A Few Days in The garden of england
Morning View from the Horsebox Kitchen
It was the beginning of Spring. I am lucky enough to be waking up in a cosy Airstream caravan adjacent to the River Darent in the midst of the Kent countryside. I am on a 3 day artist residency, courtesy of Auto Amor and The Quadrangle, a quaintly restored dairy farm turned creative retreat and rewilding experiment.
I meander through the meadow to find our horse box kitchen. I can smell the fresh coffee brewing before I can see my artist pal Alex March. It’s bliss to have an early riser +1 around first thing to present a glowing cup of warmth to erase my dopiness.
The residency was a prize I won twice with the painting Walk the Line. I say twice, as apparently, it was blind judged and selected for 2 separate residency prizes by 2 different curators from 100s of paintings. I was only allowed 1 prize though which is fine and the theoretical double win is an ego boost in itself.
Alex picked me up at Shoreham railway station on a Monday morning and we tootled off for a few days of creativity. I had a multitude of material mostly still from the summer Finnish adventure to get going on some new paintings. I even managed a quick sketch on Yupo (a plasticy paper) of 2 big plastic penguins in a greenhouse that I'd spotted in my local park. It took Alex a little longer to get used to the expanse of studio time and with poor wifi signal was forced to abandon admin on her website and start drawing.
It was great to hang out with Alex in the studio again (just like old times at Wimbledon School of Art). Her input was so invaluable to discuss and tweak works. And I'm also not sure I would have enjoyed staying 2 nights in a dark field in the middle of nowhere without a buddy! Here’s a couple of snaps from a wonderfully restful and productive few days in the Kent countryside.
