In May I had the wonderful opportunity to spend two weeks in North Wales, at the Mawddach Residency. It was a wonderful opportunity to immerse myself in my work, responding to the surrounding area.
I applied with friend and fellow artist and printmaker Sally Tyrie; we had been looking for a joint opportunity for a while, and this felt perfect.
The residency is run by hosts, founders and artists Scarlett and Jake. The location is a beautiful Victorian terrace on the banks of the Mawddach Estuary, close to Barmouth and to the west of Dollgellau. And we were blessed with stunning surroundings, and with weather to match.
Both artists live and work on site and each have their own studio spaces, which we were privileged to have a peep inside. And as part of our residency, we also had our own dedicated studio space from which to draw, paint, print, digest and repeat.
My proposal was to explore and respond to aspects of everyday life in and around Mawddach – to include the people and environments in places such as Dolgellau and Barmouth, as well as exploring the more wilderness landscapes and hills beyond.
As drawing is the foundation for everything I do, and the way I make sense of my ideas, I wanted to draw, observe, and document my surroundings and experiences; to then synthesise and create an intuitive, emotional and documentary style response to the places I visited and passed through.
A mix of sketchbook work, plein air drawing and visual eavesdropping unfolded.
We immersed ourselves in our personal topics; then shared making and printing techniques, using regular critiques to drill down into each other’s ideas and thoughts. For me, to have some uninterrupted and sustained drawing, to really challenge my approach and dig deeper than fast observations and fleeting moments was so interesting. I was out in all weathers, battling some challenging weather and meeting some interesting characters along the way.
I came away with a several different perspectives: a body of new drawing; some topics for future reference; some ideas that I’m exploring now, and an understanding of the joy of how sustained and focused exploration, although tough, is so important to keep doing.
Images:
1. The Lady of Aberdovey, handmade book
2. Arthog Bog, pencil and graphite on paper
3. Dolgellau Runners – the off road race finish line
4. Dolgellau Hills – hills north of Dolgellau, pen and ink
5. Mawddch Crescent, ink and pencil sketchbook drawing