

Telephone: 01226 730495

Email: enquiries@oca-uk.com

Web: www.oca-uk.com

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2125674

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to edit materials at its discretion.Views and opinions expressed in

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constitute a recommendation.

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give eedback please contact Dee

Whitmore, Marketing and Events,

on 01226 704364 or

email: deewhitmore@oca-uk.com

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I began my journey with OCA over 3 years ago and to date have

successully completed Textiles 1: A Creative Approach, Textiles

2 and Textiles 3: Advanced. I am currently studying Textiles 1:

Exploring Ideas, the most recent addition to the OCA Textiles

portolio.

I chose the OCA over a City and Guilds course or 2 main reasons,

rstly the OCA oered the chance to obtain a degree by distancelearning. The second reason or choosing the OCA was the

breadth o the course content which has allowed me to learn new

techniques and step outside my comort zone. My main interest has

been, and always will be, embroidery, but being able to combine

this with so many other techniques including appliqu, trapping

and layering, and weaving and tapestry techniques, which have

set me o in a new

direction altogether.

The Textiles 3:

Advanced coursegave me complete

reedom to choose

my own project. For

this I returned to my

passion or Arican

textiles. I investigated

t r a d i t i o n a l

techniques and

patterns and included

many o them into

a collection o sot

urnishings including

cushions, throws and wall-hangings. During the project I recorded

the time taken to develop the pieces and costs involved. This

was the most exciting project I have undertaking to date and yet

it really made me think about the viability o selling my work

commercially.

Distance learning

suits me as I am able

to t in the study

around my busy ull-

time teaching job,

there is sucient

fexibility to t

around busy times

and yet I can work

in a sustained way

during college breaks.

This requires some very careul planning to accommodate theprojects and I have negotiated with my tutor to do the projects

in a dierent order to t in with my busy career as well as the

weather! Indigo dyeing indoors is not a good idea.

The downside to distance learning is the isolation, lack o specialist

equipment and reliance on detailed eedback rom tutors to

maintain a sustained period o study. However I have ound that

with a supportive tutor, a little expenditure on equipment and

materials and regular contact with other students through the

OCA orums and workshops the distance learning courses provided

by the OCA are a way o launching yoursel onto an incredible journey o sel-discovery,

artistic development and

creativity. I am looking

orward to continuing my

studies with the OCA or

many years to come, not

only am I aiming to obtain

a BA degree in Creative

Arts or Textiles, but also

will consider postgraduate

studies with the OCA in

the uture.

Student: Sarah Dodds

A personal

journey

The courses provided by theOCA are a way of launching yourself onto an incredible journey of self-discovery,artistic development andcreativity.

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My long involvement with textiles began at the age o sixteen at

Birmingham College o Art. On refection, I can see that my career

choice was perhaps based on the premise o the time, that girls

did ashion and textiles. However I emerged some six years later

trained as a textile designer and I have never regretted this. The

enormous scope and range o interest that textiles oers rom

ne art, to design and crat, rom new technology to history and

ethnology continues to challenge both my creative and intellectual

curiosity and gives me enormous pleasure.

My rst reelance design job lasted almost ten years. Working

or Courtaulds Furnishing Fabrics Marketing Division, I set

up a studio in an old garden shed and bought a dobby loom.

I was also teaching back in Birmingham, in Winchester and in

London. Higher Education was expanding rapidly and the new

developments were exciting. At the same time the British textile

industry was diminishing, but a huge resurgence o interest in

Crat processes and inTextile Art was emerging.

Almost inevitably I ound mysel with a ull time teaching post

at London College o Furniture. Some years on, I took a two year

secondment, rst on a Design Education programme at the Royal

College o Art and then, in the second year as an Advisory Lecturer

to the London Inspectorate or Art and Design. It was while I was

there that I was approached to write a distant learning textile

course or the newly ormed Open College o the Arts. At that time,distance learning in the Arts was unheard o and many questioned

whether it could be achieved. We were all convinced that it was

possible, providing that course materials were challenging and

provoked thought, and we pushed ahead to become the rst

distance learning college dedicated to the Arts.

It was not until I took early retirement rom university teaching,

that I then became involved again with the OCA as a tutor and

elt it timely to return to study mysel, undertaking an MA in the

History o Textiles and Dress to seek new directions.

I have long been an exhibiting member o the Society o Designer

Cratsmen but also enjoy another role as the Licentiate membership

co ordinator. Licentiate membership is a proessional qualication,

and the Society encourages and supports new designer makers,

usually recent graduates . I hope that membership will appeal to

some o the OCAs new textile graduates.

I am looking orward to the development o the OCAs new

Textiles Degree which oers me yet another exciting challenge as

the course leader.

Tutor: Pat Moloney

Title...

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Unlike high tech arteacts,textiles have haptic qualities, a strong

visual and tactile presence which serve to remind us o our material

origins.

Materials Matters, the Art and Culture o Contemporary Textiles,

Ingrid Bachman

As a weaver I am particularly drawn to the textural and surace

qualities o textiles explored through structure rather than image.

Textiles, in themselves are about a visual and tactile engagement

and the visual sources or my work refect intimate observations

o nature and the eects o erosion both natural and manmade

developed through drawing, photography and manipulated using

Photoshop. My ideas evolve through an exploration o materials

and structural techniques allowing or the development o those

multi sensory qualities.

Over the past three years my work has been concerned with

exploring the way in which dierent light sources when combinedwith textiles can aect our sensory experiences with a view to

enhancing our health and well being.

I incorporate conventional, recycled and advanced materials such

as refective yarns, solar active yarns, rubber and plastics with light

technology and use hand techniques to create an interactive

experience.

The desire to control this tactile sensitivity has been the reason that

I had been reluctant to leave the hands on approach that relies

on my longstanding knowledge o traditional woven structures or

the digital world. Crat theorists have always been interested in

the idea that the strength o crat lies in its connection with lie

processes which communicate the object to its owner as opposed

to the anonymity o the manuactured product. Sue Rowley in Crat

and Contemporary Theory, writes that reconnecting with lie

processes is something that crat can do as it brings the body into

play: a connection between hand, eye and materials can become

active agents o communication.

However, three

years ago, as a

research ellow at

London Metropolitan

University I started

to investigate the

changes that are

required in the

process o transition

rom what might

be perceived as

traditional design methodology to digital technology.

I tactile sensitivity draws attention to the use o the hand in

creative work then the use o digital technology suggests that our

creativity in the uture maybe be conned to that o a selectors and

editors rather than makers. This aspect challenges our conventional

creative process. As artists, designers and practitioners are we

about to lose or gain in this transition?

The project explored the advantages, both visual and technological

and the creative process o working virtually compared with

the hand manipulated processes associated with textiles and

questioned how the inclusion or intervention o hand processes

might be used to humanise the digital.

The idea o a usion o century old structures and new technology

although not a new concept, did, in this instance, push my research

orward towards using digital technology. A comparative study o

the technical scope o dierent types o digital Jacquard loom

resulted in new design possibilities manipulated digitally rom the

same sources o images based on traditional hand techniques. A

visit to Norway to weave my designs on a digital hand operated

jacquard loom allowed or this intervention. I recognised that by

being alert to the unexpected and the unoreseen, opportunities

can be created or the interchange o ideas between the hand, the

mind, and the digital aesthetic.

Sadly access to digital jacquard weaving is limited and expensive,

so my work continues

using the hand manipulated processes I love, at least or the time

being.

PHOTO Captions

hand manipulated structure as a design source or the jacquard

weave.

Jacquard weave with refective yarn which interacts with changes

to the light source

Hand manipulated weave with optical bres, rubber and refective materials

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Creativity to me is not

a mere passion; it is

a way o expressing

yoursel, saying who

you are and what you

stand or. My passion

or textiles began at a

very young age, whenI would design and

make my own clothes,

and over the years this

has developed urther and continued my love or the tactile world

o abric and stitch. Due to an illness during my teenage years

I was unable to enter urther education and study Art, as I had

always desired to do. So here I am, as a mature student, studying

or a BA Honours Degree with OCA - nally ullling my dream!

Along with the encouragement and continual support o my am-

ily, studying with OCA means that I am able to study at home

when it is convenient, allowing me to t it around my daily re-

sponsibilities and employment. I nd that I also benet rom the

act that I can progress onto additional courses at a rate that I

can nancially aord. There are a wide range o courses to choose

rom one to suit everybodys creative aspirations.

So ar, the courses that I have studied have allowed me to develop

skills and techniques through plenty o practical work, which is

rooted in a theoretical appreciation o the art world.

I study via distance tuition, and it suits me really successully. The

tutors are experts in their own right and provide detailed, con-

structive and benecial comments and advice ater each assign-

ment, which I always look orward to receiving.

I would highly recommend taking up a course with the OCA,

whether solely or pleasure or or academic purposes.

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Student: Anne Holyhead

A passion for textiles

...it is a way of expressingyourself, saying who you areand what you stand for.

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BA (hons) degree inTextiles with the OCA

The Open College o the Arts announces a new Textiles degree

by distance learning. This unique oer opens the door or those

dreaming to do a textiles degree, but who cant aord the time

o work, cant travel away rom home, or simply cannot aord

university ees. The OCA degree is a signicantly lower price than

in a traditional university, and students save on accommodation

ees because they work rom home. All tuition is one to one, with

a specialist textiles tutor, via email and phone. A range o richresources are made available to those signed up or the degree

programme. For those earning less than 30,000 there may be

some nancial support available.

OCA already has a suite o lively accredited textiles courses,

and OCA textiles students produce a wide range o inventive,

experimental textiles art that competes with the best textiles

graduates nationally. To complete the degree programme,

students complete seven modules (though direct entry rom other

institutions or previous textiles experience can be taken into

account), and most students complete OCA degrees part time overa 5 - 6 year period. To complete a textiles degree students complete

the ollowing modules:

Textiles 1 (HE4): A Creative Approach

This is a highly practical course which ocuses on design and sel-

expression through the medium o textiles and gives an initial

introduction to textile techniques. Students learn how to translate

drawings into stitching, practice basic design skills, paint and

print on abric, and create two- and three-dimensional shapes and

orms. Students work on a design project and translate their ideas

into nished pieces. No technical equipment is required to do the

course. The course is or people who already have expertise in a

crat technique such as sewing, embroidery and knitting but lack

the skills and knowledge to create their own designs.

Textiles 1 (HE4): Exploring Ideas

This exciting addition to the range o textiles courses compliments

and extends the technical understanding and the development

o crat skills acquired in Textiles 1: A Creative Approach,

and introduces Screen Printing as a crat skill. It consolidates

and urther develops visual awareness, the interpretation and

application o imagery and tactile qualities associated with textile

practice through more ocused visual research towards set and

sel generated projects. It explores inherent cultural dierences

and usions in contemporary textiles. It re-enorces the critical

understanding and awareness to issues, theoretical, contextual

and practice based related to textiles through a series o personal

investigations.

In addition, at level 1 (HE4) students choose one o the ollowing

optional modules:

Printmaking

Watercolour

Understanding Western Art

Sculpture

The Practice o Painting

At Level 2 (HE5) students complete Developing Creative Textiles,

which helps develop ideas and designs to a higher level. Students

gain a greater understanding o preerred textile techniques,

become more sel-reliant as a designer and develop a more

personal approach to design through a mixture o structured and

sel-generated projects. Several new areas are covered, particularly

dyes and dyeing, and textiles rom other cultures and twentieth

century textile movements. In addition to this course another

new course at this level is currently being written and will shortly

be available. The new course compliments the work covered in

this existing module and is an essential component o the degree

programme.

At level 3 (HE6) students complete Your Own Portfolio which

develops personal practice either as a textile artist or as a designermaker through a series o projects which ultimately leads to a

creative and cohesive collection o practical work, as well as the

development o communication skills such as presentation o

ideas and nished work, and an artists statement. In addition

to this course students complete the Textiles Advanced course

which encourages the transition rom sel-motivated student

to independent designer. With the help o the tutor and course

guidelines, students plan their own study programme and by the

end o the course have demonstrated their ability to conceive and

develop innovative design ideas and take them to a successul

conclusion.

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Supported by

ICHF Events

International Craft & Hobby Fair Ltd, Dominic House,

Seaton Rd, Highcliffe, Dorset BH23 5HWemail: info@ichf.co.uk

Free Demonstrations by leading Artists

Exciting Workshop Programme

Simply the Best Painting Competition

Top tips from Art Guilds & Societies

Buy tickets online:

www.ichf.co.ukOr Phone Ticket Hotline 01425 277988

Adults 9.70 Seniors 8.70 In advance: Adults 8.20 Seniors 7.20

The UKs Biggest &

Art Materials Show

4 - 7 November 2010NEC Birmingham

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eachAdultorSenior

Ticketorderedatleast

oneweekbeforetheshow.

3 Shows forthe Price of1Your ticket gives you free entrance tothe Crafts for Christmas & Hobbycrafts shows