Education

This page briefly describes my achievements throughout my time in education.

University of Derby

I have been studying at the university of Derby since September 2014 and I am currently in my second year of my degree in Creative Expressive Therapies on the visual art pathway. I am thoroughly enjoying and engaging with my course, and I feel myself growing and developing the skills I need to work with people using the arts; patience, facilitation, reflection, teamwork communication just to name a few.

I passed the first year of my course with an average of 80%, and I hope to continue my studies with the same level of achievement and graduate in 2017 with a first class honors degree.

Nottingham Trent University

From my foundation course, I went on to begin a degree in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University. Although at the time I felt like this was what I wanted, I struggled increasingly during the year I spent there. Although I was still able to devote all my time to my art work, I felt that something was missing and that everything I did was empty somehow. The artistic practice I was developing was increasingly exploring themes of psychology, mental illness, disability etc., continuing to pursue the interests that were developing though my foundation course. Eventually, I did a group project about Art therapy, and I realised that that was what I needed to be doing.

A pencil drawing of Kim Peek, made during my studies at NTU.

Drawings in my studio space at Nottingham Trent.

This year of being unhappy was a turning point for me – instead of a career in which i would be painting for myself,curators & critics, I realised that I could use my passion for art and creativity to help people; this just seemed so much more fulfilling to me.

I believe that choosing to change courses and universities, to study Creative Expressive Therapies is the bravest, most important and undoubtedly best decisions I have ever made. There is nothing I regret about the year I spent at Nottingham Trent University; I learnt skills such as woodwork, oil painting, canvas stretching, plaster casting and more. Moreover I passed the year with a 2.1 grade, and I received a certificate in higher education. More than this though, I know that studying there and being unhappy is ultimately what lead me to where I am today; and for that I could not be more grateful.

Derby College

After completing my A levels, I moved to Derby College to study on a year-long Art and Design foundation course, to develop my creative skills before going on to study at university level. I thoroughly enjoyed focusing all my time at college working on art projects, and I really developed my skills in working independently and my technical skills in painting, drawing and photography. Having the freedom to choose my own themes and ideas for my art projects lead to me beginning to explore psychology, and I began to be really curious about people and human nature; a lot of these ideas lead me to my final major project pieces. I painted two huge portraits, capturing ‘micro expressions’.

For these paintings, I was awarded the 2013 Derby Decorative and Fine Arts Society’s Higher Education Bursary.

As well as the bursary which I won out of all 60 in my year group, I completed my time at Derby College with a UAL level 4 Diploma in Art and Design: Foundation studies with the grade of Distinction, as well as a UAL level 3 Drawing Award.

Belper School and 6^th Form

I studied here from the age of 11 until I was 18. Throughout my time at school and sixth form I worked hard and enjoyed learning. I achieved 8 GCSE’s at grades A-A*, a Level 2 Btec in textiles product design. During my time in the 6th Form I achieved an A* Grade in Fine Art A level, an A in German, a B in Textiles and a C in General Studies.