One mans trash is another mans treasure. So how do I convince an audience to view and wonder upon my found objects that they would ordinarily consider to be rubbish?

With the deadline for practical hand in fast approaching I have been amazed by the number of ideas I have had while conjugating how to engage an audience: a viewmaster reel of bones, a mutoscope sequence of a wave coming to shore, collections of found objects in home made museum style display cases, single objects placed in old mahogany glass plate holders to name but a few.

In addition to our practical work we are expected to contextualise each piece. To accompany my 'message in a bottle' film I have made a book with wood and twine that I found on the shoreline which records each bottle that has been launched with blank pages for any replies that may result.

The next month will be busy as I problem solve, source materials then create my concepts. However, next Friday I intend to keep free to visit my newly discovered inspirational artist, Robert Callender.  As chance would have it there is a touring exhibition of his work which is on till 22nd December at the Lochgelly Centre in Fife. A trip to the furniture recycling depot in Dundee on my return trip will hopefully secure me a chest of drawers that I can convert into museum display cases too.

Of all the constructive comments I have received over the last year the one that has engaged me the most was from the photographer Anne Campbell who invited me to consider small scale images as a way to engage an audience. Beforehand I had found the polaroid image transfers I had made frustratingly small till Anne proposed that their minuteness forced the viewer to come forward to view them thus making for an intimate and engaging experience.

The seeds where thus planted and I began to think of other ways I could entice people to come forward and engage with my curated collections of found objects.  Museum display cases where one of my ideas but I was concerned about the stuffy formalness. 

The main aim of my Masters Show is that my viewing public is gifted with a reawakened 'sense of wonder'. To try and achieve this enormous feat I needed to employ Anne's wisdom. I began by taking photographs of a collection of bones I found on my last visit to Orkney. These I edited then uploaded to a website that converts digital images into viewmaster reels. Another visit to eBay secured a viewmaster viewer.  This is the first of many concepts born in my sketchbook that will hopefully entice my audience to engage, play and wonder. 

GP20, 10am marked the first of many to come one to one tutorials with our new principal lecturer Dr Jon Pengelly. The aim of which was to discuss our work to date, our vision for the forthcoming January exhibition and Master Show in September 2017. The exhibition in January is important as our studio practice will be marked and if all is good we will be awarded our Post Graduate Diploma.

I had much to speak to Jon about having recently met with my specialist tutor David Blyth and the composer David Ward. I was happy to report no shortage of ideas for the works I wished to produce. Even so, I understand the need to be focused and concentrate on what I can manage in the timescale allotted. Thankfully I have developed other ventures to work towards after I graduate.

As with my meeting with David, wisdom and texts where shared. I departed Grays yet again a little richer.

Having provisionally finished his latest opera, The Garden of the Sun, David requested that we night meet to discuss our works to date on our mutual collaboration.  So early Saturday morning saw me driving up to Banchory in the drizzly weather to the home of our hosts, Mark and Fiona Hope. Not that the weather spoilt the views! Being more confident that I could navigate my way northwards I meandered up the Slug Road and drank deeply from the landscape. By mid morning I arrived at my destination and was welcomed with kisses, coffee, a roaring fire and a view of the snow covered Cairngorms.

For the next hour and a half we talked and shared our progress to date. Without any disagreement we blended and cooked our ideas together concocting our fusion of sound and visuals. Accompanying and advising us was our host Mark Hope who informed us that a date would be set soon for the performance at Woodend Barn somewhere between the last week in October and the first week in November 2017. The performers are to be cellist Rohan de Saram with his son Suren on percussion and pianist Kausikan Rajeshkumar.

We parted company after lunch, the long drive homewards giving me time to think over all that we had discussed.

​The last couple of weeks has seen me working in my studio as the next important date in my calendar is the Summative Assessment of my practical work to date which will be presented as an exposition that will be on show at Grays from the 16th to the 20th January.

To help me focus on the task in hand I met with my personal tutor David Blyth. As always he shared his pearls of wisdom and made sure that I was on track for both this exposition, my dissertation and finally my Masters Show. The borrow of a book (Image Music Text by Roland Barthes) and the gift of Kodak bellows camera sweetened the meeting further.

When I left David it was with sadness because my time at Grays will end far too soon. My journey to date has enriched me exponentially. Friendships, knowledge, inspiration and the gift of making again. However at least my studio practice will continue when I graduate next year as I have more ideas than can be made in time for my Masters Show.