Ruth Goodger article in the Fishguard Arts Summer Newsletter
A Leap in the Dark
Degree in Fine Art: Painting, Drawing and Printmaking
I had been a civil servant most of my working life and since moving to Wales in 1998 I discovered art was a fabulous hobby. A few years and life changes later, at the age of 56, I found myself taking a degree in Fine Art as a full time student at Coleg Sir Gar in Carmarthen.
How hard can it be?
Very, I had now nearly completed my second year. it has been an amazing experience and mostly in a good way.
Why do it?
How about; to be the same only better, to fulfil a life-long desire, for a new challenge. These are all good reasons but none of them were mine and today i can't quite recall what they actually were.
The course that I am on is a good one: the turors are committed and enthusiastic, there is a wide variety of workshops, and many one to one tutorials. in the first year we are given a lot of tuition, this is reduced in the second year but you are pushed quite hard so that by the third year you have the skills and discipline to work more on your own.
I am interested only in portraiture and life drawing. I have been working on images from Skype and people using mobile phones. I am strongest in drawing so of course the tutors told me to paint. By now, the end of my second year. I feel that I can't paint or draw!
I was surprised by the attention given to making sure that you are prepared for making a living after finishing your degree. As part of this module in the second year we had to organise an exhibition of our work. This was a lot of work from the initial contact with numerous venues, to the publicity and opening evening, everything was left to us.
By the time this article appears I will have my results for my second year's work. Another surprise to me is how much I want to do well. I am not sure that I like that about myself and it certainly adds more unwanted pressure.
I have also been surprised that art is about so much more than wall decoration and hoe relevant art is to what happens in the world. Such an intense course also reveals what you are really made of; I seem to be mostly jelly.
Ruth Goodger
