Where in the World??

I was slightly surprised and embarrassed....when I noticed my last blog post was dated the end of February. Oh well, I'm always willing to start afresh and have another beginning! Plus, I have been on a different adventure and I have lots to share with you!

Fellow residents from Canada, US, Lithuania, England and Australia

 Where do I begin? Well, so much of my work in the past few months has been taken up with preparing for my textile residency in Iceland during April. Guess what? It was fantastic, amazing, wonderful and so much more!
If you were part of My Iceland Narrative then you were actually on the adventure with me - photos, videos and so much more, I'm thankful for your participation!

Selfoss, this is the waterfall you can walk behind!

There were nine other artists at the residency and we had several conversations about where and when and how one might apply for a residency - there are literally dozens of opportunities out there just waiting for you!

The view from our workroom

Here's some tips on finding a good fit:

• Research it well, make certain its a place you'd like to go - summer in Arizona? Maybe not! 
• See who else has gone there - I emailed several former residents with questions about the Icelandic Textile Centre - what the place is like, facilities, what in the town etc.
• What art does the centre focus on? Many places are looking for specific mediums or want a selection of artists working in different mediums. Textiles are often unknown to others in the art world, are they open to fibre arts?
• How many people/artists are there at any one time - there's probably a sweet spot in numbers. Do you prefer to work in isolation? Or do you want people around for ideas and conversations?
• What is provided? Food? Accommodation? Transportation? Be really clear about this!!!What is in the agreement, what do you need to provide and what does the residency provide. This can make or break your time away.
• What is the cost? Some places charge per week, others are funded for differing amounts - make sure you know before you go!
• Expectations during your residency. Are you expected to teach? Or to take a workshop? Will there be an exhibition at the end? Are you asked to leave artwork behind.
• Can you bring family/friends? Several residencies offer companion space - do you want someone there with you?
• Would you stay longer in the area to tour around? I spent an extra week in Iceland with my daughter and it was a lovely time to spend together showing her parts of the country.

Here's some links for possible places to consider - I already have a couple in mind for future applications!

 http://www.resartis.org/en/
a huge list that you can search through for a good match

http://www.callforentries.com/category/art/residencies
search through for possible places - also good for exhibitions, grants and much more

 https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-11-of-the-world-s-most-unusual-artist-residencies
more interesting places to visit!

https://www.artistcommunities.org/residencies
another searchable database

Maybe you'll find some that appeal to you! I know that I'll be looking!
Next time....maybe the best residency is.....

Artist in Residence - No Sleeping Allowed!

What comes to mind when you think about an "artist in residence"? Maybe living in a remote national park with moose and marmots for company? Or working at an art school with vigorously engaged students creating along side? Or how about a space in a luxury downtown hotel?

Yup, I got picked as Miss October at the Delta Oceanpointe Resort for the Artishow programme here in Victoria. The Victoria Arts Council has set up a "Artishow" for local artists to showcase and demonstrate their artwork in four of Victoria's most prestigious hotels .....ok, but not The Empress!

Now before you get all excited - let me tell you I chose October, and I knew it would be quiet, because my summer months were taken up with family commitments. But even in October, Victoria is a tourist destination and I've met some very nice people from Calgary, San Francisco (he lost a second home in the recent California fires), Mexico and Montreal!

So three of my large pieces are on display on the Mezzanine - if you happen to stop by, that's up the large stair case. And I have a table to display and demonstrate my work. My focus for the month was to work on smaller pieces that didn't require and paints or dyes and I didn't want to bring my sewing machine (I was afraid I might get asked to hem some pants!) So I knew there would be some limitation but I've been quite excited to have large chunks of time with out the distractions of other errands that might pop up. I tend to be a "flitter" when it comes to working in my studio so I can easily distract myself from tasks at hand!

I trialed a couple of ideas, combining paper and fabric into books - not quite what I was looking for but they helped me to fine tune some ideas....

I've been working on simplifying my designs into what I'm calling my "HouseMade Cards and HouseMade Books" - cut out and illuminated houses from paper. I'm so pleased with the cards I've put them into my Etsy Shop: HouseMade Cards

I have two more weeks of my "Artist in Residence" left and I'll continue to work on my HouseMade cards, I have a Studio Tour coming up in Novemeber so I can build some inventory!

What else has this residency taught me? I've learned a little about the ebb and flow of life around the hotel: the airport shuttle comes by about every 45 minutes. The coffee shop (with Starbucks coffee) closes at 2pm. The bar starts to fill as I'm leaving at the end of the day. Conference meetings break out at 12 sharp, but they are busy with their own groups and rarely look up from their "tech" devices! People in the neighborhood stop by as they walk through the hotel, often with little dogs in tow.
Plus I have an amazing view of the Inner Harbour from my work space.

Stop by if you are in the area: Wednesday-Friday 10-5pm! Delta Oceanpointe Resort
There's some cool fellows hanging out there as well!

Oh yeah - the "residence" part of "artist in residence" is a bit of a misnomer - I go home to my own bed each night!