Hi, I’m Chloë, a 21 year old artist from Kent. I currently work in Retail Management and I’m hoping to start an Art Degree in 2021

I was always a creative child, but what really started my journey as an artist was joining a sculpture club down the road from my country house when I was thirteen. It was in the middle of nowhere and it was run by a tall, thin, white haired man, who spent his days in his studio chain smoking away and creating beautiful sculptures. Roger was a Buddhist, a charity fundraiser, an artist, and a complete character. He was the first person to show me that art can be a lifestyle and a career. His studio was somewhere I could go every Saturday morning to escape from the stress of school and general life. I could sit down and create anything I set my mind to - from then on, art became my main form of expression and has been something I’ve often turned to in times of stress.

My childhood journey with art led me to studying at UCA. While studying I learned a wide variety of skills which I hope to add to during the course of my degree. especially enjoyed taking one theme, completely reconstructing it, and creating something completely new from it.

After college, due to personal pressures on myself I decided to take a break from studying so that I could get settled by finding a home and a full-time job. I moved into my own flat, started working for the British Heart Foundation and, through hard work and determination, I worked my way up to becoming the Assistant Manager within a year. At work I find myself always leaning towards more creative jobs such as drawing eye-catching designs on our black board and dressing the mannequins with colour matching, fashion forward items.

Through my work over the years, I have developed many skills that have given me a unique perspective that I will take advantage of when studying this degree. For example, in the business we have a 6-month self-review, with the goal being to independently analyse our past performance so we can work to improve. I plan to bring these self-analytical skills with me on the course to help me learn from and improve my work. I have also been working to specifically develop my problem-solving skills within the last year. I feel that taking that break from my studies was beneficial and necessary to learn time management and to develop my character, my interpersonal skills and my ability to take criticism. Now I can jump back into the world of art with fresh eyes and a unique perspective from my time working for charity.

The reason I have applied for this course specifically is due to the environment I have experienced at UCA. Walking down the halls and seeing the art on the walls around me brings me back to what I felt as a thirteen-year-old sitting in that old studio, having the space and tools to create anything I wanted. The range of ideas and themes that are explored is immense, and I enjoy the emotions that both contemporary and creative art brings me. I look forward to studying in an environment that is so broad and diverse. Studying a degree in Art will allow me to push my creativity to its limits and experiment with new and exciting processes so I can experiment with new fun ways to present my work.

Who knows, perhaps in the future I’ll be the wispy-haired old woman in her studio, inspiring youths to find their spark?