CASE STUDY: Jayne Wilton

When we spoke to Jayne she was studying for her MA at the Slade School of Fine Art. Previously, she had studied at Amersham & Wycombe College for her HND in Fine Art followed by a BA (Hons) in Fine Art Practice.

 

Although Jayne is considered a traditional learner, having left school with 13 O' levels, 3 A' levels and a degree in Business, she went back into higher education as a mature learner via a vocational route to study her real love, Art.

Whilst at school Jayne was discouraged from choosing Art as a career option and felt pressurised by the school in choosing more academic subjects to follow a stable career in the business world. However, she did achieve her Art O-level by attending a lunchtime additional class that the school offered. After Jayne gained her degree she secured a year's contract in Australia marketing the bi-centennial celebrations. This called on her artistic ability and she enjoyed the work. When she returned to England she joined ICI and managed several different projects within the company. None of these provided her with an opportunity to use her creativity. She left the company when her children were quite small and started to study Homeopathy. She qualified after six years and then practised Homeopathy for a further five years.

During this period Jayne also studied for a City and Guilds certificate in Watercolour and Design. From this she started to build up a portfolio of work and went on to achieve the Access to Fine Art award. She was then accepted onto the HND in Fine Art at Amersham & Wycombe College and went on to achieve first class honours in the BSc (Hons) Fine Art Practice. Jayne is currently studying at the Slade School of Fine Art for her MA.

Jayne has thoroughly enjoyed studying Art. The Access course gave her the opportunity to experiment with and try out new things. She also has found the progression to the masters level exciting as each level enabled her to discover new skills. She has had fantastic support from her tutors and she has also had the opportunity to teach Art to other students.

Jayne has managed to draw on her life's experiences and her research and analytical skills from working in the pharmaceutical industry to develop her artistic ability and style. This has influenced her work with outstanding results.

Although she found returning to study a little daunting to begin with and difficult to shoe horn her studies into her busy family life she has enjoyed the whole experience and never thought she would be where she is today. Her aim now is to become a professional artist but would like to combine this with teaching others Fine Art.

We spoke to Jayne in November 2008