Student Stories: Jade Chaplin

OCA BA Hons stage 3 Illustration student Jade shares their student story with us below.

"Hello! I'm Jade. I'm 29, from Chesterfield, and I work full time as an Educational Content Lead at an educational publishing company, using my prior experience as a primary school teacher."

What is your previous educational experiences and what drew you to OCA?

In my teens, my focus was on becoming a teacher, so I studied Primary Education at university and qualified to teach. However, I had always had a passion for art and wanted a career where I could be creative. This became even more important after some time teaching, as I knew I wanted this creative outlet, so I looked for ways that I could fulfil this and came across OCA.

Can you describe your OCA journey?

My time at OCA has changed a lot! I started studying Illustration in 2018, not really knowing what to expect but hoping to learn lots and have time dedicated to being creative. I love the freedom that comes with distance learning and the variety of methods and materials I've tried. The biggest challenge is fitting the studying around everyday life - it can be difficult to carve out the time but it is definitely worth it in the end.

What was the Tutor and/or Peer Support like on your course?

All of my tutors have been incredible and I have learnt so much from their feedback and experience in their respective creative fields. That is probably one of the best parts of learning with OCA; I had never received such detailed feedback before, and at so many stages of my projects.

What does studying with OCA mean to you?

I love to learn and so having the structure of a degree was something I was seeking out at the beginning. In the end, hopefully achieving the degree and holding that piece of paper will symbolise how far I've come. The work itself has developed my confidence and made me realise what could be possible in the future.

What's next?

I'm still not 100% sure exactly where I want to go next! I love exploring people's memories and their connections to their past, so I would like to continue working around this theme, hopefully meeting more people and telling more stories. I also love pop-up and collage so these will be techniques that I continue to develop.

Any advice?

Reach out to your tutor and to other students for advice and inspiration. Once of my favourite parts of the creative process is the research; immerse yourself in this and you're bound to find that spark that turns into something incredible.

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You can find Jade at:

@artworkjade on Instagram and

www.facebook.com/artworkjade/ on Facebook