Caroline Underwood
Artist/TeacherWhat have you been up to since leaving University of the Arts London?
I spent a year doing teacher training. Since achieving QTS in 2004 I have taught Art and Graphic Design part-time at Kidbrooke Secondary School, and at a Specialist Arts College. I started a part-time Masters course in 2005 at City & Guilds of London Art School, achieving MA Fine Art in 2007. I have continued to develop my studio practice, and now have a studio at Creekside Artists in Deptford. I have been exhibiting work in galleries in London and Whitstable.
Are there any particular skills that you have come to rely on?
Teaching! And the cross-disciplinary perspective it has given me in terms of my studio practice. Also, independent research skills have come in useful for continuing my understanding of historical & contemporary practitioners in relation to my own work, and for finding out about opportunities.
What would be your advice to a student graduating now?
Get a studio in a shared studio complex with other artists. It's worth the cost for the continued sense of being in an artist community (which most people miss after graduating) and the opportunities that will come your way. Also, keep up-to-date with exhibition opportunities through ArtQuest and other websites. If you are taking on a part-time or full-time job to pay the bills, try to get something related to art & design - people who take on unrelated jobs for the money seem to find it harder to keep their practice going as the offer of more work and more money is tempting but it's hard to find the time & space to work if you don't prioritise it.
What, if anything, would you do differently?
I might have invested in a shared studio space sooner, if I could have afforded it and if I had known then what a positive impact it would have - I worked alone in my own studio but really missed out on the sense of being part of an artist community.
Did you feel prepared when you graduated? If not, was there anything else you wish you’d done, any opportunities you wish you’d seized?
I didn't feel as though the course had prepared me very well for a career as an artist, and because I was feeling a bit negative after three years studying I felt like I needed to do something different to remind myself what it was about art that I was passionate about. I had opted to take a teaching taster course in my final year, and had enjoyed it, so I decided to spend a year doing art and design teacher training at secondary and post 16 level. It was intense and hard work but I now realise it was worth investing the time and effort that year, as it has given me a secure, rewarding, creative and well-paid part-time job since, which has enabled me to keep developing my work, complete an MA and pay for a studio space.
