RHONA HOBSON 

I was born in 1973 at the height of a petrol strike one of the foggiest days in Dublin.  according to the tales of my mother, I was born with a caul which caused quite a stir with the Irish midwives and it is so rare, many believe it to bring great luck to the child and the parents.

 

Initially raised in County Longford, it was not long before my parents moved back to the UK and a little sister was born.  Living in and around Surrey for many years, I attended primary and secondary school, learned to drive and passed exams.  The final of which meant leaving Surrey to move to the amazing city of Liverpool to study.  

 

I have not trodden a clear and direct route from that point on.  I attended university in the mildest way possible.  In fact I think I saw the inside of a lecture theatre but once in my time.  Eventually finances and lack of commitment pushed me into a job and I trained as an operating theatre practitioner at the Royal Liverpool Hospital.  I met my husband (just my boyfriend then) and we moved to the Wirral.  I stayed working in the NHS for 7 years, moving house once more to live  in Cheshire.  Eventually getting married and deciding to return to university once again.  this time as a not so mature but called mature student I studied psychology and Art with hope of becoming an art therapist.     The first semester had me reeling in discomfort (not something at the time I was ready for) and I changed to Psychology with Biology.  I passed with a first class honours and valedictory prize.  I applied to complete a PGCE and started to teach.  I became pregnant with our little girl and for a time there was some stability.  When she was three years old, I applied for the last round of the masters degree in applied educational pscyhology - a competitive course to get onto.  I secured a place and began the journey into my forever career.  lots of turmoil, loss, and mess later I am still here.  Now with a doctorate in Educational Psychology,  a daughter who is 20 -  and still married - no mean feat after the bumpy journey but like an itch I could not scratch I returned to art practice. 

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I went on short courses, learned to work with metal, developed a practice in precious metals.  I took a course in clay and set up a home studio, I painted, sketched and played until I decided that it was time to extend this thinking and I applied for a master degree in applied art and design.  Passing with a distinction was quite hard to believe as I have realised that I will never reach the end.  I am never finished.  I am experimental in my work - trying and failing often.  I exist in duality in psychology and art and apply the rules on engagement in both to each other.  Nothing is finished, there is no outcome or product.  The work is my thinking presented in tangible form, scattered, many tabs open....I have said this many times and will probably say it many time hence - I am at the beginning.....   

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