If I ever doubted the value of an artist residency, I do not now.
As an artist, just as many others may, I have questioned the value of making work on site. Yet the first few days of making work at Darebin Parklands have reinforced for me that this is of central importance in my artwork.
It's happened twice so far there. I have been making work and suddenly been drawn to the materials around me in the environment. First time it happened was down by the rocks when I started my watercolour painting of the creek, stepping stones and the rock face on the other side.
The moment of inspiration came when I decided to fill my water jar from the creek rather then from my water bottle as anticipated. Then I looked at the rocks across the way and was really temped to use the water and the rocks themselves as materials. I have done this before and will explore it here.
After all pigment comes from stones and rocks, dyes come from plant matter, in fact everything derives from materials which can be traced back to their natural state.
But for now, I just dipped my jar in the creek and so the first watercolours I made, paintings of the creek, were painted with creek water and paint.
***
Last weekend I went for an artistic adventure with a friend into the hills of Melbourne to see the open studios of the Dandenong Ranges. It was a lovely wet, raining, misty, muddy day perfect for going up mountains. There were two artists studios in particular I wanted to visit. Jude Craig was the first.
Jude Craig's artwork can be viewed here.
As an artist, just as many others may, I have questioned the value of making work on site. Yet the first few days of making work at Darebin Parklands have reinforced for me that this is of central importance in my artwork.
It's happened twice so far there. I have been making work and suddenly been drawn to the materials around me in the environment. First time it happened was down by the rocks when I started my watercolour painting of the creek, stepping stones and the rock face on the other side.
The moment of inspiration came when I decided to fill my water jar from the creek rather then from my water bottle as anticipated. Then I looked at the rocks across the way and was really temped to use the water and the rocks themselves as materials. I have done this before and will explore it here.
After all pigment comes from stones and rocks, dyes come from plant matter, in fact everything derives from materials which can be traced back to their natural state.
But for now, I just dipped my jar in the creek and so the first watercolours I made, paintings of the creek, were painted with creek water and paint.
***
Last weekend I went for an artistic adventure with a friend into the hills of Melbourne to see the open studios of the Dandenong Ranges. It was a lovely wet, raining, misty, muddy day perfect for going up mountains. There were two artists studios in particular I wanted to visit. Jude Craig was the first.
Jude Craig's artwork can be viewed here.
I had seen this video featuring Jude Craig's beautiful work leading up to our visit, but nothing prepared me for walking in a seeing the shinning face and hearing her warm voice, which made me feel like I had always know her.
We walked down the steep stairs and into her fabulous studio (which was once a sewing factory), and we were greeted by the warm smells of mulled wine and eucalyptus leaves and sticks brewing on the stove. Seeing her artwork and talking about her process literally made my mouth water as it connected so well with what I was discovering in my own art practice. Jude uses native plants, rusty metal and other materials found in her environment to create the most magical dyed silks and other recycled materials. The subtle earthy colours and patina these leaves and dyes impart to the fabric, echos so closely the colours and feeling of my own work that I just wanted to spend as much time as possible sharing stories, ideas, methods, listening to her lovely voice, feeling her beautiful silks and looking out at her stunning view.
Jude Craig's work specially resonated for me as just the week before while I had been working on the large map like piece in the studio at Darebin Parklands I found myself gathering piles of leaves from just outside the door and in using them to shape my artwork. I found myself thinking about whether they would leave a stain on the paper or not, an idea that really appeals to me. I am yet to fully explore this idea, but it is definitely something I would like to experiment with and to that end I hope to invite Jude to join me down in the studio one day to play with that environment and see what art it wants to make.
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| Katie Roberts 'Leaf Map' (early stages) Ink, watercolour, leaves. |
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