Dartmoor and dark skies residency 

In October I was offered a place on an art residency with Mayes creative. I stayed and worked at Bellever Youth Hostel, Dartmoor, with a group of artists from a mix of disciplines. The residency was focused around prehistoric monuments on Dartmoor and the relationship with the sky. There were a number of visits to sites with archaeastronomy expert, Carolyn Kennet, time for self-directed research and facilitated group discussions.

I started the residency with a strong set of objectives; I wanted to dive deeper into the theory and concepts that related to a body of work I had already started. This work explored the extant ancient archaeology in our ‘natural’ spaces.   

It was apparent by day two, that the fog was set to stay all week and the planned observations of the night sky from the monuments would not happen. We were piskie led on our first night walk despite staying on hard tracks. The fogs and mist became a significant part of the residency; a forced but different experience of the environment.

From a visual perspective, the mist simplified the forms and heightened an awareness of the unique quality of shapes that the stones and  the tors took: silhouetted they became guides, markers and took figure and animal like forms. The transition from first light into morning was a slow unveiling of the surrounding landforms, and the red and orange hues appeared startlingly vivid in contrast to the diffuse blue light. A small group of us did nocturne drawing sessions each night in which the soundscape became the focus of our attention and expression.

I took away some fascinating new ideas and perspectives about the sites we visited, which no doubt in future will feed into my painting practice - however I feel this residency was more valuable in making me refocus on the foundations of colour and form. Here’s some simple takeaways;

• I have revised my methodology and simplified how I approach a new site I intend to paint, that is – start without a preconceived idea:  just walk in and ask what do I see?

• It has reinforced the importance of giving myself unrestrained time to draw when in the field; allowing a fuller visual processing of the scene and my thoughts in the space.

• I have been able to think about the subtler themes within my paintings that tie the work together beyond the broader subjects.

Since returning to the studio I have begun a new series of paintings from the sketches that I made when visiting Merrivale stone rows. Follow me on Instagram to see how these progress, or drop me a message as I’m always happy to welcome people into the studio for a nose and natter.