Residency at Oriel y Parc

Day 1:

Several things occurred to me this morning when running half an hour late to get to the Tower at Oriel y Parc.

One was that I should have packed the car last night with all my painting equipment, the other was that transferring the contents from one studio to another is quite some work.

Rushing to put the second and third coats of Rabbit Skin Glue on the canvases I have been preparing, I was eventually ready to leave at 10.20am and got here at about 10.45am.

Unloading my stuff into the tower has taken most of the morning.

Arranging the space, sweeping the floor, organising where in this rotund Tower I will put what, how I envisage my painting practise to evolve, what I still need to bring and what I need to prepare.

The Tower at Oriel Y Parc is round.

The walls are curved. The space has a particular clarity and light about it.

There is space for me to have a desk, to hang work, to lay out my paints, to work on the floor and work on a wall space simultaneously.

It’s double the size of the work space I have in the shed, and is not near my house so no distracting household chores to take me away from my work.

I’m very excited to be here, that this will be my work space for 3 weeks and excited about what such focus may shift my work onto.