Say hello to my little friend..... My brand spanking new Mini Folio.

 

I think when you take the decision to become a creative, a small part of you thinks you've broken away entirely from the normal expectations of society, with 9-5 hours and desk work.  You're now part of a new creative way of working, where you set your own times to rock up to 'create' in a studio.  You can explore, make a whopping great mess and generally be an artist! 

Actually, yes. Thats all true.  But you still need professional tools.  As I work through my degree I realise how many different forms these come in.  From curatorial tool kits to software that makes your work look sweeeet.. (and a lap top that will run it!) You need to bundle all that arty brilliance up into a professional package.  

Introducing the Proposal Pack.  This pack is basically an Artist CV (yes.. it's like a normal CV but full of awesomeness, like exhibitions and sold work as well as your quals and experience.  If you're just thinking about a career in Art now, get some volunteering in and get involved in everything you can from your Art world.),.... It also includes a Cover letter, a Mini-folio (sounds cute huh) and a Placement Proposal (so that you can bag some time getting professional Artist experience) 

Your Mini folio showcases some of your Art Highlights.  Honestly, this pack has been tricky to put together.  It's different to any of the applications that I had experience of in my previous job roles and it's a learning curve knowing what you should include and what to edit out.  I've now got my CV nearing completion - just need a couple of tweaks after a meeting with a uni academic- and my Mini Folio is good to go.

In my meeting I got loads of really good feedback about my cover letter (which is actually an email but for the proposal pack for module marking, will be in a letter format).  I spent all yesterday afternoon reconsidering and editing. 

But now.. I feel that I've got a great employment tool kit.  Even if you only ever want to be self employed and you never want to work for "the man" - you need this.  It essentially pulls all that creative chaos together and creates a timeline of your work with themes and highlights. It makes your career pathway make a bit more sense.  I know you have to write about art and reflecting on your practice is always necessary, but this makes you think about what you would edit out and how you'd explain your Art Career to someone.

My proposal is still in development but the I'm pretty pleased with the Mini Folio, CV and email.

It may not lead me to a 9-5 desk job. .. but it could well get me into the amazing archive of Art works that's stashed away in storage in the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery.  Now thats exciting!