Every year I try to make sure I go along to a degree show. Its great to see new, fresh work and it takes me back to the good old days. This year I went to the degree show at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, a change for me I must admit as usually it's Edinburgh College of Art (although I think the Edinburgh show is in June so maybe I'll see that too this year). I only moved to St Andrews last October so Dundee is nice and close to me. Ive only been to the degree show at Heriot Watt once since I graduated- I loved seeing the work but I didn't like bumping into old lecturers and them asking what I was up to. I was a visual merchandising manager at the time, not really what I had hoped for (not awful- but not my 'dream' job) God knows what I'd tell them now. There were some very successful people who came out of my class at uni who are doing very well for themselves (my eyes aren't that green honest, I know they have all worked hard to get to where they are now).
So get back on track- some of the departments I saw today that I was most impressed with were animation (especially a film called 'The Welder' by Stuart Turnbull and Robert Connor), Fine Art (Colin Wilson 'So on and so Forth' was one of my favourites here) and textiles of course. I loved the quirky style of Diane Allan in Textile Design and the beautiful tea cup images she produced through drawing, collage and screen printing. You can see some of her work below or go to
dianeallan.co.uk for more.
In the illustration department I found lots of yummy prints for sale, so I treated myself. I'm not normally a big rabbit fan but I really liked this one 'Lapin in trees' by Barbara Beek.
