A false start and the first of many

I've been digging around some of my old portfolios for examples of work produced during my Foundation course. Unfortunately I didn't really like what I found as Foundation was rather a weird phase for me creatively. I think this was partly due to the fact that we were asked to make a decision as to whether we saw ourselves as a fine artist or graphic designer, unfortunately at the tender age of 18, I didn't have a clue. As I was really getting into conceptual art at the time I opted for fine art. Interestingly the main difference it seemed between the two groups other than being given different briefs to work towards, was that the graphic artists spent most of their time working in the studio and the fine artists spent most of their time in the pub talking about working in the studio. As you can imagine, my work was a bit thin on the ground. I do however remember a particularly inspirational and creatively fruitful trip to Barcelona where I produced the sketchbook seen below. This trip was the first of many foreign visits I have made over the years both as a student and teacher of art.