Dear New Art Graduate,

How do you feel now that the dust is settling from Degree Show and Graduation? Are you settling into a rhythm, or left feeling adrift and untethered? It might be the second one, it was for me.

But believe me when I saw you will flourish in your own time. Rest, for as long as you need. That might be a week, it might be a year, it might be five. The immediate aftermath of degree show and graduation can leave you feeling drained, sometimes disappointed, unsure about what comes next. It’s a bit of an anti-climax: something you’ve worked towards for so long, and put so much energy into, is over and done in the blink of an eye.

But the next stage is where the most exciting things happen. You’ll have the freedom to make what you want, without the expectations of tutors and the pressure of being graded and judged. Without the need to justify what you make to anyone other than yourself. You’ll find your own rhythm of making and creating, and find out what really lights you up. It might be different to what you thought it was, but lean into it when it happens.

Rest now, and when you’re ready you will flourish.