8.55 am:

9.00 am. A further morning of second year, fine art feedback tutorials. Some observations and principles:

• Positive and productive change is always possible. But’s its sometimes surprising when it happens.
• Printmakers and photographers often begin with the medium and the technique and then work their way towards the subject; whereas painters tend make their journey in the opposite direction.
• There are two possibilities for students who work across several mediums: either the practices continue to be pursued independently, or else they increasingly converge upon one another. Neither scenario is preferable, although one may be more appropriate.
• The seeds of your present were planted in your past. The shoots of your future are contained within them. Realise, and rejoice in, that continuity; look to what you’re doing in order to understand what you must do.

1.00 pm. No lunch for the wicked! 1.10 pm. Our sole, full-time, MA Fine Art, Portfolio assessment. Very encouraging. 2.00 pm: Mr Croft (sub) and I assessed the third year, fine art, Research, Process, and Practice presentations:

I admired the students’ candour and brave self disclosure as much as I did the insightfulness of their contributions. Encapsulating oneself and one’s work, and projecting such to your peers and assessors poses a considerable challenge.

6.00 pm. Practise session 1. 7.00 pm. A day’s worth of assessments needed to be distilled into feedback reports by the end of the evening. (Some Miles Davis, c.1970, to lubricate the mind and inspire the creative spirit. I discovered this material when I was 14 years of age. It was like hearing music for the first time again.):

Some typifying feedback comments on the Research, Process, and Practice presentations:

• You switched effortlessly, and to good effect, between a verbatim mode and a more extemporary manner.
• Throughout, you maintained an intimate relationship between what was being said and what was being shown. No mean feat.
• Read towards the audience and not your feet.
• You presented a critical and well-comprehended assessment of your contribution to the field.
• An authoritative and engaging introduction that made sensible and varied use of technology.
• You’ve a gift for this, and it should be fostered further.
• Throughout, you were yourself. That’s a virtue.
• Writing out the piece helps to consolidate ideas and clarify intent.
• Your conviction convinced me.
• You revealed the inner processes of thought and making.