In January this year I was delighted to be selected for an artist residency at Joya:Air in a remote 50-acre (20 hectare) ‘off-grid’ rural farm in the heart of the Sierra María-Los Vélez Natural Park, Almería, Spain. Run by artists Donna and Simon Beckmann, originally from the UK, it provides a space to think, to challenge and to meet artists from around the world, of many different artforms. There is abundant wild clay there, and an ambition to capitalise more on this. To that end, I built a 'minigama' whilst I was there - a tiny anagama - which was really exciting and challenging at times! I had to fire the kiln, which was made fully out of clay - no kiln bricks! - before using it as a kiln. The original plan was to built a kindling and paper kiln around it and fire outdoors. However, the land is incredibly dry and when the wind picked up there was a high risk of setting the place alight; in the true spirit of the place, Simon suggested I fire it in his wood-fired boiler - this was stressful, but worked! The piece was completed on the final day. I will have to go back to see if it works as intended! And I may build a bigger kiln while I'm there!
I may also run a course for budding wood-firers to build their own minigama! Watch this space!
Symbiosis - an art and ecology research project
https://www.artbombfestival.com/symbiosis
https://www.artbombfestival.com/
I was so delighted to be invited recently to take part in the Symbiosis project taking place in Doncaster this summer. It comprises of a series of residencies, training, meetings with experts, outings to the river, discussion, artlabs, etc and is part of a larger Artbomb project running in tandem and culminating in a free festival in Doncaster city centre 11th to 14th August. It'll be headline-grabbing with international, national and regional artists and scientists all coming together to think about the challenges of the future. Check it out - there will be events you can get involved in in the run-up to the festival. Tackling climate change, pollution, ecosystems and the way we live now, it promises to be truly thought-provoking, informative, creative, experimental, serious, fun, celebratory and challenging for all.
I may also run a course for budding wood-firers to build their own minigama! Watch this space!
Symbiosis - an art and ecology research project
https://www.artbombfestival.com/symbiosis
https://www.artbombfestival.com/
I was so delighted to be invited recently to take part in the Symbiosis project taking place in Doncaster this summer. It comprises of a series of residencies, training, meetings with experts, outings to the river, discussion, artlabs, etc and is part of a larger Artbomb project running in tandem and culminating in a free festival in Doncaster city centre 11th to 14th August. It'll be headline-grabbing with international, national and regional artists and scientists all coming together to think about the challenges of the future. Check it out - there will be events you can get involved in in the run-up to the festival. Tackling climate change, pollution, ecosystems and the way we live now, it promises to be truly thought-provoking, informative, creative, experimental, serious, fun, celebratory and challenging for all.
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