 My time spent on the Mawddach was one of deep awe and inspiration. Largely spent in quiet, watchful, reflection I experienced creative flow like I never have before. I was welcomed by Scarlett on the first day and made to feel immediately comfortable and at home. Though I knew people who had also attended the residency, it felt completely my own unique experience and I appreciated the effort Scarlett and Jake go to in order to ensure everyone's time at the residency is personal and authentic. To engage with my proposal, which was to encounter 'the Beast'; face within myself and the landscape's present and historical embodiment of the wild, my days were spent walking, bird watching and swimming each morning with the rising tide. As I came to the residency wanting to reconnect with the writing and conceptual components of my practice, I lived by my pocket notebook and the calling of each and every magical place to uncover. Each evening using the studio to edit and transcribe, drawing based on findings of the day and enjoying invaluable discussions with Aurore, my fellow paired resident. I also managed to create a short film on my time there drawing from my own writing as well as local folklore and wider reading I carried out as preliminary and continuous study.  As this was my first residency experience, I didn't know entirely what to expect, definitely it is a space for very self directed artists, with Scarlett and Jake available to meet any needs one might have but largely as residents we operated as self contained. This was only a shame as Jake visited our studio on the last night and I am sure many more wonderful conversations could have been had! I am very grateful I decided to choose a paired residency, and very lucky to have landed with Aurore - and can only admire Scarlett and Jake's skill at choosing two people so well suited to spending two weeks working alongside each other with such synchronicity and shared inspiration!  For me the biggest draw, which went above and beyond expectations, was the Landscape - Mawddach Crescent is situated in the most rich and wildly exciting pocket of nature, and though I spent hours trekking further up the mountain or valley, the small patch of woodland directly behind the house and the quiet inlet on the estuary in front, was truly more than enough.
I am still physically and emotionally processing the amount of work I was able to achieve during my time at Mawddach and will be forever grateful to Scarlett, Jake and the wonderful Toby! As well as the land and sea, kingfishers and seals and the folklore seeping through the very essence of the place. Holly Bennett
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