Work Experience .....

One

 

 

Two

 

Three

Posting a little late this week but better late than never eh?  Working in a creative field is no easy task.  One difficultly many of us experience is finding our niche and discovering our own unique style.  When we finally discover the perfect job/field we want to work in, the next problem is that old classic - Catch 22.

When we start applying for jobs we quickly discover that everywhere seems to want someone with experience, but if we can't get a job how can we get any experience?  This is a very frustrating situation, particularly if you want to work in a creative field.  I have discovered after reams of research there are few opportunities that allow you to gain work experience and creative apprenticeships seem to be very, very thin on the ground.

So what do you do?  The old phrase ' Nothing will come of nothing' comes to mind.  If you want work experience you have to get out there, pound the pavement - so to speak contact companies, email, and call and generally harass people until someone gives you a break.  Much easier said than done but it seems to be the only way.  The other option is to work freelance but this is not an easier option. You still have to seek out clients to employ you which can be just as difficult, if not more so.

The following photos are my first steps down the long work experience road.  They are 3 separate jobs I assisted a freelance model maker with.  The first was simply planting trees on an architectural model.  The second was making fencing and doing a little thatching on a model of a crannog for a museum.  The final one was some simple sanding and filling on a chair.  This chair was for a primary school.  The design looked like a pile of school books, it was quite pretty.  This work was very useful in showing me just how wide and varied freelance work can be.

All aboard the rollercoaster

My week has been one big rollercoaster.  I have been barrelling along at top speed and there have been times when I have felt on top, like I'm really making progress, and then there have been times when I've felt low and thought that I'm not getting anywhere at all.  The best treatment for this type of ailment?  I haven't really discovered that yet.  The best I can do is to try to step back, stay calm and deal with things one at a time.

My head is full of tasks I need to complete, it is dizzying.  So this is task No.141 - Update my blog.  I came close to putting this off until tomorrow but I think that would be the start of a slow decline if I did.  There are 1,000 other things that would likely get in the way so let’s get to it.

These photos are from when I did the NQ course.  Our final project was to design and build a themed entrance for the HND 2 student’s end of year show.  Based on ideas that were presented to them the HND students chose an Iceberg theme for their entrance.  We spent several weeks building up an ice cave in the entrance way.  The sign was made up of cracks and fissures in the ice.  The whole entrance looked really (pun alert! - I do beg your pardon) cool and was finally finished two days before the show.

The day before the show it was all pulled down.  No that is not a typo it does say the day before.  The fire inspector came in and told our tutors it was too big a fire risk.  We had treated the materials with a flame retardant when we started but he just wasn't having it.  One of tutors that had led the project argued with him and told him we had treated our materials but to no avail.  It was a huge gut wrenching disappointment to do all that work and have it wrecked but I consoled myself with the fact that at least we had some good photos.  So I hope you enjoy.

New City of Glasgow College

Models in Use

Well new week, new post!  I thought I would post something more recent this week.  This project was a group project completed by the HND1 and HND2 students this year for the launch of the new college.

Our college (Glasgow Metropolitan College) has recently merged with the Central College Glasgow and Glasgow College of Nautical Studies to form the imaginatively titled City of Glasgow College.

When the new college was launched they had large 2D graphic shapes as decoration to represent the different range of courses offered by the college.  These were created by us in the model making department. It was a quick one week turn around time which was good.  They looked very effective in place; it is not often you get the chance to see your work in use, so it's very satisfying to have these photos.