Crossroads - decision time

I have chosen to specialise in fashion and textiles. I had always planned to specialise in this area since even before starting my foundation, as I have had aspirations to enter a career in fashion and textiles for many years, and seeing as it was my only art based A-level subject, it seemed to be the most appropriate. My first term of the foundation merely reiterated the fact that fashion and textiles was the most appropriate area for me to specialise in, as it was the subject area that I enjoyed the most and got the most out of, and struggled the least in. Initially I was uncertain of the area, as the first week did not appear to be very fashion/textiles related, however, as time progressed I saw how each of the tasks were linked and led to the final outcome, and saw that there was a definite link to fashion and textiles practice; such as the paper manipulation clearly links to the shaping of garments, and the cutting into the paper can be linked to textiles surface design. The fact that fashion was my last rotation may have been why I enjoyed it so much; as I had learnt something from each of the previous subject areas. From the first three rotations I learnt to loosen up and so become more creative in my thought process, and not think about the final outcome before as much as the process towards it, and more importantly I learnt not to be so precious about my work and that I just need to let go and try different things and experiment more as this allows for more creativity; therefore improving the quality of my work. From the rotations I have learnt a lot about myself, my work and my abilities. I have found that I am definitely a design student rather than an artist; I require the structure to work within and enjoy the thought process and experimentation that leads to the final outcome, this was proven by how terrible I was at fine art. I am also a very practical, 3D based worker, as I thoroughly enjoyed the 3D elements of 3D and spatial design and especially so within fashion and textiles. This point was also driven by the fact that I much prefer 3D work to drawing work, as I feel it is where I can fully express my skills and creativity, this was also noted by some of the tutors throughout the rotation period, further reaffirming me that fashion and textiles was the correct pathway for me to choose.

I believe that fashion and textiles is the perfect subject area for me, as it has the structure I need to enjoy and be successful at a task, it also includes the 3D elements which I enjoy the most. Fashion and textiles was always my desired pathway, and has always been the subject area I have had the most interest in as I want to pursue a career in this area, I also find the research and drawing within this area to be most enjoyable and more suitable to my style of working.