Carla Angus – MA Fine Art

Carla had wanted to return to study for some years to reignite and discover her practice.  As a mature student, she’d worked in the Arts for many years, starting off with a degree in Theatre Design in her twenties, and then as a freelance theatre designer on small touring shows across the UK.

After meeting her husband, Carla moved to Banff in the North East of Scotland, and opened a successful creative development business called The Creative Retreat, in Gardenstown. Over the next 10 years, she led residential visual arts courses, artist residencies, workshops, curated exhibitions and cultural events for the third sector, public sector and education.

Having always wanted to return to education and to challenge herself with new areas of creative work, Carla seized the opportunity to apply to Gray’s School of Art to do a master’s in Fine Art.

Her family and work commitments had finally fallen into place to enable her to become a part time student.

“I knew people who had already graduated from the MA at Gray’s, so I was able to get an honest opinion as to the pros and cons. It seemed like a really open course that would allow me to experiment and develop at my own pace. Gray's was also a feasible option because I lived and worked in rural Aberdeenshire.”

It’s a decision she’s not regretted, and Carla looks back positively on her experience at Gray’s.

“I’m so proud of achieving my MA, particularly as I work three days a week and have to travel 50 miles to reach RGU. I feel I was able to feed a lot of my work and life experience into my studies. I now feel confident and capable of explaining what I do and siting my work within specific areas of practice.

“I’ve really enjoyed the freedom to spend time focussing on developing my practice, with the support of expert technicians and staff to suggest, guide and introduce new thought processes and making skills.

“Throughout my studies, a field trip to Edinburgh and dissertation research gave me the chance to network and to meet people working in the creative industries. This has already helped my career move on.

“I’m currently a Graduate in Residence and am using this time to work on a project at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral Edinburgh. I was invited to respond to the space by A+E, an art programme embedded in the cathedral, a connection that developed entirely due to the MA field trip to Edinburgh. Aside to that, I’m already pursuing work with Museum and Heritage teams to make work in relation to tangible and intangible heritage.

“I now have confidence in my work and abilities, so I feel valid in approaching people to discuss work possibilities in a new field. Interviewing people as part of my dissertation has also fed into this.”

Whilst at RGU, Carla studied alongside her daughter, who is in her final year studying Communication Design at Gray’s which  has been very special.

“Being on campus at the same time as my daughter has been lovely as we’ve been able to hang out socially and creatively, which we wouldn’t done in the same way as she no longer living at home.

“Being a mature student is great! You have the life experience to really appreciate the opportunities Gray's can bring and also the maturity to enjoy challenging conversations with tutors. I’d really recommend it to anyone.

“You need to be very self-directed, prepared to challenge yourself and be challenged. Speak to current and ex-students to make sure it’s the course for you, consider doing the course over two years to allow more thinking time, and then jump in!”