Austin Texas....Arrival
Sept 1st I flew into Austin TX from Santa Rosa California. The temperature was 104F or 42C.
A week before that I was in England.
A smack in the face for my cool-climate northern blood. My remedy was to head for Barton Springs, SW of the city where natural water was 68F. My daughter drove me there. I wasn’t capable of making any decision in such heat.
It’s Ocober 1st and temps are now averaging 90F or 36C.
It’s sub tropical with cicadas buzzing and sightings of monarch butterflies, road runners (birds) and cardinals. It’s also the migratory path of monarch butterflies as they come down from S. Canada and central US to winter in Mexico. That happens any day now apparently.
A slice of Geo….Geology of this area is karst, mostly limestone. Landscape design and hillsides make this evident as i see huge boulders of satiny whitish rock sitting around.
Unlike the California coast tectonic plates which is a STRIKE-SLIP; Austin was created by the Llano Uplift millions of years ago when coastal plains to the east bent downward while the more stable central Texas interior remained relatively stable. This fault episode created this hill country where i now find myself.
Yep driving along these hills can feel like being on a roller coaster too!
If this all sounds rather technical it’s because it is one of the topics I research when landing somewhere completely dfifferent. I think it has something to do with a need to know if the land under my feet will be more stable than my uprooted self! Importantly it fuels my art vocabulary.
The people I meet are super friendly and welcoming. Most everyone I meet is from elsewhere in USA or other countries. That is a huge plus, I value diversity of all kinds.
Relocating has an excitement factor mixed with a longing to be back in the familiar places amongst friends and community I love; with the roads I know the destination of; the supplies I know how and where to source and really good bread, and baked goods.etc.
Until a studio becomes available I will be focusing on promoting my prints of original artwork, developing works on paper and exploring new materials.
A paving stone of local limestone with my fav colour palette!
landscape sample
Artistic Odyssey: From England to Iceland, San Francisco now Austin. A Journey of Studio Work, Exhibitions, and inspiration.
since Iceland!
From Skaftfell residency to Reykjavik and onto San Francisco, California with an aim to stay still for a while.
Back into the studio, working, teaching and preparing for our curated exhibition at The Vanner Gallery in Salisbury, Wiltshire UK. July 2023.
I dusted the cobwebs evicting the spiders from my studio, painted the walls a new white, and planted a vege & herb garden.
The inspiration from the fjord of Seydisfjordur, the patterns on the mountain slopes created by the repeated freezing, thawing and volcanic activity over millions of years was spilling out into paint and panels and small 3D pieces.
Reconnecting with the Northern California art community, I secured shows for 2024, while preparing for a move to Austin, Texas—a new adventure with fresh networking opportunities and a new studio. Through moments of stillness, I'll continue documenting this transformative journey.
The Vanner Gallery Salisbury Wiltshire, UK
September 26th
Arriving…at this residency on September 1 for 1 month.
Now It is the last week.
Much of what happens at a residency for me, becomes information gathering about the local I find myself in.
Seeking clarity about my own process and practice, experimentation with materials is a priority.
Development from the residency experience unfolds over time.
I’m gathering info and detritus, photos, weather patterns, native wild flowers and berries; feeling the space, sensing place.
I make ink using local source material, here it is wild blueberries. They produce a rich purple-red unlike commercial blueberries.
Particularly geological history is the underbelly of navigating and being navigated around the land structure by way of roads and trails.
The walks and senses become a translation of drawings, watery concoctions and mark making. Patterns and gestures emerge on paper that reflect the geology and illuminate the sense of this environment.
I recognise that the Romantic appropriation of landscape as an instrument for solitary pleasure is inadequate. In our era (Anthropocene or …..?) What we see in a landscape is a complex
compound of changing geology orchestrated by a variety of human uses which have modified the 'natural' environment.
“What am I looking at?” What is under…neath?
That led to an interest in Geomorphology, which I know little about but now I intend to research more.
September 23rd 2022
Red Alert storm for Eastern fjords in Iceland. Exciting /scary winds. Road closures and dropping temps.
Its the last week of the residency and we give a presentaion offer dialogue to the community on Wednesday.
I pull my last pinhole camera Tuesday when storm hopefully leaves us to pick up the pieces. (two I took down just as storm was approaching. The day before was 19C (64 F ) and warm winds prevailed. the sky was clear so we drove up the pass at 10pm in hopes of seeing the Aurora Borealis. Wowee luck was with us.
