Over the past month I fulfilled a dream to undertake an art residency that was in the planning for over a year. The thought of devoting a month to exploring my practice was driven by a need to push myself and expand my technical skills.
The Creative Advantage book research all pointed to what I needed to undertake to challenge my creative approach, develop new skills and be inspired to take greater risks.
The residency was facilitated by an organisation known as VAWAA that enables artists to work with other artists in a chosen medium across international locations. (As yet they are don’t have a presence in Australia).
As I’m working more in paper I was able to select across a range of paper based approaches, but to be honest, I knew that I wanted to work with an artist who specialised in papier mâché clay sculpture.
The technique has been given a bad rap (opps!! pun) with many associating papier mâché with simple art making. The reality is that papier mâché is used across many art forms especially in theatre, stage props, set design, masks, jewellery and custom design.
I was also keen to find fellow artists who came with similar values around spreading awareness about recycling and seeing discarded materials as a resource not a waste.
I was fortunate to work with a sculptor, illustrator and printmaker and, over the next few blog posts, I’ll share our experience and the specific focus she has shared with me through her mentorship.
In this short post I just wanted to emphasis the value of investing in an art residency as a means to extend and challenge a practice.
The value for me started with the yearlong planning to go to Spain and how I could get the most out of this opportunity. Any new location we travel to is, of course, unavoidably exciting as it provides fresh perspectives, culturally and environmentally. All Australians appreciate the effort that a long haul flight takes, so we often build a number of goals into our itinerary to make the most of the travel.
Ultimately it was the value of connecting with other creative types, sharing ideas and approaches in a fresh location that convinced me to go ahead and invest in this adventure. The focus for a month in Spain in all things art, architecture and design and the opportunity to do this without distraction is hard to argue against.
On reflection now as I write up notes, sort photos, critique the pieces I made, it all points to a huge learning curve that will enhance my creativity, encourage me to continue to take risks and embrace uncertainty as part of my journey.
So go ahead do whatever it takes to undertake an art residency, invest in yourself and explore uncharted territories of your creativity.
