On Reflection

 

I was sent this card at the Residency from some friends.  I’ve glued it into the front of my Residency Diary.

And it has been an adventure.  Sometimes I think quite a mad one.  Utter madness at 77 years old to be gallivanting across the world to be an Artist in Residence.  But there you are.  I applied.  I was accepted.  And I’ve done it.  I dread to think what mad idea I might come up with next.

Anyway, this is supposed to be an upbeat reflection - my thoughts on the 4 weeks which was actually only 20 days since I spent the weekends with my family.

I mentioned in my last post about not writing down any expectations.  Expectations are not the same as the intentions written in the application.

One of my concerns had been that the Artists Cottage was in a park and I would be the only one in the park after dark.  However the level of security at the cottage was so high it enabled me to have a greater peace of mind than I had initially worried about.

The first week felt lonely - the days seemed very long.  I tried to keep to regular meal times and take breaks from being creative.  The rest of the weeks didn’t seem so bad.  I realised that I need contact with people more than I thought I did.  It doesn’t have to be in person but the time difference between NSW and home meant that there couldn’t always be immediate contact even with texts and emails.

The workshop I delivered twice - An A to Z of Me - was written especially for the community engagement I needed to deliver.  My workshops at home are predominantly textile based whilst this was word and paper based.  The ladies were mostly more enthusiastic during the workshops than I’m used to.  I don’t know whether that was because of the content or whether Australians are just more effusive!  I am considering offering this workshop in 2027 in the UK.

Although I had my Australian  Connections research with me, and the paint colours I had taken reminded me of Australia, I felt quite detached from the family history.  I don’t know whether that was because I was spending so much time with the Hopper Juniors or whether I am fairly unsentimental about the past unless it includes my son.

It is my intention to make more fabric books when I get home.  I want to try to make the new ones I’ve made in paper using fabric.

Some of my laser image transfers using the gel plate were good, some were mediocre and some were downright failures.  But then I suppose that is what play and experimentation is for.  Will I do more of it when I get home?  Probably not unless a particular project calls for it.  I love other people’s results but I’ve realised I’m not primarily a printmaker.  That doesn’t mean I will get rid of my gel plates.  After all you can print with them on fabric.

I don’t think this experience will get me doing more sampling before I make pieces at home.  But I do want to keep up the idea of a studio diary.  To record what I do when I do it, and how I did it so that I can describe it to people.  When I’m showing people my fabric books I often forget what techniques I used, so recording each stage will be useful.

In the months to come, as I move back into textiles I’m sure I will see the influence of the Residency and I’ll be sure to let you know in future blog posts.

In the meantime, please feel free to put any questions you have in the comments.  I will have to answer them in another blog post as I still can’t reply directly.  And please, please, please put your name.  Thank you.

Thanks for joining me today.

Bernice