Cirrus@Austlit

Author's abstract: Faced with multiple requirements not only to establish a research question and a method of inquiry, but also to meet the complex demands of a bi-partite exegetical/creative dissertation, creative practice often presents as an unnavigable wilderness to novice PhD students. Sometimes circumstances arise causing candidates to lose their way and they become disconnected from their research as theory and practice diverge. Such difficulties may be overcome by repairing the interface between theory and practice through the development of a personal research ethos. Establishing a philosophical approach to ethical creative practice may restore candidate confidence by validating their positions as researchers. The author describes how by pausing and drawing on parallels between creative practice and creative horsemanship she was able to make sense of her own creative practice and restore a project that had threatened to wander dangerously off course.