Open Studio — Portfolio Preparation Course,
Creative Practices 2020–2021

We Lost You For A Moment There

It gives us great pleasure to share the work of this year’s students who have studied with us on our Portfolio Preparation Course – Creative Practices. All have shown a prodigious amount of dedication to their studies during very challenging times and have embraced working online with us, establishing remote working spaces, with continued enthusiasm and commitment. They have all been remarkably abundant in their making and created portfolios of work that are diverse and engrossing; whilst supporting each other in their learning, being extraordinarily good natured and kind throughout.

Our primary focus is the creation of a unique and distinctive fine art, design or architecture portfolios of work, for both ‘Digital ‘and ‘Full’ Portfolio submissions for Further and Higher Education Courses and other directions. Students studying on the Portfolio Preparation Course work in a Studio Environment this year online, within which every student is supported in developing their creative skills, through the application of a wide-range of imaginative, technical and practical processes. The diverse online studio-based learning and teaching activities, have been and are designed to assist students in simultaneously developing experimental and innovative work as well as acquiring a strong work ethic.

This year being online has given the students this opportunity to showcase their work via the GSA Website at the end of their studies, self-selecting and curating their own work and promotional material, providing a professional experience where the emphasis is on learning and thinking through doing, and the site will be available for the public to view for a year.

The majority of our students go on to study Undergraduate Degrees, plus some Postgraduate Degrees in either Fine Art, Design or Architecture, at institutions across Scotland, the UK and Europe. Other trajectories include being self-employed, running their own creative businesses and undertaking internships.

This year’s students are all currently being invited for interviews and receiving offers, considering other and all their options and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for choosing to study with us and we wish them all the very best for their futures.

Deborah Holland + Joanie Jack

Joint Course Leaders
Portfolio Preparation Course – Creative Practices
Open Studio

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Emily Munro

Selecting candles in response to `Multiples’ theme and exploring them through analytical drawings.

Initial exploration of candles within a sketchbook.

Testing the different ways in which I could manipulate the candles for sculpture creation.

Final sculptures created as a result of candle experimentation.

Experimenting with different materials and techniques when drawing sculptures.

My ‘Multiples’ work as a collective – featuring both candle and sculpture renderings.

Initial investigation into shell – featuring 3D-Interpretations, stencils and mono-printing.

More resolved pieces inspired by studying a natural object found back home.

Analytical drawings of shell 3D-interpretations along with colour exploration through acrylic painting.

Initial investigation into earring – creating clay forms, looking at functionality and mark-making tools created.

Studying an earring as a man-made object using collage, continuous line, language and mark-making.

Gathering/creating monochromatic surfaces and recycled materials in preparation for building sculptures.

Using photography to study the effects of light on my sculptures and an A2 charcoal study.

Investigation into each sculpture through a range of mixed media and various, textured surfaces.

Life drawings focusing on movement.

Life drawing that is more static and longer, more polished observational studies.

Character designed and inspired by looking at deconstructed candle parts, then being used in storyboards.

Observational and traced digital drawings of dogs in my life as part of new character development.

Anatomy studies and observational drawings of surroundings, done within a sketchbook.

Collection of short videos and animation experiments done throughout my time on the GSA course.