I had the honour of looking after Toby throughout November while also experiencing a month long residency to dedicate my time to painting, drawing and lithography. Just over a year and a half ago, I moved from West Wales back to London, and returning to the Mawddach estuary felt like I’d never left this part of Wales! My favourite thing about the Mawddach Residency is the place’s immediacy to nature. I find such joy in being fully immersed in the views just by sitting at one of the many beautiful windows in the house. It allows for that magical spontaneity of deciding to catch that last 20 minutes of a sunset, running out the front door, laying my canvas and paints out on the estuary wall, and rushing to get down every colour I can spot.
I approached painting with more playfulness and joy towards image-making than I had previously in my London studio. I had lost some ‘silliness’ which I was determined to find again; I have a deep connection to the Welsh landscape and find joy in learning more about the areas I’m in and the Welsh language. Prior and during my residency I had been looking at Matisse's paper cut-out collages, Mamma Anderson's landscape paintings, and reading Feral by George Monbiot and The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes. Before dinner I would go on a walk with Toby, wondering the hills up behind the house in awe of the view and the fact that I’m sharing this moment with a cat! I’ve returned to Walthamstow with a lot of little paintings on the go, all snapshots of the colours, patterns and excitement I found within the landscape. In September, Scarlett showed me the process of Stone Lithography and during my residency I was able to practice again on my own. With drawing and painting being my primary way of image making, I’m used to seeing the work as it is in the moment; knowing when to stop, and being able to intuitively edit parts of the image staring back at me. Working on the stone encouraged me to be methodical, pausing during the process, writing about it, reflecting on mistakes and preparing for upcoming steps in the process. The walk across the bridge to St Johns Hall Gallery (where Scarlett's print studio is) in the morning was beautiful and gave me time to think about how I’d use my day in the print studio. The stone I worked on used drawings from my current and previous visits to the Mawddach Residency. Although I still had my issues with the dreaded scum, It was so rewarding in my last week to peel back the tympan and see a clear print staring back at me! I’m really grateful to have shared the month with some of my incredible friends I met studying painting at Aberystwyth School of Art such as Eva, Zoe, Toby (human) and Octavia, and to have also spent more time with Emma, the other resident during November. I have fond memories of walking over Barmouth Bridge at torchlight to listen to folk tales by the Welsh Whisperers at the Dragon Theatre, sitting for Draw Brighton and numerous bird-spotting walks up the Mawddach trail. Thank you, Scarlett and Jake, for this opportunity, I feel so fortunate to have spent a month at the residency and to leave so full of new ideas! Millicent Evans website
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We’d had plans, the three of us, to try out each other’s styles and run workshops for each other, to learn what we could, and keep our skills sharp between semesters. But I was late arriving at the Mawddach. I came by train about midway through the two weeks. When I arrived, I was still shaking off the stress of classes, I was jittery and uncertain. The whole group greeted me at the station, Scarlett Jake Millie and Zoe, all of them ready with jokes and smiles and offers of help. I felt it there first as we strolled under the twisted barren branches chatting and laughing. It was a deep settling presence, mysterious but kind. I wanted to pull that thing into being, to draw it out and make it tangible. I can’t say I succeed during my stay at Mawddach, but I carry the idea of it with me now, along with sweet sort of longing to return to the soft moss-covered woods, and the warm welcome we found at Mawddach. Milli, Zoe, and I braved the bitter cold of January as often as we could bear, exploring the paths and nearby Barmouth, soaking in the views and the quiet peace of the place, so different from the day to day slog back at University. We carried a concertina sketchbook and charcoal with us wherever we went, taking turns recording the world around us. In the end that little concertina was probably my favourite thing we produced. It was fascinating to see how differently we saw things, yet how cohesive our vision was all laid out in a row. Independence and connection in a rhythm as natural as breathing. Events that I will never forget as long as I live: Sitting for Jake’s portrait class, taking it too seriously, martialling myself into stillness. The strange feeling of looking at my face through someone else’s eyes. Swimming in the estuary, the deep vicious life affirming cold enveloping me entirely, the bright thrill of happy childish terror at the impenetrable dark of the water in the pre-dawn. Spotting an otter at the very last moment as we packed the car, the ecstatic race to alert everyone, to include everyone, the giddy joy over what for the otter was probably just a normal event, but for us was a peek into a part of the natural world we don’t normal have access to. Nina Modelski We arrived at the Mawddach Residency with the aim of working collaboratively; we ran workshops for each other, went on group walks and were in constant conversation of how our individual ways of working could be applied to each other’s practice. We are all inspired by the landscapes of Wales, which was a massive pull for us a few years back to study Fine Art at Aberystwyth. However, I also wanted to resolve some problems within my own work, by removing some of the stiffness by working more en plein air and figuring out a way to fuse drawing with painting. Being able to wake in the morning, roll into the studio or out onto the Mawddach trail with our sketchbooks, opened a new way of creating. The instant euphoria of responding to such a wonderful landscape in such a beautifully curated and intimate space with my fellow students is something I’ll never take for granted. I think it was in our walks the most exciting drawings were made; we worked together on a concertina sketchbook in charcoal, allowing each of us to pick up where the last persons marks were hanging over the seam of the next page. We brought our sketches back into the studio overlooking the estuary and developed them into paintings, monotypes, and drawings, while being constantly inspired by the changing of weather and light outside. Our fortnight was filled with painting, drawing, cooking, boogying, walking, sitting, some of the most engaging conversations I’ve had and to top it all off, otter spotting! We are so thankful to Scarlett and Jake for giving us this opportunity and sharing their space with us, It was an inspiring experience we will never forget. Millicent Evans My initial hopes going into the residency were to be reinspired in the way that I paint, with my previous explorations not quite coming together successfully. The landscape has always been central to my practice so the truly stunning scenery the Mawddach and surrounding areas had to offer quickly instilled confidence and determination to capture the landscape in my own way.
We made a habit of walking and drawing together, taking ourselves off to Barmouth, Dolgellau or along the Mawddach Trail, sketching independently and collaboratively in our concertina book, mapping the continuation of our walks together. We would then return to the studio to further develop these in our own way. Sitting in the studio window seat alone provided a wealth of inspiration, observing and recording the changing light. I enjoyed this process of having to work quickly, loosening my approach and revealing some more interesting mark making, something I found very evident in a truly freezing plein air session following our 7AM swim! As a result of this, I found I was really enjoying creating small ink studies to capture the momentary impression of the landscape and in hand eliminating the details to focus on form and colour. These could then inform my larger acrylic paintings which were more considered, building up layers to create the landscape. I intend to develop this body of work made in my time here into my final semester with a location study into the Mawddach Estuary through the means of paint, in preparation for our degree show. The residency has been an incredible opportunity for providing the time, space, and environment for exploring my practice. Zoe Bennett |
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