Locus Iste - Reflections on My First Half Term at Canford
My first term at Canford as the Creative Graduate Assistant and Artist in Residence has been a whirlwind; equal parts exciting, daunting, and deeply rewarding. Moving to a new place with new people is never easy, but the sense of community here quickly makes you feel at home. I couldn’t have asked for better Graduate Buddies - they’ve made the transition so much easier, always up for a laugh, a chat, or a much-needed crochet evening!
From decorating studios and reorganising fabric in the workshop (and the library - a serious task in itself!) to running my first sessions in the darkroom with the Shells (Year 9), it’s been full-on in the best way. Watching them create their first photograms and seeing their excitement reminded me why I love what I do. I’m beginning to realise that combining photography and textiles might just be my creative sweet spot.
I also participated in a Light Drawing workshop with Oscar Dryden, where we used torches, fairy lights, and glow sticks to create different effects. We must have looked completely wacky - a group of us in the middle of a field at night waving lights around - and my feet ended up drenched! But it was such a brilliant experience. We learnt about ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, which meant I could later re-teach the workshop myself.
Outside the studio, I’ve dipped my toes into all sorts of school life - helping at an Open Day, running sport for the Year 6 Explore Day (football rounders, anyone?), and now preparing to camp with the Marines for World Enterprise Day… I’m still not quite sure how I ended up here!
We also had Progressive Dinner, which was absolutely hilarious. We each received our name on a slip of paper telling us where to go for our starter - I began in the Billiard Room with nibbles before being sent off to the Montecute tutor flat for a Greek-themed main (togas and all!). Then it was back to the Art Department for dessert, which I hosted - cheesecakes served on paint palettes and a lively portrait-drawing competition. Things got hairy, but I’ve never seen such a vibey art department! The night went on for ages with so many laughs - a brilliant, creative, slightly chaotic way to get to know everyone. A big success all round!
Creatively, it’s been a bit of a tug-of-war. With so many materials and possibilities around me, I’ve had to remind myself to slow down, plan, and not chase perfection. Letting go of print design has been freeing, and I’ve begun focusing more on textile art which is something that feels both grounding and expressive.
My next project is for the Farfield Textile Competition on the theme Metamorphosis. I’ll be creating a large cross-stitch reinterpretation of a 1950s archival photograph of the Canford School Art Department, exploring how a building can be more than just a place. The work, titled Locus Iste - “This Place” - mirrors my own journey this term: finding belonging, transformation, and inspiration in a community that already feels like home. It will hopefully echo how, though a building can remain the same, the ideologies and people within it can shift profoundly - yet the nature of artistic inquiry always endures. With the final cross-stitch image only becoming clear when viewed from a distance and dissolving into abstraction up close, I hope to express that same sense of shifting perception over time.
As the leaves turn outside my cosy corner (tea always in hand), I’m grateful for my colleagues, who just get it, and for the chance to keep growing, both artistically and personally - here at Canford.
