“Oh God! Where am i? What time is it? Where am I supposed to be?” Disorientated and confused I am in a complete panic! Just for a few brief seconds, as I waken from a snatched nap. It is so scary and such a relief when my brain catches up with my body. Now WHAT triggered that today? Ahah! I had been to the artists’ workshop for Contemporary Elders at the Focal Point Gallery in Southend and come home on a high, wired with my mind buzzing.

So: today’s workshop. We took part in Alfie’s “One Hour and Tombola Artist Residency”.(click here) Alfie had distilled the essence of an Artist Residency into an activity that fitted into a couple of hours. An Artist Residency aims to provide a new environment in which to develop ideas and create art. It is great for experimenting, a great experience, great for meeting fellow artists and looks good on an artist’s CV. And, in general, Artist Residencies may last several months and be held in inspiring locations such as Iceland.We had TWO HOURS!
We began by perusing post-it stimuli displayed around the room. Help! I watched my fellow Elders settling down to make marks on paper in response to their chosen post-its. I read a few more suggestions. Thank goodness, I found four that I could do.
“Draw your journey to the workshop today”. Easy. I walked. After sketching me walking with my stick approaching a door labelled F.P.G. I tackled the next post-it.
“Draw the place where you do your thinking”. My brain never seems to switch off and stop thinking but I suppose the place where most of my thoughts are generated is my armchair .
“Describe your artistic self in 10 words.” mmmm! knitter, stitcher, crocheter (is there such word?) , photographer, sketcher, blogger and all round creator.(or should that be creative?)
The fourth post-it was fun. “Choose and use a piece of equipment from the art cupboard that you haven’t used before.” When I opened the door of the cupboard the first thing I spotted was three spray bottle filled with liquid. Yes! I picked up a spray bottle and surveyed the room, itching to let loose and press the trigger. Calming down, I placed a large sheet of plain paper on the bench, then cut out leaf shapes over which I could spray. One of the other Contemporary Elders, Leslie, wandered over to see what I was doing. When I admitted that I cut out leaf shapes from paper to avoid going outside to collect real leaves. “I’ll get you some,” she volunteered. So I took a second spray bottle – blue this time = and a second sheet of paper and sprayed over the leaves.

That part over, I returned to my table to fill in a couple of worksheets.The first was about me as an artist and the second wanted a letter to my favourite place. Where is the place that inspires me? Goes without saying: the Sea Front and especially, the promenade along the top of the Cliffs. As soon as I step beneath the trees and gaze across the great expanse of Thame Estuary my heart rate slows and I feel my spirit lighten.
Then it was time to spin the tombola drum to choose my final task of the morning. “Create a self portrait in 45 minutes using the materials from art cupboard 3” but I only had fifteen minutes . . . And how was I going to make a self portrait with yarn and white glue? I could finger knit purple yarn then stick it down to make my hat. Then twist a pipe cleaner into spectacles BUT they refused to stay stuck down, even with a couple of pieces of masking tape. My hair, made from lengths of yellow yarn did stay stuck – but it was the wrong colour. “Times up, folks. I am very sorry but the workshop has to finish.”
oh well! My ideas were just getting going . . .
On returning home I grabbed a bite of lunch then settled in my creative space – er, my armchair and , of course, promptly fell asleep. It goes without saying that after a period of intense concentration my narcoleptic brain takes a brief nap to restore balance. After waking suddenly in that complete panic, I recovered and settled to write this blog.
Yes. My brief Artist Residency has provided inspiration. My mind is still buzzing. . .

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