Branching Out…

Groan!!! Please pardon the awful pun! After drawing lots of small figures on big paper with two types of bamboo pen, I went out into the gardens at Atelier Werenzhaim and picked up some twigs (branching out – get it?). I chose one and dipped it into the pot of ink, emptied my mind and let my hand move and do the work.

These figures are so different to the others I did the day before, so rough, primordial, a bit frightening, a bit nightmarish. They go way beyond anything I would have done before. This residency is working for me, giving me the chance to try out things I never would have the time to do in my everyday life.

I’m in Germany on an artist residency with four other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins , Rhiannon Rees and Rhian Haf with support from Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We’re at the Atelier-Werenzhain, founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany, in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Go Big

I carried on with my little repetitive drawings on very large paper. It’s funny, last time I came to Germany I was inspired when I got back home to do huge drawings and now I’m in Germany working on huge paper again. I wonder why? 

Today I used the other end of the bamboo dip pen. It has a square blunt nib, quite big and it gave me a completely different effect to yesterday’s drawings. Some years ago, I did a residency in Boise, Idaho, USA and visited some ancient petroglyphs, small carvings on boulders. They are similar to these drawings but I had no thought of them when I was doing them, they are simply the product of the materials. 

Stick figures holding up big circles.

I’m in Germany on an artist residency with three other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins and Rhiannon Rees with support from Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area.

We’re at the Atelier-Werenzhain, founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany, in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Free The Mind

I’ve been at Atelierhof Werenzhaim for 2 days now, working in a studio that was once stables. I’ve been experimenting with drawing in ink onto very large paper. I continued the technique from my last post, when I was drawing in Dresden. I just emptied my head of thoughts and allowed my hand and pen to do their own thing. My first drawings are done with a bamboo dip pen with a pointy nib. I’ve covered about a quarter of the paper with them. They’re a bit ethereal but that’s the way the pen draws. Why are they humanoid figures? That’s just the way they’re coming out, maybe it’s something to do with decades of life drawing

Ethereal Figure Drawings.

I’m in Germany on an artist residency with three other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins and Rhiannon Rees with support from Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area.

We’re at the Atelier-Werenzhain, founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany, in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

What Lurks Beneath?

I sat quietly in a park under the shade of a tree in Dresden. The temperature was 32°C and the other artists on the residency were visiting a museum. I decided to sit and draw, but not the view in front of me,  which is what I normally do when I travel.

Instead, I emptied the thoughts out of my head, took hold of a piece of graphite and drew. No idea, no concept,  no design,  just let my hand do its own thing. Then I added the blacks and oranges with Derwent Inktense blocks and a water reservoir brush.  This is interesting. I might do some more of this.

I’m in Germany on an artist residency with three other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins and Rhiannon Rees with support from Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area.

We’re at the Atelier-Werenzhain, founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany, in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

The Green Eyed Monster

I visited the Grafikwerkstadt Dresden Print Workshop yesterday, what an amazing place. I have Printing Press Envy. And Roller (Brayer) Envy. And Paper Envy. And Plans Chest Envy. It has a really interesting history, please check out the link.

Grafikwerkstadt Dresden Print Workshop.

I’m in Germany on an artist residency with three other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins and Rhiannon Rees with support from Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area.

We’re at the Atelier-Werenzhain, founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany, in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Sketching Sculpture

I spent a couple of days in Dresden as part of my residency with the Agor Abertawe group and went to a free outdoor concert in the Neumarkt. I did some sketches of a fascinating sculpture. I haven’t found out the name of the artist yet, I’ll track it down and add it to the post

I’m in Germany on an artist residency with three other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins and Rhiannon Rees with support from Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area.

We’re at the Atelier-Werenzhain, founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany, in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

The Weight of History

Finally at the Atelier Werzenhaim, idyllic setting, sunny but not too hot. I settled in and let go, experimenting with Derwent Inktense blocks onto Khadi 320gsm paper. I held a thought but didn’t try to illustrate it. I thought of how events echo down generations. I grew up with grandparents who had lived through World War 1, and parents who experienced World War 2. I grew up during the Cold War and the ever-present threat of nuclear destruction. These huge events ripple through the years and I have no doubt that we are still experiencing their effects. I didn’t want to do an illustration of this thought, I wanted to focus on it, play with the materials and see what comes out. An expression of feeling. Let’s see where it takes me.

I’m in Germany on an artist residency with three other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins and Rhiannon Rees with support from Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area.

We’re at the Atelier-Werenzhain, founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany, in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate..

Solemn Stones

I wasn’t sure about visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe for a third time, but I reasoned that my first visit had been in deepest Winter when it was covered in snow. My second was in late Spring, the weather mild, the sunlight kind. Today is high Summer, very hot, brilliant sunshine, and busy with tourists. It looked and felt different. I walked many of the intersections and observed the crowds doing the same. In the sharp light I had flashes of memory of old German Expressionist films, those harsh monochrome film sets. I took a few photos but mostly I committed the sights and feelings to memory. Back at the hotel I worked from the photos into a heavy Khadi paper (320 gsm) with Derwent Inktense blocks and a water reservoir brush.

I’m in Germany on an artist residency with three other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins and Rhiannon Rees with support from Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area.

We’re at the Atelier-Werenzhain, founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany, in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

Travelling is half the fun

The picture below was taken at Cologne Station en route to Berlin. It’s Cologne Cathedral taken through the station roof. The German trains are lovely and the train food is fantastic.

I’m in Germany on an artist residency with three other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins and Rhiannon Rees with support from Wales Arts International. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area.

We’re at the Atelier-Werenzhain, founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany, in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate.

It’s A Dirty Job…

I’m heading to Germany in a few days, to do an artist residency with three other Welsh women artists, Chris Bird-Jones, Sarah Hopkins and Rhiannon Rees. We are all members of AGOR Abertawe, that has been set up to facilitate creative activity between women artists in Swansea / South Wales, and the Brandenburg area. We’ll be working with artists at the Atelier-Werenzhain, a visionary space for contemporary art, culture, and cultural education, founded in 1996 by artists from East and West Germany, in a 14th century former feudal tavern estate. That’s part of it above. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it 😀

I don’t know what I’m going to work on while I’m there, I’ll go with the flow and see what happens. We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from Wales Arts International.