At the beginning of February 2022 I travelled to Cove Park in Argyll for an artists residency.

I applied for this residency to further develop the significant shifts in my practice over the last couple of years. To spend a period of focussed time physically removed from my ‘normal’ life and its responsibilities. To be fully and actively engaged with reading, writing and experimenting with my practice.

It’s going to take me a while to put into words the full experience I had on this residency, but what I can say is that it has lit a fire in me. I wrote a quick and spontaneous post on my Instagram the day I got home, which captures quite well the highlights of my week:

“My first artists residency, in fact my first time away from home alone. A week of inspiring views and deafening wind. A group of truly warm and open people who shared the time with me. The opportunity to absolutely absorb myself in my practice and consider what’s important.

Driving rain, blinding sunshine, being smashed in the face by the waves in Loch Long, sharing a traditional Senegalese meal, fish & chips in the pub, being beaten back by wind and rain every time I went for a walk, the feeling of total comfort and ease in a place and with people I’d just met.

I loved every minute of it.”

While working in my studio at Cove Park the concept of symbiosis was something that was at the forefront of my mind. How constantly connected to the landscape I felt through the huge glazed walls of my bedroom and studio. Acutely aware of the shifts in light and weather, how this affected me and my work. The relationship with my fellow residents, how these interactions enhanced our experiences, the sharing of ideas, time, food or materials. Even down to how I was physically making paintings, having multiple pieces attached to one support, which meant that the movement required for the watery paint in one painting affects all the others. This sometimes resulted in paint running off the paper or behaving in a way I didn’t intend, but I found this interconnectedness a fascinating part of the process.

Symbiosis -

1. involving interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association.

2. denoting a mutually beneficial relationship between two different people or groups.

I explored these thoughts in a series of small ‘Symbiosis Studies’, which are currently informing a new body of works on canvas.