An Artist Residency: Illustrations of Recovery
First, let me assure you there is no gore in these drawings. In fact, there are very few of Roxy because I swear she knows when I'm attempting to draw her, and she always moves.
About three or four days into our kitchen camping adventure, I read a post on Substack by Amy Stewart, who presented the most lovely idea.
If you are an artist, plan to become one, or even own a pencil, I would encourage you to subscribe to her Substack or, at the very least, read the post linked below on creating one's own artist residency - after you finish The Nibbler, obviously.
For those of you who have broken thumbs and don't have the energy or the fucks to give to follow the link below - an artist residency is generally two weeks—sometimes up to a year—in a specific place—a lighthouse, a museum, an observatory, botanical gardens, castles, really anywhere that might prove inspiring.
One of the goals of a residency is to focus on a single subject in order to really go deep and become immersed in the subject matter.
Amy proposes that you don't have to apply to a prestigious museum or fly to France to do a residency in a castle (even though I can't think of anything better); you can create your own. Most of her Substack is dedicated to developing ideas for self-assigned residencies.
Since I had already been sitting on the kitchen floor for four days petting my dog as she was fully gorked out of her nugget on pain meds, I thought, "That's not a bad idea." I was already seeing my kitchen from an entirely new angle—literally.
So I began.
At first, you will see that the sketches are quite primitive and rushed. As Roxy healed and we fell into more of a routine, I spent more time sketching and exploring areas of our "studio apartment," ahem, kitchen to draw.
My main takeaway from this 8-week residency is the number of drawings I did in a subject matter that I would never have chosen to draw if I hadn't been engaged in a self-assigned, self-paced residency.
Cabinets, doorways, grills, refrigerators - all things I would not have normally chosen to draw. It’s opened up so much opportunity for me to explore new ideas and new rooms!
Of the 20+ sketches I did in the last 8 weeks, this one was my favorite.
All my tea mugs!
If you were to create a residency for yourself - what would it be?
And would it be drawing, or baking, or songs played, or sweaters knit, or… Please comments below. I’d love to know your thoughts.
Jill