Force of nature.....Brisons Veor art residency
Having just spent a week painting and drawing around the rugged coast of Cape Cornwall, close to lands End, I am buzzing with ideas for new paintings, collagraphs and drawings.
Brisons Veor' is a charitable trust, providing a residential studio for artists, musicians and writers, The house and studio , which was once the boiler house for Cape Cornwall tin mine, clings to the edge of the rock with the atlantic waves crashing below. It is equipped with a bright airy studio, taking up the hole of the first floor, with breathtaking views of the ocean and Priest's Cove beneath.
I applied for the residency as a collaboration with fellow artists Lesley Birch and Karen Stamper. Much drawing, sketching and plein air painting was created and although each artist has a distinctive style, working together in such close proximity for a week we undoubtedly had some interesting influences on each other. We met many years ago in Cambridge and so have called ourselves #thecambridge3. Each artists is writing about her experience on her website'
So day one I set off with my sketchbook and rucksack of materials and explored the headland. Perched on the highest point on the cape, the horizon seemed to go on forever with far reaching views of Lands End, ancient tin mines dotted along the coast and miles of ragged coastline.
I wanted to take in everything and spent the first couple of days eagerly sketching wide ocean vistas, Priest's Cove boats, lobster pots and vivid magenta 'thrift' flowers.
However, by the end of day two I was spending all of my time drawing from the monumental rock formations, which seemed to rise up out of the crashing ocean below. Indomitable and bold, their dramatic architecture of craggy edges, fractures and apertures, framed and contrasted with the intense turquoise waters. I had found my inspiration! I made a series of loose inky sketches contrasting the silence of the rock against the feral weather and ocean.
Further up on the mainland I drew from stone stacks scattered around the exposed moorland. Harsh weather conditions had eaten into the splintered strata of the rock revealing the beautiful pivoting assemblages.
Back in Brison’s studio I worked on a series more abstract pieces on paper using inks, graphite and oil bars. I began a to cut and burn into the paper, forming shapes that had both planned and unintentional aspects, echoing the feel of the forms I had studied. I was interested in translating these ideas into collagraph plates and new series of 'strata' prints.
By the end of the week I had filled my sketchbook and had numerous larger drawings ready to take home and develop on my studio. Spending a whole week looking, absorbing, recording and developing, without the pressure to create 'finished pieces' was invaluable. I have returned home energised and rearing to go!
