Drawing on initial research (Ravetz et al 2013; Cooper et al 2010) I became aware of the potential benefits of employing collaborative pedagogies to enable autonomy and ownership and to enrich opportunities for peer learning within undergraduate art and design courses in order to develop employment ready graduates.  I reflected upon my own prior experiences of working in this context which have resulted in the joint production of artists’ books with an ex-colleague whose art practice is located within a different discipline to my own. The new expertise this generated correlates with standpoints presented by Tanner (2010) who examines established makers working collaboratively to extend their own practice. Budge (2012) and Reynolds (2011) substantiate this and acknowledge the increase of employment for undergraduate learners working collaboratively. In response I have decided to undertake a research study which aims to investigate collaborative pedagogies with undergraduate learners in order to inform new curriculum frameworks that support the development of subject specific skills alongside autonomy and ownership. Alongside this I am interested in undertaking constructing new collaborative frameworks to make work in order to draw upon my experiences working in this context as a further form of triangulation.

This blog evidences the collaborative craft making practices I have constructed from October 2014 to the present day through the documentation of working methods and experimentation with new media,techniques and processes.   I began the process by undertaking two separate collaborative projects which connected and became interlinked.  Multiple strands developed out of open ended conversations which meandered and explored new possibilities extending my thinking process, meaning making and known practice within art and design.  The starting point for my arts practice recorded within this blog  was  a collection of beautiful but overlooked jewellery pieces.  By making object led work I drew upon Blakey and Mitchell (2013) and exchanged meaning making processes with peers working within  graphic design, art history, events and exhibitions, sculpture and fine art practice.  Through this process I have explored the use of drawing, printmaking and photography processes alongside collage and casting with sand, clay, wax and plaster.  I have begun to combine materials, techniques and processes from different subject disciplines which has led to a series of 2D and 3D final outcomes constructed by considering text, print, surface and gold leaf.

Whilst my research project with undergraduate students has been completed, strands of my own collaborative practices remain unresolved and I will continue to record their process within this blog.  Having explored range of new media I am interested to return to the process of print and am currently working on a series of mixed media collaged prints re-uniting the lost jewellery pieces with their imagined owners.  I enjoy working with a narrative within my work and would like to take the combining of text and image further.  I have begun to explore opportunities to recreate this project with a series of institutions and new groups of learners.