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I’ve struggled to even know where to start with the experience of my two weeks with Hannah Farthing at the Mawddach Residency. The privilege to share such a beautiful, creative space with such knowledgeable, kind, and esteemed working artists is beyond measure. From day one, Scarlett and Jake were so full of enthusiasm, hospitality, and kindness towards us in sharing their home and their artist facilities and their own practise and creative knowledge with us – Scarlett was even kind enough to do a lithography workshop for us, which was so incredibly exciting! The place itself is beyond measure in how truly special it feels – there’s the concept of a ‘thin place’, somewhere that feels sacred, or close to the other. You could spend a lifetime witnessing the landscape from the Mawddach Residency and never tire of it, from those beautiful arched studio windows that are like a pair of warm, familiar arms cradling you and the landscape as you explore your creative process in the studio. I’m a multidisciplinary artist while also a carer, so my experience of the residency was never going to be linear – I was anxious at first that the residency would be wasted on me as I wasn’t able to focus in my daily life, so how could I make the most out of being productive on the residency?
Scarlett and Jake reinforced to us that there was no right way to approach the residency - you don’t have to work every day in the studio, and you don’t have to spend all day out of the house, either. There’s space for holistic approaches to being creative, and space to set up a working schedule for the two weeks. There’s no wrong way to face the residency - if you enjoy uber 9-5 routine productivity, there’s the room for that. If you want to explore and exist with the landscape and find your feet and see where the wind takes you, there’s space for that, too. I’d set out a general plan of what I wanted to explore while at the residency (and by general, I really mean very general) – my interests lie in the old stones and folklore, so I was pretty excited to research local burial cairns and neolithic sites nearby. My goodness, I was not disappointed. The landscape truly is ancient and inspiring, and for thousands of years has captured the imagination of people who have passed by and called the land home. It is an inexhaustible place; a gift that keeps giving. I’ve left with a cornucopia of references and inspiration for making and creating. From waking up to the sound of oyster catchers on the estuary, to watching the sunset with jellyfish and rabbits – the Mawddach estuary is a place of sheer magic and a font of limitless inspiration, if only you take the time to sit back and listen to what it has to say. Scarlett and Jake have made and are encouraging such a beautiful, nurturing environment at Mawddach Crescent, and if you have the means and time to do a residency here, I cannot encourage you enough to allow yourself to have this incredible and beautiful opportunity. Mawddach Crescent will forever hold a special place in my heart. Chloe Heffernan website
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