Students on the foundation art course at Southampton University's New College get the chance to dabble with every medium - and as KATE THOMPSON finds out, they are not afraid to experiment...

CHRISTINE Fox is the perfect advertisement for lifelong learning. At the age of 60, she is studying for her third degree - and loving every minute of it.

"I studied languages originally and worked as a teacher and college lecturer.

"I did a masters degree in education at 40 and when I stopped working I decided I wanted to study more.

"I have been doing art as a hobby for years and became interested in sculpture. I had a friend who was doing an art degree and I thought I would give it a go too," said Christine from Owslebury.

Unlike her other degrees, which involved a more academic approach, Christine has found the arts course has been a very personal journey.

"You are constantly expressing what's inside yourself - and that's exciting because it is the synthesis of your own experiences.

"I play with material and something emerges - I find that quite exciting - and having all that freedom is great. Nothing is right or wrong - it's very rewarding and very personal," she said.

The foundation year art show is on at New College until Thursday of this week - and the variety of work illustrates the experimentation that has gone on throughout the year.

Some of the students have completed the foundation year as part of their four-year degree course at Winchester School of Art, while others will go on to other universities from New College.

Nineteen-year-old Laila Cassim was inspired by her 82-year-old grandmother Brenda Grimble for her mixed media project.

As you gaze at the photographs that capture her world - reproduced on to tracing paper and delicately hand-coloured - the voice of Brenda can be heard playing in the background-recounting tales of her life.

There is a video of the octogenarian too.

"I have always been fascinated by the memories my grandmother has. I love to hear her talking about everyday life.

"Our family has a history of bike riding so I asked her about riding her bike and things like how much you could buy with a pound in the 1930s and 40s," said Laila, who lives in Harestock.

Mrs Grimble was Laila's special guest at the private view.

Another proud student, Viki Thompsett, 19, from Southampton, took her inspiration from the movies and set out to create all the marketing material for her chilling film based on Anne Rice's book The Vampire Lestat.

"I tried to cover everything that would be included in an advertising and marketing campaign.

"I was putting in 12-hour days to get the work done but I really have enjoyed it," she said.

She created her own film posters and particularly enjoyed working on the typography.

The hardest part was creating her own press pack - she had to literally fold the cardboard and cover it to create her own folder for the press releases.

Not surprisingly, the former Regents Park Girls' School pupil wants to pursue a career in graphic design - and she is off to Bournemouth Art Institute in September.

Head of the foundation year Roy Naylor said the course allows students to try out different media - and from there decide which artistic field they want to pursue.

"It is a very broad introductory year, where students have a chance to try different ways of working using different processes.

"It is a pivotal year - and very intense," he said.