A beginning
Welcome to this new blog! my first ever, and the last piece of my just-made website. These posts will be occasional rather than regular, I think, and mostly short and sweet (perhaps sour on occasion).
So... on Saturday I arrived for two weeks as a resident artist at Stiwdio Maelor in Corris, a tiny Welsh ex-mining village on the river-border of Gwynedd and Powys. Me plus two other short-term artists, in a little house - once upon a time Mr Thomas's druggist and grocer shop - sandwiched between the pub and the marvellous village-hub café. Andy and Adam make a stupendous latte, and I've been granted honorary membership of the Six O'clock Club (locals' after-work cuppa-chat).
First task has been to feather the delicious empty space of my studio to make a me-nest. And then I've been walking and photographing quite a lot, through green velvet woodlands, the peaceful lanes of Corris, and along hillsides above vast noisy quarries filled with mountainous heaps of slate, from rubble to huge blocks... many, many shades of blue and grey and different textures. I've had interesting encounters with a blacksmith and a Welsh farmer, and slept long and deeply each night (no connection).
My plan for this residency is to continue work on my North Ronaldsay hand-made books project - a collection of photography, poetry and prints based on my stay there last summer - and to engage with the local landscape.
