Artistic Odyssey: From England to Iceland, San Francisco now Austin. A Journey of Studio Work, Exhibitions, and inspiration.

since Iceland!

From Skaftfell residency to Reykjavik and onto San Francisco, California with an aim to stay still for a while.

Back into the studio, working, teaching and preparing for our curated exhibition at The Vanner Gallery in Salisbury, Wiltshire UK. July 2023.

I dusted the cobwebs evicting the spiders from my studio, painted the walls a new white, and planted a vege & herb garden.

The inspiration from the fjord of Seydisfjordur, the patterns on the mountain slopes created by the repeated freezing, thawing and volcanic activity over millions of years was spilling out into paint and panels and small 3D pieces.

Reconnecting with the Northern California art community, I secured shows for 2024, while preparing for a move to Austin, Texas—a new adventure with fresh networking opportunities and a new studio. Through moments of stillness, I'll continue documenting this transformative journey.

The Vanner Gallery Salisbury Wiltshire, UK

September 26th

Arriving…at this residency on September 1 for 1 month.

Now It is the last week.

Much of what happens at a residency for me, becomes information gathering about the local I find myself in.

Seeking clarity about my own process and practice, experimentation with materials is a priority.

Development from the residency experience unfolds over time.

I’m gathering info and detritus, photos, weather patterns, native wild flowers and berries; feeling the space, sensing place. 

I make ink using local source material, here it is wild blueberries. They produce a rich purple-red unlike commercial blueberries.

Particularly geological history is the underbelly of navigating and being navigated around the land structure by way of roads and trails.

The walks and senses become a translation of drawings, watery concoctions and mark making. Patterns and gestures emerge on paper that reflect the geology and illuminate the sense of this environment.

I recognise that the Romantic appropriation of landscape as an instrument for solitary pleasure is inadequate. In our era (Anthropocene or …..?) What we see in a landscape is a complex

compound of changing geology orchestrated by a variety of human uses which have modified the 'natural' environment.

“What am I looking at?” What is under…neath?

That led to an interest in Geomorphology, which I know little about but now I intend to research more.

September 23rd 2022

Red Alert storm for Eastern fjords in Iceland. Exciting /scary winds. Road closures and dropping temps.

Its the last week of the residency and we give a presentaion offer dialogue to the community on Wednesday.

I pull my last pinhole camera Tuesday when storm hopefully leaves us to pick up the pieces. (two I took down just as storm was approaching. The day before was 19C (64 F ) and warm winds prevailed. the sky was clear so we drove up the pass at 10pm in hopes of seeing the Aurora Borealis. Wowee luck was with us.

September 15th

Missed the aurora borealis last night. Photo credit to our director Pari Stave.

Aurora borealis

Worked in the studio all day with a break to pick wild blueberries by one of the many waterfalls in town. A section of drawing!

The ferry leaves port returning to Denmark after docking here for two days.

The end cove of a fjord

It’s incredibly peaceful here often quiet for hours especially if the clouds settle low over the town. I really love this place brimming over with culture and good will. A cruise ship “rolling the Scandi waves landed at the ferry terminal today for half a day. Passengers have enough time to walk about on trails, sit in coffee shops, peer into my studio windows and see many waterfalls, torrent down the mountainsides.

Brooke is in the upstairs studio and I’m on street level. I'm sticking with daily practice, exploring textures that speak for the massive glacier-marked mountains that slope down into the fjord. I’m working on paper with inks, acrylic paint and pens. I’m not at all sure what I’m doing but that’s what I love about a residency! This immersion into play and exploring is much like a writer I believe as they might juggle with vocabulary; not forming a story or getting it “right” on the grammar but simply allowing thoughts to roam, instigated by the town; history of place; the magnificence of geology while ignited by something new to explore.

Artwork is evolving and unfamiliar patterns are appearing.

Today though was a day off and it was spent in a familiar Icelandic tradition of geothermal bath soaks. Deep (and I mean deep ) relaxing in floating pools. Vok baths on the edge of a glacial lake outside of Egilsstađir. Heaven!