Thursday 9 July 2009

Bradford no more!

I received a letter from Bradford College last night, in response to my rapid on-line application. The application has been referred to the international office, and they were requesting further information in order to assess my fees status.

Oops. It's all too easy to forget that I'm not a native here. I do not wish to go through the process and expense of international studentship. So colleges and formal education - whatever my incination may be - are out the window for a few years yet.

As I mulled this over in my head, I realised that formal education may not be the most appropriate thing for me anyway. I already have an inordinate amount of degrees, and what I really want to do is think more about design, rather than be trained to fit an industry I don't particularly want to work in anyway. Which takes me back to options like workshops with the like of Janet Phillips, or the Master Weaver's qualification through the Ontario Spinners and Weavers Guild.

Still thinking...

6 comments:

  1. Difficult, difficult. Maybe the thing to do is to set up/join a mutual mentoring/study group with a bunch of like-minded people with different experiences?

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  2. I've been re-reading Janet's Designing Woven Fabrics, there is so much in it. When I'm better I'll think about taking one of her courses.

    yarninmypocket's suggestion in intesting too. After all, a lot of people say what they get most out of at Bradford is getting to know the other weavers and talking weaving.

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  3. Oh, I got it... No, you're not a Brit. I see. I look forward to hearing about what you decide, definitely. For now I'm going down the mentoring track, because it was offered to me, it's inexpensive, and I got started right away. And any other option might haven taken me out of Nelson for a while.

    Good luck!!!!!

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  4. Hmmm, some random thoughts...

    For weaving skills, what about the Association's Certificate of Achievement? I believe that there is a mentoring scheme available through that.

    For design, what about the Open College of Arts textile courses? Or the City and Guilds sketchbook course? Not specifically weaving-related but could open up a range of creative ideas?

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  5. Just had news through the Online Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers of various new short courses being run at Bradford in the next academic year. If they haven't contacted you, maybe you should ask for details? One of them is a week long introduction to design for woven textiles, 18-25th Sept.

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  6. Dorothy, thanks so much for the tip! They hadn't contacted me, so I'm most grateful to you for passing it on. I'm going to chase that up. It may be that the short-course format is more suitable to my lifestyle after all.

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