Connecting to water through art

artist residency & preparing for new experiences

As of today, I have jumped in to a new project, heading back under the waves and immersing myself in a week long snorkelling residency. Yes, you heard me right, a snorkelling residency! I need to pinch myself to believe I get to attend such an amazing thing for a full week. 

The residency is held in Argyll, within the Hope Spot: an area dedicated in helping to protect and restore marine biodiversity on a local, regional, national and international scale. Together, we are exploring ways art can be used to communicate the emotive draw to these special places.

This opportunity all came to be when I took a week long scuba diving qualification this summer, which totally changed my world for the better. I shared a photo of one of our dives to social media, and a friend sent me the application to apply for this upcoming residency. As fate (or chance - or the right fit?) would have it, I was accepted to take part, and here we are, prepping for a new adventure!

The weekend was spent in preparation; running around packing, testing my art materials and picking up the last bits and bobs. On the run up to this week, I’ve been filled with the same excitement and nervousness that I always am when I’m about to go someplace new and meet new people. I’ve been looking forward to this experience! You know those tingly happy-nervous feelings you get in your gut, when you know you’re about to be growing and learning from the event just around the corner? That’s where I’ve been in the lead up to right now. 

I’m working alongside 8 other artists on this residency, exploring Scotland’s underwater world; specifically, the Argyll Hope Spot. We will be learning all about the animal and plant habitats - some threatened and some now thriving: thanks to the local organisation Seawilding, who we’ll be chatting to as part of the project. 

As I was packing, I was thinking a lot about my own connection to the water. My thinking has been prompted by a podcast the Happy Pear - recommended to me by my friends mum over dinner last night. The episode I was listening to was in conversation with Easkey Britton, exploring our physical, spiritual, holistic and scientific connections with water. I’ve just downloaded her book ‘Ebb & Flow’ on audible, and got stuck in to it during my drive up to the residency in Argyll, Scotland. It’s prepped me for lot of thinking about my own relationship with water, which I am taking time this week to reflect on.  

I’ve been trying to think when my love for water started. I remember being a little girl, camping and walking by the sea, exploring many of the Scottish islands and feeling a sense of home and peace like I’d never felt anywhere else. A particularly strong memory was a trip to the island of Tiree. We ended up in an artist studio; all white walls, big windows, facing directly out to the sea, only a handful of metres away. The memory is so strong, I can still hop back there in my head and feel the space as if I’m there right now. It was the epitome of a dream life to my eleven year old self - living by the water in a studio, making art. Teal and blues everywhere, in the nature, the paint and fibre art. I can still feel the home spun yarns of that studio between my fingers. Probably a subconscious step towards my decision to study textiles years later. I don’t think I could have been in there more than 10 minutes, and I wish for the life of me I could remember the artists name, to let them know the impression it has made. It’s still my dream life if I’m honest; I never feel more myself than when I’m by or in the water. One day, I’ll be living by the sea.

I’m approaching this upcoming residency with openness; my hopes are to become more confident in the water, to document the experience by experimenting more with video, and to learn as much as possible about the sea life we will be introduced to. I’ve a number of ideas logged in my head that I think could emerge from this trip; but really it’s all about absorbing the experience and seeing what is inspired upon my return home. 

Our first day has been focused on swimming and snorkelling skills. We were taught breathing techniques to help with the mental preparation of the cold, and the change in sensory stimulation of a very different environment.

If you’ve followed along for a little while, you’ll know my love for field research, sketching outside to record experiences and to tune in and see more in our surroundings. On this trip, we have, and will be drawing underwater (!!). I can’t wait to see how this new environment alters how I draw, notice and see.

I think the reason I come back to drawing as a practice is because it offers a way to be present, to connect to where I am, to how I feel in my body, and to really observe what I am experiencing with full focus. This is why I always say that the end result is a little unimportant - it’s the experience of creating the drawing that matters for me, that offers that space to tune in and live a little more fully. The bonus is you sometimes get a beautiful piece of artwork from it too; with enough focus, flow and practice. 

On the 12th August I am running a relaxed two hour outdoor sketching workshop (on land), to share my favourite techniques for exploring and tuning in to nature and landscape. If you’d like to join us in the Trossachs National Park, there are limited tickets left, available to book here.