{"id":736,"date":"2025-03-06T12:13:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T13:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/?p=736"},"modified":"2025-03-12T16:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T16:49:34","slug":"from-undergraduate-to-postgraduate-studies-at-grays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/06\/from-undergraduate-to-postgraduate-studies-at-grays\/","title":{"rendered":"From Undergraduate to Postgraduate studies at Gray\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fine Art<\/a> student Kirsty shares her journey from studying an undergraduate degree in Painting at Gray’s School of Art, RGU<\/a>, to staying for a master’s to develop her research and practice further. <\/p>\n

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Starting my art journey at RGU<\/h2>\n

When choosing what university to study at, I had a bit of a hard time making the decision, mainly because it was during COVID-19 which meant that I couldn\u2019t visit the University for its open days<\/a>. Still, I was able to visit Aberdeen and something about the campus<\/a> and university was a big draw for me without having entered the buildings. It felt like Aberdeen had a comfortable balance between being a city and having places to go that felt quieter and more relaxed. I grew up in a small town and spent a lot of time in rural areas so I liked having the mix.<\/p>\n

Once I had decided to move to Aberdeen<\/a> and study at Gray\u2019s School of Art, I couldn\u2019t have been happier with my decision. I had so many worries about what studying art would really be like, whether I would receive harsh criticism, would my work be \u2018good enough\u2019, would I fit in? I had a lot of doubts but in reality, it could not have been further from that.<\/p>\n

Whilst we [students] do have feedback and \u2018crits\u2019 with staff and peers, it has always been very constructive and given in a way that helps us improve and work towards a vision. It has also opened my eyes to much bigger and broader ideas that I hadn\u2019t even considered, and my work began to change immensely for what I believe is the better. My research became something I really enjoyed and it began to drive my work, which was not necessarily the case before as I always struggled with reading, but once I found the texts and research topic that interested me, it became easier.<\/p>\n

My experience on the Painting course<\/h2>\n

The painting lecturers were phenomenal at providing support. Helping me sort out the formalities in my work and honing me in on making my exhibitions make more sense has been very helpful and ultimately is what guided me towards such a successful degree show with two awards (RSA New Contemporaries & RGU Art and Heritage Collection).<\/p>\n

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I gained a lot of confidence through being able to speak in depth about my work and that is why I also took a chance in my final year of undergraduate to apply to various awards, residencies and opportunities alongside the ones that are arranged by Gray\u2019s. I didn\u2019t necessarily think I would win any, but I had the confidence to at least apply and try. With that, I managed to get an award with Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST). This has allowed me to undertake two courses learning how to make natural pigments, inks, dyes, natural tools and so on, which I am now doing alongside my master\u2019s programme (many of these opportunities were sign posted by lecturers on our Moodle).<\/p>\n

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Choosing to come back to Gray’s to study a master’s in Fine Art<\/h2>\n

So, what I am trying to say is that my undergraduate studies really put me in good stead for going on to do a postgraduate course. One of the things that really led me in the direction of the master\u2019s in Fine Art is, that during my undergraduate course, I discovered a great interest in my area of study into Scottish culture and plants.<\/p>\n

I felt that, while I was really happy with my dissertation in 4th<\/sup> year, there was also so much more information and research I did that could not fit, and I wanted to continue my research with the support of an institution like Gray\u2019s where I have access to tutors’ advice. Also, I thought there was so much more to explore within my creative practice as well \u2013 hence applying for the QEST funding.<\/p>\n

I knew there was so much more to learn and I wanted to have an environment where I could continue to do that.<\/p>\n

Differences between undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Gray’s<\/h2>\n

The biggest difference I have noticed is that the undergraduate course really focused on finding your area of interest. There was a focus on experimenting with various ideas with a wide array of possibilities for where your work can go, and then having those one-to-one chats with your personal tutor to help see what, out of everything you are learning, actually interests you as an individual as well as giving us advice for how we can better curate our work and connect everything together.<\/p>\n

A focus on research and practice in the master’s<\/h3>\n

The classes focused on \u2018studio\u2019 and those focused on \u2018critical and contextual studies\u2019 (CCS) were also somewhat disparate in the undergraduate. You didn\u2019t necessarily need to connect your CCS research to the work that you were creating in the studio, though some people did, not everyone chose to. What I have noticed most from the postgraduate course is that CCS and studio have become much more linked.<\/p>\n

The master’s continues to introduce us to more research areas and topics with somewhat more challenging texts to read, and there is a good level of independent study whilst still having quite a lot of student-tutor contact. Because I have that background of having done my undergraduate, I am confident in what I am currently doing in the master\u2019s, which allows me to work more independently.<\/p>\n

I know what area of study I am interested in at this point, and what I am learning from the master\u2019s is expanding upon the research I did in the undergraduate, and developing upon my studio practice as well. The undergraduate got me to a stage where I finally found out what I wanted to do with my art and it was really just the beginning of my more refined art practice that I am delving deeper into now.<\/p>\n

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Because I have such a strong interest in my research area, I have even considered going on to do a PhD in the topic area of Scottish Culture and plant connections with a dream of one day writing a book. This is something I never would have considered doing in the past but with the support of lecturers and fellow students too, I feel like it is an opportunity that would be really interesting and exciting as it would allow me the time to create something in a supported environment, which would be much harder to do on my own out with the University.<\/p>\n

A quieter environment<\/h3>\n

The classes are smaller in the postgraduate course, with a much quieter environment than what you have at undergraduate level. The positive side of this is getting to know a wide range of new people from different backgrounds. This includes people who perhaps graduated the same year as you, but from a different department within the school, graduated years ago, or in some cases are new to the scene of study but have been a practising artist for many years.<\/p>\n

In your postgraduate course, all the different disciplines come together, CAP, Painting, Ceramics, Sculpture, Fashion, Digital, so it gives such a different perspective. The variety of skills and backgrounds is exciting with the smaller class numbers too as we all get to know each other well and become quite a close little cohort.<\/p>\n

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Expanding on your artistic practice<\/h3>\n

Whilst I was able to be quite experimental and playful in my undergraduate, creating sculptures alongside my paintings, within the Fine Art course of the MA I feel that my mixed media approach and creation of different kinds of objects as well as paintings makes more sense being defined within fine art itself than it perhaps did when I was on the painting course. <\/p>\n

Alongside this, I have also found myself making much more use of the facilities and workshops available at Gray\u2019s as a master\u2019s student than I did when studying my undergraduate. I am not necessarily sure why I didn\u2019t utilise all the different areas of workshops at Gray\u2019s, perhaps it was because the undergraduate felt more fast-paced in terms of deadlines, but with the master\u2019s introductions\/reintroductions to the workshops and facilities, I have found myself experimenting with so many other ways of making.<\/p>\n

Why would I recommend a master’s in Fine Arts?<\/h2>\n

Overall, I really recommend to do the master\u2019s for many reasons. One of those reasons could be the same as my own, that you wish to hone in on your research some more because you felt there was much more you could do with it. Or perhaps you want to develop your artistic practice further because you learned of some new techniques and didn\u2019t get to explore them fully in the undergraduate. Maybe you want to gain more confidence in your work, and I believe there are a lot of nerves that come with leaving art school and the idea of sustaining your practice and finding a job, and you might just want some more time to decide what you want to do. Maybe your goal is to do a PhD and the master\u2019s is a good stepping stone towards that. <\/p>\n

Overall, there are many reasons as I said, and I have so far felt that doing the master\u2019s was a good decision for me and has already been so useful in helping me understand what I want and learn more.<\/p>\n

Kirsty MacDonald<\/em><\/p>\n

Related blogs<\/h2>\n

Looking back on our experience studying at Gray\u2019s School of Art<\/a><\/p>\n

My career as a Graphic Designer after studying Communication Design<\/a><\/p>\n

The post From Undergraduate to Postgraduate studies at Gray’s<\/a> appeared first on RGU Student Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fine Art student Kirsty shares her journey from studying an undergraduate degree in Painting at Gray’s School of Art, RGU, to staying for a master’s to develop her research and practice further. Starting my art journey at RGU When choosing what university to study at, I had a bit of a hard time making the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":746,"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736\/revisions\/746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/glhyzs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}