|
As an anxious person (and driver) I hadn’t really thought past the drive to the Mawddach residency or really considered what the two weeks might hold other than a change from my usual routine. So I arrived slightly bewildered and overwhelmed by the beautiful landscape and everything the residency had to offer. I immediately felt welcomed by Scarlett and Jake who cooked me a delicious welcome dinner after I’d unpacked and walked to Barmouth (I couldn’t wait until the morning to cross that impressive bridge). On the first day I created a reduction wood engraving by the estuary and was immediately humbled by the Welsh weather when a huge gust of wind took 8 of my prints and thrust them into the estuary. A couple of days in we were joined by Ellis O’Connor who was my fellow artist resident and flatmate. We’d never met before but clicked straight away. We spent the two weeks working independently, focussed on our own work, but enjoyed chatting (when we weren’t listening to true crime podcasts) and sharing our experiences of being self employed artists. I make small prints while Ellis paints huge canvases, the scale of her work seemed to dwarf mine especially by the end of the 2 weeks when she’d painted an impressive collection of oil paintings. I loved working alongside an artist whose medium differed so much from mine while the subject matter and the way we respond to the landscape around us is so similar. I was very grateful to be able to bring my little dog Winnie on this trip with me. She loved the local walks which we did multiple times a day and was in her element by the cosy log fire in the sitting room. Winnie’s favourite resident was Toby the cat who didn’t feel the same about her and who darted up a tree after he panicked when she approached one afternoon. I loved having two weeks to just make work and not worry about admin or fulfilling orders. It was time to experiment and reassess. I created 5 reduction wood engravings and lots of collages. I also found a love of sketching with watercolours, something I’ve continued since being home. My time at the Mawddach residency felt very freeing, it seemed like I was really living each day and soaking everything in, not just rushing through while trying to tick off my forever growing to-do list. I will look back on those two weeks happily and I long for similar experiences in the future knowing that even an anxious artist can enjoy an adventure every now and then. website 'Out of Ink' Podcast episode about Molly's residency
0 Comments
|
RESIDENTS
All
|