Reflections after Module Briefing

This briefing got me thinking about where my practice is and how nervous I am about where it will be in the future. 

Where is my practice leading me?

I am working on becoming more aware of my current practice and researching professional artists and seeing what they're up to, how they're getting themselves out there and who they're working with. I would like to continue developing print; both screen print and digital. After graduation I would like to work freelance. Although, I think to achieve this I need to open up more pathways for myself and find more contacts to possibly work with in the future. 

Do you need to collaborate? Are you going to be flying solo?

I don't think this will be essential to my practice but I'm keeping my options open for any opportunities that I may get in the future. Working in collaboration may open up new pathways to develop my practice and I am comfortable working with others.

At the moment I'm swinging more towards working individually but I will work collaboratively if it will help to develop my practice.

How do you work best?

At the moment I work best individually although this may change as my practice develops further. I enjoy working with a naive, childish aesthetic even when covering darker subjects and I intend this to stay the same throughout my practice and just work on extending my practice further over time. I intend to research further into naive art to become more aware of where I sit in contemporary illustration. 

What kind of job do you want?

At the moment I feel like it's constantly changing and I'm unsure on which direction to head generally so I'm trying to keep all my doors open. I have recently considered the possibility of teaching (extended/foundation diploma level) after seeing most of my tutors being freelance illustrators alongside teaching. I imagine teaching at this level is useful for extending your practice as you're constantly surrounded by creatives. This involves training courses that I need to look further into. I'm unsure whether they cost money so I may also need to work full/part time to fund this which may make me fall off the grid for a while. However, if I complete the courses and get a teaching job then I'll be able to develop my practice alongside. 

If I decide not to pursue a career in teaching then I intend to be in full time employment and develop my practice in my spare time which sounds way less interesting and I'm less likely going to be able to make a career out of illustration (WHICH I DON'T WANT).

I would also enjoy working in a print workshop where I would have access to screen printing more easily. There are a couple of workshops around Leeds and I should consider contacting them to open more opportunities in the future.