13th January: Derby University update and Nottingham Trent interviews.

I`ve printed four more of my drypoint prints, the only
difference is that I made some marks in the background so

it doesn`t look too plain.

So, I finally heard back from Derby University and I`ve never felt so happy before! I`ve received a conditional offer from them onto their Fine Art course and a Conditional offer onto the foundation year course.
I just need 300 Tariff points to definitely get accepted on to their course, so now I have to kind of wait until results day... Or I could be nosey and annoy my teachers until I get a response from them, which I will most probably do.

Today I had my only two interviews at Nottingham Trent University, they where nice enough to put my two interviews back to back on the same day which saved me loads of travelling time and money. The first interview was at 10am, all I had to do was get the bus into Derby with my mum, my anxiety has really spiked over the past few weeks so I knew that if she wasn`t there I would either stay on the bus or not even got on it. So mother dearest who is my little rock and shoulder to cry on came with me into Nottingham, then went shopping and went home. So I made my own way home, whilst almost getting lost in Nottingham... I only wanted the bloody bus.
I then had my next interview at 2pm, which meant I was going to spend the whole day there.

At first I just didn`t speak to anyone there at all, and there where only four of us in the Fine Art interview. We had a lovely student ambassador called Hannah who showed us around. I`m definitely impressed with the spaces that they have there, but the only problem is that they let so many people on to their courses that all of the room is filled up instantly. They do have other studio spaces around for other working environments, but because of the amount of people on the course just everywhere is full of work. The only other problems that I have is that we I never got to see all of the other big facilities until I had my interview later on, so what we saw was very limited to just studio spaces really. The areas that I got to see later on are a while away from the actual studio spaces, which means that I`ll have to take my work down there to then work on, then come back up to put it back to my place.
I don`t know what to think of the interview really, I feel like the head of the Fine art wasn`t all too impressed with the fact that I don`t do contemporary art and that I only had 2D work in my portfolio. She also didn`t like the fact that I hadn`t been to many gallery exhibitions, I`ve been to the Tate Modern twice, the National Portrait gallery and Alexander Mcqueens savage Beauty exhibition; then I mentioned to the ones I`ve been too in Wales and whilst I`ve travelled, but she was saying that if anything I need to visit a lot more galleries... I would if I had the time really...

So after the interview, which was quite short, I went back down to the reception and sat with a Textiles students mum; I just sat with her for half an hour and talked about how her daughter was doing at college, where they are originally from and why this University. The other Student Ambassador for the next interview showed us around all of the printing and machine based rooms, which has made me feel terrible since the girls on the Fine Art interview never got to see all of the techy stuff like I did... I consider myself lucky for having both of those interviews in one day. It wasn't much really, a quick interview, another look around and trying to socialize with the other students that where having their interviews too, there was only 6 of us for the Decorative Arts course.
I have to sadly admit, that nothing was overwhelmingly brilliant and nothing that stood out really. Apart from the students that had showed us around, no one really spoke to us and everyone seemed quite miserable; I`m not quite sure as to what I think about the place right now, nothing really stood out, the kids where miserable and made no effort and the lecturers seemed quite nice. They had good facilities, but because of the number of students I don`t know if it`s right for me.

I`ve got to wait ten working days to hear anything back from them, so I`ve still got some time to wait before I really need to think about my options and where I would prefer to go.
It`s just a waiting game now!

I`ve gotten into the habit

of waking up rather late

for Sixth form...

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6th January: First Fine Art University Interview at The University Of Derby...

So, today was my first University interview and I think no one has ever seen my stress out as badly as I did today.

Wore a nice stripy black top, with black highwaisted

jeans and some shiny shoes, Smart but Casual!

I booked the whole day off of Sixth form so I had some time to relax a little before I went and just in case it ran over... Which it did, about an hour or so over.

So for starts, I looked ok; it took me forever to find something that looked smart and casual, not overdone but not to casual otherwise It would look like I hadn`t of made the effort. I panicked for an hour over just what to wear, that`s how nervous I was for all of this.

For starts, my mum said she knew where the University was so I let her take me... BUT THEN SHE TOOK ME TO WRONG CAMPUS! So then anxiety kicked in a I had a meltdown in the back of the car, so my sister had to run in and find directions to where the other campus was, but no one listened to me even when I clearly said that we are at the wrong campus and I knew how to get to the other campus. So then I was then left at the main campus, so I had to wait to get the shuttle bus over to the other campus which made me slightly late for the interview.
However, I was on the bus with three other people who where going to the same interview; but we all had the same Fine Art interview at 12:30... Which confused and scared me, because no one said anything about having a group interview of some sort. We all got over to the CORRECT campus and entered together, I didn`t know any of these people but I just loved them for walking in with me, even though I hadn`t properly spoken to two of them yet.
We went to a bunch of student ambassadors and they gave us a different coloured sticker to show what Interview we where going too. Orange was Illustration and Purple was Fine Art, god knows what all of the other ones are. Then we went off to Britannia Mills, which is where all of the art studios are, It`s separate from the actual main campus.
I`m seriously impressed, despite the fact that I was nervous and couldn`t stop shaking I was seriously impressed with it all. The space that you work in isn`t necessarily the biggest, but It`s because they don`t accept as many students as they want everyone to get one on one help as much as possible... which beats going to University that`s huge, but has a stupid amount of students so there is no space for anyone to do their work.
The students that showed us around where lovely people, they where helpful, friendly and where no where near as friendly as other students that I had met at other Universities. They gave us a short but sweet tour of the Markeaton campus, which is where all art students are based. The facilities that everyone has access too are amazing, just the printing room made me seriously excited! They had huge machines to make sure that your prints come out perfect, and even the device that they use for screen printing was huge and impressive! They really impressed me, I can`t really explain it, it just feels like home compared to Nottingham-Trent.
My interview was only about 10 minutes long, They had to get through 24 of us, so I`m not too bothered if they where that busy. It really didn`t feel like long enough though, you can`t really tell someone your life story within 10 minutes and explain every last thing in your portfolio in that short amount of time. I was the last one to get interviewed which meant that Roger (The head of fine art year zero, Carl was interviewing too, he`s the head of Fine Art), had time to look through my portfolio, my Sketchbook and a small pattern design book that I had taken along with me which had doodles and thought processes inside. Carl did come through at the end of the interview and had a quick look through the portfolio, But I didn`t feel like Roger was impressed with my sketchbook as I use bright backgrounds and I paint them and add colours as practice for colour theory... But that means that my sketchbook didn`t look professional at all and I think it put him off of me a lot.
I`m absolutely terrified as this is THE university that I would do anything to go to, so right now, I`m petrified as I have to wait until Monday for their choice.
Only 30 people are allowed onto this course, and just today there was 24 of us, the interviews run up until summer. So when you think about it, only one or two people will get onto the course per interview, and then again their might not be anyone who gets onto the course... I can`t even begin to explain as to how scared I am now!


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5th, January: University Interview Tomorrow!

So guys...

Tomorrow is the big day for me!
I`ve got my first ever University Interview, and I`m feeling stressed out to the max right now, I`ve been trying to keep calm all day, but keeping calm has lead me to feeling more anxious and nervous about all of this!
Tomorrow I`ll be going for my First university Interview at the University of Derby, for Fine Art. I`ve got my portfolio ready, I`ve got three bonus sketchbooks that I`m taking along with me and two very, very long essays that they`ve asked to see.
Today at sixth form was basically me just getting all of my final bits and bobs together, as well as a miniature mock interview with one of my art teachers, so I guess I`m feeling a little bit more ready than before.
However, I am still petrified that my anxiety will kick in, and I`ll be sat there shaking, or not looking at the person interviewing me, or getting my words mixed up, or rambling on over and over again. There are literally so many things that could happen during this interview and I`m absolutely petrified of each and everyone of them. I`m even petrified of the people whoa re interviewing me!

On another note, I uploaded some more quick clothing designs made out of the watercolour flower image above! I`m quite enjoying the idea of making clothing out of simple designs that I make, the only problem I have now s selling them! I`m going to keep on advertising them as much as possible though, I really want to get this going as, any money that I make will go towards my University tuition fees and for any added equipment that I`m going to need in the near future... there is literally, so much stuff I need for art, but no money for it... I`m kind of wishing that I didn`t quit my job, but if I had stayed there then I would of relapsed on my depression a lot worse than before! So for now, It`ll be pestering people to possibly purchase some clothing or pestering people to help me advertise... Not quite sure yet.


If you follow the link to this Deviantart image, You`ll find the links for the items of clothing shown here! At the minute I`m only doing women's clothing:
http://amywatkinson.deviantart.com/art/Watercolour-flower-Clothing-582591456
The T-shirt and Tank top are both only £21.45 and the Beanie shown is £16.95!
I still think that they are a bit expensive, but then again, if you are trying to gain 20% of your earnings from these items of clothing then you`re going to still need them quite high.

I`ll blog again tomorrow night to give everyone an update on how the interview goes... It can ether go terribly wrong! or horribly good!
See you all then!

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3rd January: What`s coming up...

Hiya guys!
I hope everyone has been enjoying the new year so far, and I hope that the majority of you aren`t still feeling the effects of new years eve.
Unfortunately, I`m not a party person and I would rather stay in my room and eat pizza with a few retro games of some sort.

Well at least I manages to leave the house once, I have got a little bit of exciting news, but that`ll come after I babble on about my life!

So we went out as a family, and with my mums new boyfriend, for a nice trip to the cinemas to see Daddy`s home and then out for a family meal. It`s been a while since we did anything as a family since we`re all always so busy and end up not seeing each other even though we live in the same house! I guess as we`ve gotten older we`ve gained so much responsibility that it becomes harder and harder to spend quality time with each other, so I`ve the Christmas period I`ve tried to stay at home and spend time with the family but we`re all still quite busy... Even at Christmas! So it was lucky of us to get at least one day out, even if it was only to the cinema and to then stuff our faces! But anyways, Daddy`s Home is hilarious, it had my mum in tears at one point and I managed to crack a smile! (at one point anyways).
As usual, I also managed to devour a carvery dinner at Bartlewood lodge and then devour the most amazing chocolate fudge sensation I`ve had so far... :3 twas amazing!

Here`s the first good bit of news, everything is ready for my University interviews; I`ve constantly got this weird feeling in the back of my head that my portfolio has been moved or that someone has taken it away... Like the anxiety is kicking in badly now and I can`t stop panicking about something that clearly isn`t going to happen...
But yeah, everything is ready and set to go now, I`m just waiting until I go back to sixth form so I can finish off some tiny, tiny pieces that need to go into a design book I have; I`m just taking it to show thought processes and design ideas... I need to impress them with everything I could possibly drag along with me.

The other bit of good news, is a little site called Live Hereos...
I`ve literally just come across this site on facebook and I thought that I would try it out to see what I can do with something like this.
So you basically pick a piece of clothing, men`s wear, women`s wear and dresses and then any accessories. You upload an image of you design and change it too fit the clothing, then you put it up for selling. IT`S AS EASY AS THAT!
here`s the downside, in my opinion this is the downside but there will obviously be people with a different opinion, so if you think anything else then be free to tell me! I would love to meet someone else who`s used the site before... since I`m new and all.
~Now here`s the downside, It`s so bloody expensive! A hoodie on there is about £55! Where I`m from, they get too about £30 and everyone backs off! But here`s the good bit!
It`s going to help me out so much throughout university!
By selling your work on this site, you get 20% of the money you make, it then gets transferred into points and then when you`ve got a certain amount, It`s transferred back into money and into your bank account.
When I get used to using this site, I`m going to begin producing designs specifically for this site. Due to how expensive it can be on there also, I`ll be keeping all of my designs strictly too T-shirts for now; If I sell some of the more serious designs I`ll most probably transfer them over onto other items of clothing, both for women and men!

So I`m definitely excited for the new year, University, new friends, new course, a new job and then experimenting with my own clothing!
How fun :3
I`ll also leave a link down below (with the others), to my profile on the site, at the moment I have only one design but I`ll be adding it in from now on.

My little sister is a bit of a poser
bring on the New Year!

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25th December; Happy Holidays!

We got slightly lost in an outdoor maze... oops!
Rather wind swept all the way up there!

Well lately I`ve been busy, like... Extremely busy.I haven`t had much of a break for a while and my sixth form has luckily given us two weeks and a day off of working; which would be good if I didn`t have so much stuff to be preparing for right now!
As soon as I get back to Sixth form, I`ll have exactly one more day to get myself prepared for my University Interviews... Yeah, it sucks doesn`t it :/

My very first Interview is on the 6th of January, which means I`ll have to collect together all of the Interviewing requirements and then I`ll be off the next day for the interviewing process. It`ll last about 2-3 hours and I`ll most probably be there even longer since there may be an exception to a little tour of the facilities... According to the information I`ve been given.
Of course I`m looking forward to it, but bloody hell! I`m ridiculously nervous right now and I`m no where near finishing off all of my other written pieces that they`ve asked to see. Panic mode i slowly setting in now...

I`ve managed to take some time out to relax however...
I spent four days in Mablethorpe with my boyfriend, david, and his grandad; his Grandad lives up there in the cutest little Bungalow I`ve ever seen!
We arrived there quite late, and me being completely awkward, I dragged David along so we could go for an evening walk on the beach. I thought it would be a cute thing to do... You know, a little walk on the beach with your loved one, really cute idea, right?
Well I was bloody wrong, the first five minutes where fine and then it started to feel creepy down there. So, we ran back like idiots and had a quite walk through the town instead. I definitely prefer beaches in the winter (If the weather isn`t too bad), it was nice and quite; un-like summer when people swarm to the beaches with their screaming children... Jesus.

We did some weird things, mostly fish related; and god I love fishes, they have to be one of the cutest and most colorful animals that I actually enjoy watching. Davids granddad has three huge fishtanks aswell so I mostly fell asleep watching the fish just blub around.
One the places that we went to was a giant airstrip, and the bunker that they used to keep the large planes in (Forgot the proper name) was a big aquarium, which did also house some snakes and tarantulas... But they aren`t cute so I`ll just leave them out. so when you first walk in, there`s a ramp that takes you up to a dark pool that has some of the largest fish I`ve seen! There aren`t a lot of aquariums around Ilkeston, so that`s why I was impressed... Simple minded me. Anyway, you could pet and feed the fish, and the one that kept on coming up to me must of been about the same size as my leg. Slightly, impressed and slightly creeped out.
Then there was another center a bit like the aquarium, but it also had a giant outdoor maze, a huge shop where I ended up buying some Christmas prezzies from, and a kids play area... I may be 18 soon, but no one was around so David and I played on the giant trampolines before Granddad caught us messing around.
Afterwards, we simple went out for a nice dinner and then went back home. The next morning I forced David to come along shopping with me in town, and then to relax on the beach for a while before heading back and just relaxing for a while longer. The next day we went back home, which was Christmas Eve.
Yes, it may of been a short break away from home, but it was nice and relaxing anyway. This year will be my second Christmas with David too; and I`m seriously looking forward to seeing his face when he opens his present, he`s been wanting it for months now and is still hinting at me getting it for him. I`ve hidden it well so I hope he hasn`t found it yet!

I know that the holidays are about having fun, and relaxing; of course I`m going to relax... But I`ve still got work to be getting on with right now! There`s so much I`m behind on, including the three blogs that I have! I`m also working on more Mandala designs and dotted pieces that I can scan in and upload to deviantart and on my art blog... It feels like I`ve got so much planned and so much that I`m looking forward to doing, but I`m not focusing enough on what I can do before all of that.
I`m hoping that after the holidays, everything will be back to normal and I`ll stop stressing out as much as I have done in the past two months.

It may of been freezing,
but the beach was beautiful!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! Or for anyone else, Happy Holidays!
(uploaded 00:09, I can`t get to sleep).


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Merry Christmas!

I do realize that I`ve uploaded nothing for so, so long! But I`ve been busy arranging my University interviews and I`m hoping that after Christmas everything will be back to normal once more.
So for now... 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

8th December; It`s Been A While!

When Industrial materials
are out, then protect yourself
my children!

It`s been a long time since I`ve updated anything, AND I`M SORRY!
It`s been hectic
It`s been chaos
It`s all going to be explained here.

So here`s a quick update as to what has been going on recently and why I haven`t been uploading anything for such a long time.

Firstly:
For the past two weeks I`ve somehow gained a water infection (that I had no signs or symptoms of) which has spread into both of my kidneys and has put me in some of the most excruciating pain I`ve ever felt. I haven`t been able to move around properly, My sides and back are killing me...  can`t PEE! I need to PEE! but then it was ok because I could PEE again... yeah... It`s been bad.
I did manage to get an emergency appointment at the doctors last week and they`ve given me some antibiotics that are seriously strong, make me dizzy and made me feel somewhat sick. I finish that course of Antibiotics tomorrow and I am feeling a lot better now and I`m finally updating my blogs and my deviantart.

Davids Portrait work
is coming along nicely,
He`s doe quite a few more
since I took this picture
of them.

Secondly:
The deadlines for my final piece, exhibition piece and my Contextual study keeps on getting moved around and changed then moved again and poked a few more times... It`s getting ridiculous now, For the last three weeks I`ve stayed behind until 5pm, and I get to sixth form about 8am; So I`m really tired and I haven`t felt like uploading anything since it can take a while to get images together and writing it all up whilst trying to get more coursework done and applying for UCAS... All a bit too much.
However, last week i actually managed to finish my final piece; well i think It`s finished, the teachers think otherwise at the moment, they said that I need one more layer over the top of what I`ve already done. This piece already has about 16 layers of my work and materials added on to it, so adding another layer would take to long for me to do and would probably ruin the whole thing now.


Thirdly: 
This is the good bit....
Last Tuesday I sent off my UCAS application (only £23), It`s taken me forever to get it sent off and it was supposed to get sent off in the middle of November but more stuff came up and held it back. On the Wednesday I got 5 e-mails from my 5 choices saying that they where reviewing my applications, which made me nervous.
But last Friday I was invited to an Interview at Derby University, the 20th of January at 12:00... I cried, I seriously cried about it and everyone thought that something was really wrong with me; but it was just because I was happy and nervous and yeah.
Then today I checked UCAS track again and my e-mails, I`ve got another interview 6th of January at 12:30 at derby University.
Both interviews are 2-3 hours long and I need to finish my portfolio (which is taking forever), finish off my sketchbook work and get my contextual study needs to be finished off before the Interviews. So of course I`m stressing out and staying behind even later at sixth form and I`m getting seriously tired out by it all.

Hopefully I can update some more and get on top of everything that you may of possibly missed, I am very tired and still under the weather at the moment.
It should all pick up once my portfolio has been finished and my contextual study has been finished, I`m hoping that everything goes well in time for these interviews as I`m ridiculously nervous and panicking already.

Also... MY HAIR IS BRIGHT PURPLE NOW!

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