Student Stories: OCA MA Fine Art, Terrill Anne Welch

OCA Student Association
12 hours ago
3 min read

Presentingour student story from Terill, MA Fine Art student at the OCA. Find our more about Terrill below and join and our Meet the Artist event in September celebrating Terrill and her fellow students in their final show. Sign up here.

As a rural, white, woman of European settler ancestry, my online gallery connects to my studio and physical gallery on Mayne Island along the southwest coast of British Columbia in Canada. Using a nature-centric, reparative and autoethnographic practice-led research lens, my painting practice has most recently focused on an intimate study of the seafloor, connecting art and nature one brushstroke at a time.

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

Born in 1958 in the village of Vanderhoof B.C. in Canada, I began my artistic training at the age of 14 years old when I was invited into a community college level oil painting class. Alongside a career in social justice, I completed an undergraduate degree in Sociology and Women’s Studies and a graduate certificate in Executive Leadership Coaching while continuing to take art courses, developing my creative practice, exhibiting and teaching oil painting classes. Being able to do the MA Fine Art programme fully online has been crucial for me to participate in this level of study due to my full-time public facing art practice that includes an art gallery business component and my personal caregiving responsibilities.

Can you describe your OCA journey?

My MA Fine Art programme, art practice and art business and caregiving responsibilities required 12 hour structured days for the duration of each six month unit. This required me to prioritize and also set some other commitments aside for the duration of the two years. The class times were 4:00 am in the morning for me on the southwest coast of Canada. I needed to plan for resiliency and recovery within and between each unit.

Can you describe the tutor/ peer support at the OCA?

My heartfelt thanks to professors Caroline Wright, Michelle Whiting, Hayley Lock and Kimberley Foster for their guidance, commitment and belief in our ability to take risks and succeed. Each engagement has enriched my practice, my theory and research development and my life.

What does studying with OCA mean to you?

I wouldn’t have been able to continue my studies for a MA Fine Art degree if it wasn’t for the fully online option offered by OCA. The highly structured, carefully designed programme has offered more than I had hoped for when applying. The MA Fine Art programme has formalized the research aspect of my nature-centric, reparative painting practice in a manner that will allow it to continue long after the programme is completed.

What's Next?

Between my practice and the testing of these new paintings in my own gallery, newsletter, social media posts and solo online international gallery exhibitions, I want to move forward by also seeking regional public gallery opportunities, pop-up events and ecological collaborations. These new opportunities may include text, talks or interviews using selected reparative aspects that are a foundational element in the creation of these nature-centric paintings. Beyond maintaining connections with current art collectors, a major task over the next five years will be to more substantially bring these paintings to the next generations of viewers and art collectors. Succeeding in this effort will mean aligning presentation and dissemination with the needs and desires of these audiences through meaningful experiences and continued online access.

Any advice?

Schedule your time for study and studio practice as if it were paid work that you are accountable for completing as a self-employed entrepreneur. This means building it into your calendar of commitments throughout the week. Leave nothing to chance. Be prepared to set firm boundaries for yourself and others to secure the time you need for your studies. If possible, organize this before you start a programme or unit of study.

Where can we find you?

Professional Artist and Gallery Website: https://terrillwelchartist.com

Public Art Research Journal Blog: https://creativepotager.com

Professional Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrillwelchgallery

Professional Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrillWelchGallery