Colouring outside the lines of formal academia.

For years, when people asked what I did, I had an easy answer: “I teach design at the university.” It was to the point and seemed to explain everything quite neatly. But Higher Education is a challenging place right now, and redundancy has a way of arriving without ceremony. Suddenly, the sentence I’d relied on no longer fit. What now? Was I excited or terrified? If I’m honest, probably a bit of both.

After the initial panic (and several long walks with the dog), something unexpected crept in: relief and, dare I say, excitement. Because if I really think about it, some of my favourite work has always happened around the edges of academic systems and their bureaucratic overload: in studios, community spaces, messy workshops, collaborative projects, and a whole bunch of conversations and ideas that never quite fit on a module descriptor or neatly into a timetable. Can the fun stuff still happen outside the institution? I’m saying yes, or at least, let’s see. Not leaving the big ideas behind, just changing where they live.

Sketchbooks in the studio; filled with experiments and illustrations (the good the bad and the ugly!), encouraging thoughtful reflections on my creative practice.

The last couple of months have sparked a lot of reflection and, those who know me won’t be surprised to hear, there have been many lists - I do love a good list! It has left me knowing that I want more creativity, more autonomy, more time to make and think and the space to make new challenges and collaborations. I want less monotony (masquerading as “comfortable”) and less of the precariousness that the HE sector is built upon right now. If the old structures are wobbling, then I’d rather build something of my own!

Recently, I found a term that feels like a good fit for these early steps: a para-academic - someone who researches, teaches, and creates knowledge alongside academia but isn’t confined by it. That feels like where I want some of my creative life to sit for a while, and perhaps might provide a new 'job title' which feels like it might be needed, although I'm not sure why that's important - I blame my millennial brain. I definitely believe research can happen in public, in community, or in the studio; that making and doing are equal forms of knowledge to writing. I don’t have to be in a traditional academic role to do this work.

So, what next...

Right now, I’m building a mix of things that feel both familiar and entirely new. I’m working with the National Science and Media Museum, Born in Bradford and Arts Council England on their Digital Creatives project; a role that blends creative producing, schools engagement and playful, creative digital experimentation - trying to work out how I feel about the role of digital creativity in my practice! I’ve (finally) finished writing a paper for the University of Huddersfield’s Culture of Climate publication which will be out soon, looking at the conflicts between working with heritage processes whilst wanting to encourage sustainable practices in the studio. And, because I'm obviously not wearing enough hats, I'm also supporting the lovely BA (Hons) Textiles In Practice team over at Manchester School of Art where it's been fab to still keep the design and colour conversations going with Level 4 students on their first 2 modules of the year.

Somehow though I've still got brain space - I honestly don't know how?! - and I’m slowly getting to grips with organising my studio and getting back to a regular drawing practice which is just the best! Creativity and freedom feels wonderful.

So, here’s to colouring outside the lines and seeing what happens next. Follow along if you want to see where we go with this!...