Indra Geidans – Basel, Switzerland 2007

 

I would have to commence by saying that this residency was the most astounding opportunity available to a Western Australian artist. From the moment l arrived until my departure, I was able to focus completely on an internal dialogue influenced by the surrounding environments and cultural differences that affected my art practice. Although l have had many travel experiences and worked in many other locations, this opportunity in Basel has created a greater influence than others.
Foremost to this experience is being aware that the defined role for this occasion is that of an artist. Within our everyday Australian experience, the roles we are required to take on are vast and varied depending on our life schedule - ie, educator, facilitator, carer, etc. The capacity to exist solely as an artist (with some diplomatic responsibilities) was a refreshing experience.
The placement of this role is emphasised through working with other artists in a similar situation. The interaction, not only between the cultural exchange 'on the streets' but with people taking on similar experiences created a meaningful exchange. Personally, l was fortunate enough to encounter an artist from Canada who worked with a similar sensibility to mine, which resulted in a direct interchange of ideas, work practice and practical experience. The result of this will hopefully be a collaborative exhibition in the near future.

 

As a city Basel has much to offer an artist on exchange. The history and architecture give an insight into a past that is not available to an artist in Australia. I think this historical aspect also affects the contemporary cultural climate and allows for a different sociological viewpoint. Primarily this can be found in the attitude and acceptance of the role of an artist within a culture. Basel has a large population of artists for the relatively small size of the city. It is a long respected profession given great credence in comparison to the Australian attitude towards arts practitioners.
The location of the studio - in St Alban -Tal, provided quick and easy access to many of the museums and galleries in Basel. The proximity to 4 major art institutions was within about a kilometre radius of the studio. The museums pass enabled as many visits to the museum as desired without incurring any cost. This was a fantastic opportunity to revisit certain artworks as often as desired. The state museum - the Kunst museum - had 3 major travelling exhibitions in the course of the 6 months, which were major retrospectives of works generally not seen in Australia. The other museums offered contemporary 2 and 3 dimensional works from a variety of local and international sources. The Kunsthalle changed its exhibitions every two months and provided many contemporary exhibitions.
I was fortunate enough to be selected to participate in 'Regionale 8', a selection of contemporary artworks from the Basel region as well Freiburg in Germany and Mullhouse in France. My painting was selected for the Kunsthaus Baselland Gallery and was chosen as the image for the electronic invitation and website. Kunsthaus Baselland is another contemporary art space in close proximity to the centre of Basel in a converted industrial space. The 'Regionale' is an important event on the Basel art scene calendar and provided the opportunity to see a large amount of contemporary art. To be involved in this exhibition created an opportunity for many conversations about art practice in Basel and Australia.
Basel in relation to the rest of Europe is ideally situated. It borders both France and Germany and allows easy access into both countries as a cultural variation to Switzerland. I would often ride my bike over the border into France to shop, where the prices were more affordable.

 

 

With the new trend in competitive airfares the proximity and prices to other major cities has become very affordable and provide a convenient platform for journeys to other major cities. The highlight of these visits for me was travelling to Berlin, which had many exciting galleries and exhibitions. The most exciting being a major retrospective of Cindy Sherman's work housed at the Martin Gropius gallery. I also spent time in Madrid, which is renowned for its museums. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit a major exhibition of Paula Rego's work. She is one of the contemporary artists that has most influenced my own art practice. It was really very special to be able to view her work at such close range.

My initial application for Basel cited the research into other art institutions that work with students that have a mental illness. I was also interested in museums that housed 'Art Brut' exhibitions. I was very excited at the prospect of researching various institutions related to both art and mental illness. I travelled to Munster in Germany to visit one of these private mental institutions. The hospital, Kunsthaus -Kannen was an amazing institution and one that l would hope we could strive towards creating in Australia. Along with its own art studios and gallery, the grounds also catered for horse riding, animal care (both horses and private zoo), horticulture (nursery and vegetable gardens), gymnasium and sports centre, interactive sculpture park, recreation centre and workshops for the production of various packaging industries. The Director of the art centre spent a full day showing me the grounds and discussing the philosophical content of the centre. I had an opportunity to meet several clients and talk to them regarding their own art practice. I left cds with images of our art centre and our client's artworks. My only disappointment was by comparing this institution to what is available to patients with a mental illness in WA. The 'Reflections Art Studio' (Northbridge) is a wonderful institution for patients seeking a creative outlet, and it has achieved positive results, but it is limited in size and accessibility.

Further research in Basel, enabled me to meet two artists who work with mental health patients in a similar capacity to how we work here in Perth. I went to a number of their art openings and met some wonderful Swiss artists who worked within their institution. Through this contact I became aware of a complete network of art institutions throughout Europe that maintain close contact with one another and curators who work with artists from different countries. In this sense, I realised that Australia has no specific galleries for 'Art Brut', and few centres that could co-exist in the same way. My intention is to now focus on the construction of a more dynamic website that can promote aspects of our art / mental health institution to a broader international community, which could possibly lead to an exchange of artworks and philosophies.
I visited a number of galleries and museums specifically focussing on artists with a mental illness. The most dynamic and interesting space was in Lausanne, Switzerland at the 'Art Brut' Museum. They have a comprehensive permanent collection as well as a temporary space housing their new acquisitions. The other gallery worthy of mentioning was also in Switzerland in St Gallen.

In relation to my own art practice, more time was spent on research and preparation for future works than the physical act of creating new works. Initially I used the time working with new ideas and formats for my work. This was a good way to acclimatise to the new situation. My contact with the Canadian artist initiated a series of different ideas, with a myriad of possibilities. Our work has a similar intent and we were able to model for each other as well as collaborate some of our concepts. In the course of 3 months, we spent a lot of time taking photographs, and working towards a future collaborative exhibition.
Since my return I have commenced exploring this considerable resource of images that we accumulated over the latter stages of my residency. I believe this contact to be one of the most important aspects of my residency.

In closing, I think it is very important that residencies such as this one are made available to Western Australian artists. The isolation of Perth, as a city, tends to make an arts practitioner feel like they have not a lot in common with other artists internationally. As an artist on residence, one is considered an Australian artist not as a Western Australian, which I believe is an important distinction.
I wish to thank all parties concerned for making this residency available.

 

Reminisces of Albany Residency
by Michael Vandeleur

 

As of previous residencies I had intended to report my experiences soon after completing my stay at Albany’s Vancouver Art Centre.
However due to procrastination and work commitments, I now find myself apologising for this late report of my time at Albany (Oct 22nd to Nov 19th)

It wasn’t until I browsed through my diary nearly three months later that all the happenings to come flooding back, people, places and the resulting emotional roller coaster, which I have been savouring since.

Most would agree that it is the people one meets that make places enjoyable so I’m happy to relate some of my Albany encounters.
Many thanks to Tanja Colby and her staff Nova and Julia who made me welcome and were always available to help me with any requests.

During my stay I enjoyed three exhibitions presented by local art groups at the Vancouver Art Centre which were diverse, respectively featuring indigenous art, photography, installations, sculpture and displaying most styles and mediums of painting.
I also met a number of the artist and consequently obtained a closer insight to their
art and motivation.
Also pleased to add, that some of the artists who attended my workshops were well represented in these exhibitions.

The three workshops I held varied, with the first being a 9x5 workshop for oils and acrylics.
The next being a watercolour workshop for the Albany Art Group, which consisted of a number of competent and talented painters.
Lastly but not least on my final weekend I held a workshop for acrylics and watercolour.

Other resident artists at the centre during my stay were from distant places, with Emma from Scotland, Julie from Melbourne and Bello, Elizabeth and Elias, originally
from Austria and now in Beaconsfield.
When together the combined input of the artists, who all practiced different disciplines made for some very interesting and at times amusing discussions.
I’m sure such informal gatherings can be a mutual source of information and inspiration.

For those wishing to know about the financial arrangements and obligations between residencies and artist; from my experience they can vary with each residency.
In the case of the Vancouver Art Centre I was required to provide one workshop free
of charge in lieu of my accommodation. For any subsequent workshops I was given the use of a studio and permitted to charge a fee as well as take commissions, an arrangement which worked quite well.
Depending on each artist’s situation I’m sure they will benefit from a change of location and new people exposing them to different ideas which will benefit them and their work.
I recall a student on completing a workshop once saying to me that felt like a Sea Eagle. Then elaborated “That like the eagle he was departing with more than he had arrived with!’
And they are my sentiments at the completion of a residency.

 

Bello Benischauer
01.11 - 16.12.2007
at Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany, WA

We found out about the residency over the artsource website.
As we hoped we could produce new work (collect footage for a currently developing project of Bello) and to build a relation to local artists and other artists in residence, which we did.

Bello created an installation with two other artists (one from Edinburgh – artist in residence, and a local artist) together with the local Youth Organization Access Room (and director Sue Codee) – exhibition opened in early Dec.

We both participated in the yearly exhibition Inhouse, for which I created new work.
And we made important contacts for future projects.

The VAC has a great art-community and the Mary Thomson House provides a wonderful work and living space.
All have been most helpful and friendly. It has been a pleasure and a very special experience to work in such a healthy and inspiring environment for some time.

For artists, who work full-time, such residencies are a perfect and welcome opportunity to work in a different setting for a few weeks.

For us as a family (especially when your child is little) it was perfect as well, as we don’t like to work separated from each other for more than a few days. So a 6-weeks residency, where we all could go was a great thing to do.
For me, currently focussing on my curatorial work, it was a good experience to work on some art pieces myself again, with the freedom to work next to my son, who - thanks to the living environment there - was able to play and do things by himself.

On our website www artinprocess.com we put a link to photos from the residency.

• 13 May 2007 – Notes from Banff
• 15 May 2007 – Bugger art: let’s go snow boarding!
• 27 May 2007 – Aussie BBQ
• 31 May 2007 – Canadian nights
• 7 June 2007 – Bear appearance & coyote serenade!
• 20 June 2007 – Goodbye to Banff!
• 2 July 2007 – New York adventure
• 8 July 2007 – One week in New York City
• 13 July 2007 – Second week in New York City
• 16 July 2007 – yo dudes
• 18 July 2007 – More New York City adventures – subs, pies & Mozart
• 15 August 2007 – Meeting with Louise Bourgeois
• 30 August 2007 – Goodbye to NYC

13 May 2007 - Notes from Banff

I hope you all don’t mind a group email to start off - I decided to do one especially for my artist and writer mates. First this place is amazing and wonderful and artists in WA have to seriously think about applying and coming here sometime in the next 5 years!

Driving into the little town of Banff was exciting -it is so amazing to be in the middle of the Rockies! and here I am at this incredible place. There is a whole lot of buildings making up the complex and I have a room of my own on the 5th floor (the top floor) of the Lloyd Building with a bathroom, bath!, desk, double bed, coffee machine, tv and access to the internet!

But the most amazing thing was 4 elk just moseying around the entrance and outside my window is an amazing view of a bloody huge mountain- Sulphur Mountain! it is black and mean and covered in snowy crevices.

There are grizzlies and black bears in the mountain trails around here so I won’t be hiking alone anywhere! Apparently you have to go around clapping your hands, walking slowly (not jogging or mountain bike riding as that surprises the bears too much!) and shouting out "hey Bear!!!!'-

The Centre itself is amazing and facilities for artists are fantastic!

You are given a card (with a photo that looks like you have been in a blizzard already) and that lets you eat for free at the Dining room. It’s a buffet meal and you must sit at one of the tables proudly marked 'artists' . There are a quite a few tables so you will get to slowly meet everyone. Tonight most of the people at my table were writers - all here from all-over Canada and USA for 5 weeks and loving it. There were also 5 amazing tables filled with delegates from a 'first nation- aboriginal planning development conference'- and a maths genius club who also meet, eat and live here. I would not be surprised if Steven Hawking dropped by for tea tomorrow night!

There are concerts and plays and talks on nearly every night here-most of them free or cheap for the participants. But I suspect everyone here works hard and doesn’t blow the opportunity to do nothing else but their art.

Yesterday they gave out the studios and I have an amazing one - very big (about 9 x 5 m!) with a large skylight and lovely white walls. The last occupant (a Jo from Alaska apparently) painted on the floor too so I feel right at home with the marks on the floor.

The other people in the course seem great- most younger and into video and new technology stuff. Most from all over Canada- Ontario, Toronto and Vancouver but there are 2 from London, one from NZ and one other Aussie from outside Sydney.

Well yesterday I went to Calgary (about 1 and half hours away) to buy materials with a group. The city is about as big and flat as Perth. The first place we stopped was a big craft warehouse called Micheals and I tell you- Claude, a NZ/Sydney girl and I had our eyes hanging out of our heads. They had every conceivable crafty type thing you can imagine- even a whole range of fake moss type plants. There was a million kinds of stickers and papers and feathers and cake decorating items and 'bachelorette night' nik naks and decorations...I demurely bought some gold and silver doilies and Claude some moss. I wanted to buy a flocked dinasaur colouring in book for Ned my nephew but thought it best to restrain myself.

Then we went to an art shop- and I spent $400 on canvas and materials. It’s all pretty expensive and I didn’t recognise half the manufacturers and the paint colours themselves sometimes had different names. I found a few new colours like Prussian Green and I couldn’t find any mediums so I bought walnut oil to try.

Soon I was over shopping- then we drove home to the rockies- heading into the mountains again with the amazing snow covered peaks.

Later that night- it’s light here till about 10pm- a couple of us walked over to a party on the other side of Banff- all the street names are incredible- my favourites are Bear, Wolverine, Lynx and Buffalo. There is also Grizzly and Otter, Squirrel and Whiskey Creek Roads!

I feel like I am in some incredible movie- already I've made friends with all the other participants and feel at home.

The whole place is set up to help us work and all the staff are there to facilitate that! If we want something we have only to ask!

You may think I'm not doing much work at all- what with snow boarding, parties, shopping and eating every night in the cafeteria! Perhaps my next major email will describe the incredible workload here!!!

Lots a love to you all, Jo xxx

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15 May 2007 - Bugger art - let’s go snow boarding!

Hi everyone - thanks for all your personal emails! really love them and thinking of each one of you even though I haven't replied yet- sorry. I wanted to report back on my snow boarding adventure! It was fantastic. The temperature was 0 but no wind and perfect snow up on Sunshine Ski Fields. I went up with Jen (my facilitator!) and two other artists -Simon (Lon) and Claude (NZ) who were all gun skiers! Jen taught me how to: 1) put all the layers on from two layers of thermals to my big jacket and the ski bunny jacket and beanie and glasses; 2) how to fall properly; 3) how to catch a ski lift - getting off the ski lift was hilarious- more of a tumble than a dismount; 4) How to snow board!

Well I was hoping to channel my Wembley Downs skate boarding days but that was a while ago and I fell off about a million times before I remotely got the hang of it... was like I imagine surfing would be on giant Hawaiian waves- the faster you go the more control you have but the scarier it is! Getting used to having your feet strapped onto the board is the weirdest thing.

My falling over at the end was my usual way to stop. Once I could do about 500 metres it was a lot of fun!

At one point way up the mountain I had to have a little rest and I was lying in the thick thick perfect soft snow, pine trees all around and looking up at the snow falling all around me and I felt like I was on the Narnia movie set and The White Queen was coming. It was magical!- snowed all day. Jen said it was perfect snow conditions- couldn’t have got any better. I am so lucky because I think they close the ski season in a few weeks.

Anyway I had a magic day and came home soaking wet and exhausted- slept like a baby. Lots of bruises but worth it! All you guys that can surf- you must love it because you would be so good at it.

Really I'm getting to work in the studio SOON!

lots of love to you all. from Jo

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27 May 2007 - Aussie BBQ

Well my next adventure was organising an Aussie/NZ BBQ for 35 people (me, Claude from NZ and Kirsten from Mudgee) on the residency on Friday night. It snowed 2 inches the day before so we thought it was going to be very interesting but it had all cleared by that night and Friday was a 'hot' 17 degrees. We had it over in the ceramics deck with a big BBQ and fire area. It was quite a lot of work as we had to make everything in a kitchen in another building first and bring it over... carrying it all past a group of wandering elk first.

The menu was 1) a try of vegemite on french bread (sourced from an aussi working in the kitchens who was going to London and donated half a used jar to the party); 2) two amazing fat juicy lamb chops air freighted from NZ (and picked up that day from Canmore-the next town), mashed potatoes with garlic (yes I peeled 45 potatoes!), salad with lots of garlic/lemon dressing, lettuce and lime juice, garlic bread and tofu zucchini skewers for the vegos (with peanut sauce); 3) hand made Pavlova with strawberries and mango slices; and 4) lots of Aussie wine (no beer available). The food was very popular as the cafeteria food is getting a bit boring, overcooked and starchy for everyone- plus no garlic!

The music was a bit of a disaster as all we could muster was Eric Bogle, The Waifs, some boomerang samples and ACDC. A strange but surprisingly robust mix. The elk must have liked it as they came closer.

And yes I had corks dangling from my cowboy hat (I have no shame left after my Rocky Mountain High fiasco) and they drew several interesting comments. One guy thought I was showing off how much I had drunk that night (?!) like each cork was a trophy. That was a joke as most of you know what a lightweight I am! Some people had no conception of 'flies'- that was an interesting one to explain.

That’s one of the fascinating things about being here- there are always wonderful cultural misunderstandings and collisions. Two people come from a nearby town called Regina (pronounced like vagina) and it is extremely hard to keep a straight face (for some reason especially for the Aussie and English participants) whenever they loudly mention their town. Equally the other participants love to copy our Aussie accents and make fun of us too!

Some people were going to get up at 2am to climb a nearby mountain to see if they could see the Northern lights. Not me, not this time. I was in bed by 10.30pm!

On the work side- we are currently all doing a project involving a green-screen room- a huge TV recording studio with a green background. Anything green can be keyed out later and you can insert yourself into any video. Some people are swimming with Rachel Welch, inserting themselves into old horror movies, wearing wonder woman costumes and flying over Honolulu and dancing with Madonna. I put myself in a ice sailing boat and took some video of iced up lake Louise to put in the background- not sure how it will work out- I should have done something more outrageous and fun but didn’t really understand the concept... it’s all a huge learning curve. There’s lots of workshops going on now! It’s full-on and great.

You'll be pleased to know I'm not going bowling at the Banff Springs Hotel today (with High Tea afterwards) but rather working in my studio!!! Perhaps next week. A girl’s gotta work sometime. There’s been a few Grizzly sightings too! Not by me yet.

Lotsa love to you all and thanks for the emails, I know some of you are going through some hard times and hope you don’t mind my flippant adventures, I am thinking of you, love Jo

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31 May 2007 - Canadian nights

Once again thanks for your emails!

I went out two nights ago with one of the participants- Barry Underwood, a photographer from Ohio to help him try and photograph the 'Northern Lights'- really just him waving around blue and green LED lights in a long starwars tube! But it was dark and cold in the mountains- I had all my thermals on and was snug in a beanie too. Didn’t see any bears!! Felt both ok and disappointed about that at the same time. Barry has a kayak and he took it off his car and let me go out for a row on the lake while he set up his camera and did tests. I had a lifejacket with a little light so he could see me in the darkness. It was so quiet and beautiful out there in the Canadian wilderness. There was a 3/4 moon and lots of cloud so I could see everything well... no other lights.

I'm enjoying Barry- he knows nothing about Australia so I have a lot of fun teasing him. He makes beautiful mysterious photos of lights in the darkness in outdoor settings- I was hoping he could come for Foto-freo.

Here’s some photos, love to you all from Jo

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7 June 2007 - Bear appearance & coyote serenade!

My latest news involves a bear sighting!. Just have to tell you that last night I went with a friend to make a fire at a popular picnic spot just outside of Banff. It was at a place called Cascade Falls- where water from a waterfall comes of a mountain and pools- very beautiful spot. It was a cold night and it’s been raining all day. Anyway we got the fire going and we were just having a cup of tea from a thermos when at about 9.30pm (still light) I heard a noise up near the car-park. I said 'oh that sounds like a bear going through the rubbish!'. Jen just laughed- it’s not that common to run into a bear so close to the town and there was a freeway not far away. Anyway about 15 mins later I saw a bear ambling across a patch of grass about 100 metres away. It was a black bear probably a few years old- not a baby bear. Jen was incredulous (she’s lived here 4 years and only ever seen one other bear).

She took a video so I will send that as soon as I can. We watched the bear moving parallel to us across grasses towards the bush for about 10 mins before it disappeared. We were upwind of the bear so he/she probably couldn’t smell us. Too far away to affect us- but so exciting at the same time.

Then just to top off the experience- a couple of coyotes started to howl in the night. They set up a serenade for a few minutes- howling and whooping. I was absolutely in heaven. It was such a beautiful haunting noise- especially in the darkness! Sometimes I think I'm in the movie of Brokeback Mountain... it was filmed around here- that would give you some idea of the amazing wilderness around me.

The town of Banff is currently on a flood warning as now the sunny and rainy weather is melting the snow too quickly. The same stones I walked across in the first week I came are now a swollen fast flowing river that is bursting the banks on both sides. I am safe up on high ground at the Centre but some of the town is being sand-bagged. Very dramatic weather and country! I love it. It’s different every day.

I'm actually painting solidly every day now and getting some work done! Only 2 and a half weeks to go here! Can’t believe how time has flown by. Lotsa love to everyone, from Jo

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20 June 2007 - Goodbye to Banff!

I am leaving Banff in two days for Toronto and then New York. I feel quite bereft and will miss all the people here, the snow and the mountains, not to mention the wildlife (chipmunk, elks etc). I visited a wolf sanctuary on the weekend about 2 hours away in British Columbia. The wolves were all domesticated and could not be released into the wild so were used for educational purposes. Did you know that wolves have never attacked a person! They are much maligned and still openly hunted in Canada (no bag limit!). They are the top predator in the food chain and keep the elk and deer numbers under control which keeps the whole eco-system healthy. The people at the centre are desperately trying to change the archaic laws that are endangering the wolf population. We heard the wolves all howling when we arrived which was fantastic. Also at this place was an aspen tree which showed bear claw marks- showing how it had climbed about 8 metres up the tree. So much for the myth that to escape a bear you only have to climb a tree! On the way home we saw a coyote at a place called Kicking Horse and then a huge alpha male Elk with his ‘velvet antlers'- the antlers he grows before growing horn antlers- they look like they are covered in green flocking.

It’s been a fantastic opportunity and it’s hard to believe it’s going to end and we will be rudely shoved out into the real world again. I have met some amazing friends/artists here and we will be keeping in touch.

I already want to curate an exhibition and bring some of them to Perth.

We had an 'open day' here a few days ago-where all the visual artists opened their studios to the public. People seemed to like my work. A dealer - Emily Barnet from Summit Gallery in Banff came around to visit me and she loved my work. She has taken the two biggest pieces I've made here with the aim of selling them in the next two months (there’s a big international market in Banff due to the Ski-ing and the International TV Fair). She has two Galleries- a more conservative one here in Banff and a more minimalist contemporary one in Calgary called Skew. She has tentatively offered me a show at Skew in Oct/Nov 2008. She also shows her artists in Miami and LA Artfairs - so I am pretty happy to have made the connection with her.

I enclose an image of the largest work I made while here- titled Lake Louise. It is 5.5 metres long and 1.5m high. As I had such a large studio I basically just bought a roll of canvas and worked on that. As you can see the gothic chandeliers of Lake Louise Chateau and the elk antlers have crept into the picture. If she sells it- I can definitely rent a studio in New York to make some more paintings while I am there.

I met Andrea Hull, the Director of the VCA- she was here for two weeks working in one of the writers studios- (I knew her from Perth years ago) and we discussed how we have nothing like Banff in Australia and what an amazing place this Centre for the Arts is. If you know anyone that has money to make a dream project like this- they could come here and be inspired.

I'm also enclosing a photo of me and a friend- Melissa - dancing in fountain/ice skating rink in Calgary after Calgary Pride Parade (lots of bears and horses and cowboys!) and a photo of one of the artists- Simon from London arriving by canoe to give a performance lakeside last night. He sang a series of unfortunate songs- one of which had the chorus:

"Hey Bear, are you out there?

Please don’t eat me,

Please don’t eat me."

My next news email will probably be from Niagara Falls or New York. I'm loving it all! Thanks for your emails, I know some of you are having really hard times and it’s cold and wintery over there- please take care- love to hear from you if you have time, lots of love Jo

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2 July 2007 - New York adventure

Hi all. New York is growing on me. (I think I was spoilt by Banff). I went on the subway into China town last night to meet Tara (a friend of Thelma, Deb Miller and Helen) and her husband Joel. There were a lot of people on the street- all hustling goods on a hot Saturday night. It was fantastic and crazy at the same time and I followed two hefty NYPD cops until they seemed to cause a fight to break out near one store- and I stopped following them after that and concentrated on crossing the street and keeping my eyes in my head! I was picked up by Tara and Joel in an alley behind Broadway and we all walked into Chinatown to find a restaurant. Dinner was good and it was all a bit like Northbridge on speed. Lovely to be with Tara and laid back Joel and they ended up driving over Manhattan Bridge to go to a party in Williamsburg- the north end of Brooklyn. We pulled up at what looked like condemned building and got out. It was a Jewish 'hood' and everyone was out walking the Sabbath, all the little girls dressed in long blue dresses. The apartment of the party was on the 3rd floor of the building which turned out to be being renovated from the inside out. The stairs had not been done yet and there was a few bullet casings lying around. Inside the newly done up smart but small apartment the party was demure- they had a DJ playing records and a data projector playing Kung Fu movies on the wall. All the people were in IT or designers. Very young and hip. The view of NY was great and everyone took turns sitting to smoke on the fire stairs- just like in the movies. There are so many nationalities here, you can buy beer at the local store and smokes at the chemist.

I walked up to the Brooklyn Museum yesterday –just in time for the last day of 'Global Feminisms', which also included Judy Chicago's the Dinner Party. The Dinner Party has found a permanent home there at last so anyone will be able to go back and check it out again. It was strange to finally see it having first heard of it years ago. It was an amazing experience walking around the triangle and seeing the amazing embroidery that has gone into some of the pieces. The pottery plates are also beautiful and seemed to get bigger and more 3D as they came up to represent more contemporary women’s lives. I had to laugh when I saw Georgia O'Keefe's as someone had made the biggest most elaborate vagina plate for her- and she always denied her work was referencing vaginas! The global feminisms exhibition contained some Australian/NZ/Asian artists (yeah!) which was good because the Dinner Party didn't. I saw work by Patricia Piccinini (a real size sculpture of a primate holding a human baby-incredible), Destiny Deacon, Tracy Moffet (a wonderful collage of passionate I hate you/I love you moments from various films), Kate Benyon (OZ/Hong Kong) also A very funny interview with Kathy Emin (with her self). Lots of great work from Iran, Cuba and Palestine too. One woman had video taped herself walking into an Israeli checkpoint for 5 days. She had the camera concealed in her bag and it was totally illegal. She was finally caught – but not before she had shot some great stuff- showing the hardship of Palestinian people in Israel.

I missed a great exhibition (by a week) by Luc Sante called The Museum of Crime and the Museum of God- with artefacts, ephemera and quotes about crime and religion in NY- just the kind of exhibition I love. Damn.

That's all for now from Gotham City- hope it’s not boring- will keep you posted. Thanks to all those who've emailed me- I will try and reply individually but now I'm using airport from someone else in the building the internet is only intermittently available, lots of love from Jo

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8 July 2007 - One week in New York City

Hello everyone - well it’s been one whole week in New York City and I'm settling in fast. A big part of American life seems to be eating and you would be proud of me as I valiantly trying to cope with the cholesterol laden food here in the USA. This is what i ate today- in order:

fruit and yoghurt and tea (home in Brooklyn), a huge organic chocolate donut and an iced coffee (healthyplace called earth something in the lower east side), beef empanadas and huge chorizo sausage (in Queens-world trade fair gardens), salad wrap (in Queens Art gallery), salad and avocado and fried green bananas (tostedas?) (and taste of Diyans yucca and cornmeal something in Woodside on way back from Queens), coffee, chocolate and chilli crisps (at the metropolitan museum of art)! My stomach is getting so fat! The day was so full and I saw so much art my eyes are popping out of my head. The Metropolitan was overwhelming and fantastic and the biggest example of global burglary I could ever imagine. Queens was wonderful- what an ethnic mix.

I went on a train trip to visit an Australian friend Tara in Princeton, New Jersey two days before, and that was also wonderful. The train I was on was headed for Trenton, New Jersey- and I enjoyed seeing everything out the train window - two storey family homes with porches, sad looking warehouses and shops, large abandoned industrial areas and even a funeral parlour which had a simple 'funeral parlour' sign on it in the middle of the street. Then I arrived at Princeton- it couldn’t have been more different! A little bit of Cambridge in America- all green leafy trees and elite, conservative buildings and neighbourhoods.

Tara and I ended up walking around Princeton University and went to a play- Biloxie Blues- at the reparatory theatre there that night- which was fun. The Princeton Art gallery had many a gem and I was blown away to see a work by one of my favourite women Surrealist painters- Kay Sage- there.

There was a big thunderstorm that night and Joel, Taras husband, wouldn’t let us eat our dinner outside as he had had an employee who had been hit by lightning and was worried the same thing might happen to us.

I am sleeping like a log wherever I end up for the night as I am so exhausted from taking everything in! I am no longer worried at all on the subway- although I still get lost. I loved seeing the tenements on the lower east side and all the graffiti.

I hope everything’s going well for all of you- thanks for your emails- You can be sure that I'll have a donut for you lotsa love xxxxxxxxxxx Jo

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13 July 2007 - Second week in New York City

Hi everyone- thanks for all the emails- seems like a lot of you are drinking a lot at the moment! good on you- (you know who you are!)

Ok -the week can be summed up by describing my day yesterday:

2pm I met Tara at the Grace Plaza and we watched the Melbourne Street theatre group- Strange Fruit- perform on their stilts with their long skirts. It was great, I felt really proud of them and you could spot ex-pat aussies in the crowd because of their latent freckles and they were the ones applauding loudly in Blunnies!

Then Tara took me to meet a famous New York Art Collector- Hubert Nueman. He is in his late 60s and lives in a 5 level townhouse opposite Central Park. Tara has been doing the graphic design for a catalogue of a large upcoming exhibition of his collection and asked if I could come and visit and see his work. Well it was an amazing experience- he was so generous and spent 3 hours showing us all over his house which was wall to wall, floor to ceiling art- and not just any art but amazing art. There were countless Picassos, Braques, a mantlepiece full of Man Ray sculptures, 3 huge Basquiet's, Wesselmans, lots of Koons sculptures and photos and many younger artists that seem to be well known here like Ben Edwards, Ashley Bickerton, JP Munroe, Charlie Roberts and Karen Kalimnek.

We had an interesting conversation in which he outlined his view about the necessity of true artists living in New York or London and 'being up on all the ideas happening there' and also of having studios there so that collectors could build a relationship with them over many years. He had no interest in artists who lived anywhere else and had built a disciplined collection based on the cutting edge NY artists whom he felt made 'incomplete' art- the opposite to modernist work- but rather 'work which creates tension when you view it and stops you from having closure'. Most of the work was figurative and representational and flat or graphic. Hardly anything could be described as painterly. Most followed on from ideas of pop artists in some way. I liked his commitment and a lot of the amazing art but at one point felt a bit angry about the New York centrist argument. It does tend to wipe out many other artists all over the world! Had to bite my tongue.

Later as we all caught a taxi together I asked him what he thought of Aboriginal Contemporary Art. He was dismissive and had only seen one exhibition in Germany. It had no relationship to New York and he couldn’t see any connections... I was a bit shocked.

Anyway we all went in a yellow taxi (as it was pouring- thank goodness a thunderstorm to break the heat) to an exhibition opening (POPcentric at Gering & Lopez Gallery on Fifth Ave). It was in the same building as Penthouse magazine and across the road from the Trump Tower. Lots of art that was Ok- the best pieces were skulls with flowers which were not as good as Ex De Medici's work! I met a man taking photos who told me his life’s work was taking photos of people at New York openings- he had been doing it for 20 years and would have an exhibition 'soon'. I made him take a photo of my new shoes.

Then we went to another exhibition of New Works from Utopia - Australian Aboriginal artists at Robert Steele Gallery in Chelsea. They had been working with the Australian Embassy and had a collection of work of Minnie Pwerle, Emily Kngwarreye and others.

It was so awful because the works had been hung like a jumble sale- all higgledly piggerdly- practically touching each other and with each artists work scattered and each work cancelling out the next. No names of the artists or titles next to the work either.

I thought maybe space was at a premium in New York galleries- or they just wanted to sell, sell. sell - but no- the explanation for the god-awful installation was because the director was 'using the strategy of Barnum and Bailey- and when introducing something 'new' to Americans - wanted to hit them over the head with colour and movement!'. I kid you not. I told him that it was horrible and disrespectful to the artists and I begged him to take some of the work down. He told me he 'loved discussion of this sort' and to come back and argue with him on Friday. He said this was how you had to sell new work to 'Americans'.

Well what can I say! It was an interesting day! I was hopelessly myself. America is certainly surprising. Tara and I caught the subway back to Brooklyn groaning and laughing after a great Sushi meal.

Today I visited the Tenement Museum because I love to read about that time in history. I was taken into an 1880's tenement building and was shown where a family of seven lived in three small rooms and operated a garment making or 'sweatshop' in there to survive as well. It was fascinating. The mother and father slept in the big bed, the two sisters slept head to toe on a small cot and the four brothers slept with their heads on one couch and their bodies on chairs so as to escape the giant cockroaches and rats on the floor. More than a hundred people were crammed into the building and there was a privy for them all out the back! No wonder a lot of life was lived on the streets. I had a bit of a crush on the South American guide who urged us to all consider the impact of sweatshops in Asia and the conditions of the people who make the cheap goods we buy now!

That’s all my news for now- gotta go feed the worms in the basement. It keeps me grounded in this crazy city Love to you all xxx Jo ps a photo of me crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in 36 degree heat.

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16 July 2007- yo dudes

It’s Sunday and 32 degrees. Sunday is my designated explore Brooklyn day so I walked down to the Brooklyn Botanical gardens and wandered along- liked the native plant section the best and discovered real poison ivy, jerusalem artichokes (my faves) and hickory trees. The water lily ponds were also great.

Then I got lost and exited the park on the wrong side and ooh ahh found myself following loud music into a predominantly Afro American (and considerably poorer) part of town. Ended up crossing NYPD barriers and entering the Flatbush Ave Street fair. It was fantastic.

I was definitely in the minority but didn’t feel at all afraid. It was family day out with lots of the cutest kids ever- the little girls dressed up in fairy floss dresses with beads in their hair and the boys riding scooters and wearing face paint. All the African American women look amazing with bright African print clothes or the latest latex body hugging dresses, incredibly decorated nails (lots of shops here specialise in painting nails and the designs are incredible) and BIG ear rings. Their hair styles are truly fantastic- with rolls and braids and clips and flashbacks and swirls going off one side of the head and flattened and oiled down.

The men range from looking suave to looking like the VIP pimp DJ's on video clips with tons of gold chain around their necks and big sunnies. The teenage bros have trouble holding up their jeans despite elaborate gold and silver belts with magnificent jewelled belt buckles. Everyone has new trainers!

One young guy about 13 spent ages hanging around choosing and then spent $5 on a gold chain with a dragon hanging off it, at a stall I was in. The look is everything! Most of the stalls were all selling cheap Chinese junk but there was a good number selling 'buy black' African goods, black music and childrens health care plans.

Also stalls selling watermelon in cups and corn roasted fresh on the cob! Different trucks were set up with competing black DJs up and down the street and the NYPD officers (both black and white) were in constant view of everything.

The cutest (and most expensive thing) thing was pony rides for $5.

Kids were being hoisted up (onto very ratty looking ponies) and had their photos taken in a cowboy hat and the smiles on their faces were enormous. Despite looking so cool in their gold gear and black sunnies -their dads were smiling too and shelling out the money. Everyone was having fun, people were hanging out of the apartments all up and down the street and all the oldies were sitting in seats on the sidewalk.

I heard snatches of the best conversation (ie. "you don write me anymore? what i gotta do- write myself?' a man to a woman passing by.' you do it all to yoursel offen enuf bro!' her reply.) After about an hour I caught the subway one stop up to 7th Ave and it seemed like a world away- it’s a very yuppie predominantly white neighbourhood. So ended another Sunday in NYC! Love from roving reporter Jo 'the shadow' Darbyshire.

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18 July 2007 - More New York City adventures – subs, pies & Mozart

Dear All

More adventures from Gotham!

On Monday night the gay guy who lives above me invited me to the Academy Theatre on 59th street to see the 20th year anniversary screening of 'Amadeus'- the story of Mozart. Milos Forman, the director and many of the cast and crew were going to be there. The guy upstairs turned out to be Patrick Harrison - New York Events Director, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and he was compering the evening!

Tara (my Aussie friend here) and I got dressed up special for the occasion and enjoyed seeing it again after 20 years. We then stayed for the panel discussion and listened to the stories. It was great- then we walked back through the trash on the pavements and smoke coming up from the subway- a typical New York night to catch the subway back to Brooklyn.

For our adventures Today- Tara and I decided to go see Gosia's drawings in a show at Kentler Gallery in Red Hook- a part of Brooklyn towards the Hudson River. It involved catching a bus there which was tricky but ultimately better as we saw more of the docklands, the scrap metal yards and industrial area of Red Hook. Then we walked for blocks and I loved the area- it’s less crowded than Manhattan and with a paint peeling off, raw dockland feel.

Before we got to the gallery we decided to try and find a shop called 'Steves Authentic Key Lime Pie's' - which was somewhere in Redhook (his website is great but has neither address nor times open on it). We needed a Key Lime Pie!

We followed our noses and finally a sign to his shop in a dock warehouse on Pier 41. It was amazing. He collects interesting things so the shop was relaxed and wild- Steve himself sauntered out drinking a beer (at 11.30 am) and we all made friends. He is best described as a laid back Broome sort of guy. We ate the best pie (more like a custard tart) ever made- from small limes he imports from Mexico and Gram biscuits and drank lime lemonade. The pier also has a garden shop on it so there were flowers and plants everywhere and from the end of the dock you have the 'closest view of the Statue of Liberty in all of New York'.

Then he told us about a crazy artist friend who was about to launch a 'submarine' in the water right next door (wooden slats covered in fibreglass). We went out to investigate and sure enough a crazy artist called Duke Riley (who recently spent 2 weeks at Fremantle Arts Centre!) and his motley crew of mates were trying to unload a cylindrical wooden thing which looked like a giant barrel. They were having trouble and it was unwieldy. It is a giant barrel and should float like one. Duke has attached a very heavy sinker like base to it to make it float upright- and after embedding himself inside it will attach a glass/brass porthole contraption and snorkel. Apparently Steve says he aims to peddle power it out into the harbour to visit the Queen Mary liner! I think it’s modelled on the sub in '20,000 leagues under the sea'. We hung around enjoying the atmosphere for quite awhile but did not see the sub launched. Duke wants it to be a private thing (probably in case he drowns). It turns out Duke is both crazy and brilliant- you can check out more of his work on Duke's website : http://www.dukeriley.info/collaborations_book.html

We never did get to see Gosia's work as the gallery was closed but we will return again on Friday.

Then I went to visit another artist- a jeweller Chris at a big complex of studios in downtown Brooklyn. That was also fascinating- the complex was an old factory 3 storeys high with huge loft studios divided between several artists in each one. There was a space available there for rent at $1000 a month- and that was considered cheap. The most fascinating thing for me was to see the old fire doors that were all over the buildings covered in lead and aluminium. They were fabulous. Why can’t we have some studios in Perth like this!

That’s all for now, take care, Tara and I will go on more adventures on the weekend. lotsa love from Jo

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15 August 2007 - Meeting with Louise Bourgeouis

Hi everyone- hope you don’t mind another group email but I wanted to describe to you my meeting with Louise Bourgeouise! It was pretty special.

On Sundays at 3pm (96 year old) Louise Bourgeois, legendary sculptor and artist has a Salon. One arrives at her house at 347 West 20th St in Chelsea after making an appointment with her minder Brigitte.

Louise has been doing these salons for a long time and usually accepts 12-13 visitors although she has cut back to 7 or 8 recently. One is asked to arrive with examples of our work, chocolates and whiskey but no flowers as she hates flowers. We know this because Melissa and I arrived with flowers as did another woman who brought lilies- and the flowers were left in the hall and then given back to us as we left.

The door was opened just after 3pm and we entered a dark and fairly dilapidated hallway, and asked to move into a back room, which was Louise's living room. This room contained a table at which Louise sat, perched on some books, a couch against a wall which was lined with pin up boards covered in posters, letters and newspaper articles from years before. All around the room was books, photographs and fascinating cabinets containing more books /catalogues etc. Two dimly covered windows peeked out onto trees at the back.

There were also a number of tin stools on which we were invited to sit and an astounding low wooden table in the centre of the room covered in coke and seltzer cans, and bottles of whiskey and bourbon- for us to help ourselves. The table legs were thick round hunks of wood, which looked as thought they had been chewed on by a hundred small dogs.

Louise sits at the table with Brigitte next to her and Rob at the end of the table. Rob or Robert Storr turns out to be a very well known curator and newly appointed head of the art school at Yale University- but one either doesn't know this or he doesn't talk about it. He is there to just be an intermediary between the artists and Louise and help the proceedings to run smoothly. He really did a great job as Louise said virtually nothing during the whole session and he was very generous with his advice and comments. The artists are asked to come one at a time up to the table and sit in the light of a low lamp so that Louise can hear and see you. Then they present their work and everyone else gathers around to watch, listen and perhaps comment.

One of the first things Rob said was thank you to us for coming and showing our work to Louise. I think most of us thought it was an honour to even be there but I guess it does keep her young and involved and it’s rare that older people have the opportunity to hear and be with young people of all kinds. It seemed that age had not dimmed her sharpness of intellect or desire to still be engaged in the conversations around art. She had the most amazingly beautiful and strong face, quick dancing eyes combined with the fragility of a really old lady.

I did not really feel though that she could really see either the work or us very easily, rather that she listened and her eyes wandered about. Whenever Brigitte asked her in French if she could see, she always replied 'Oui' but I was not too sure.

The first artist up was a young woman Rachel, who had made a video about her sister who had slept with a rock star. (That is a very popular theme here in NY at the moment). Her hands were shaking as she turned on the laptop and presented a 3 min clip to Louise who clearly could not see it at all. But Robert was interested in her work and asked questions. Her work is on Youtube.

Louise said nothing, then it was my turn. I showed my cards, which I knew she could not see, some book ends I've been painting with small images- diary style and my catalogue to which she asked what the text said. Robert told her a few names of people who had written the quotes. At this point both Robert and Brigitte said 'C'est bonne, Louise n'est pas?' – It’s good isn't it Louise?- to which Louise said 'Oui' but I was extremely flustered. We talked about suicide in rivers and Brigitte tried to ask me if I knew of Louise's work on 'failure'?

I said no I didn't -then realised she had said 'Ophelia'. I felt really embarrassed because I had misheard her- and she said 'oh it’s because I speak like a french cow!' I said I didn't think Ophelia translated too well in Australia so I had tried to work from my own experience. There was a dead silence and I knew I had ended the conversation because no one knew what I had meant. I felt weird - too aware of being Australian.

Some guy there asked me about Perth and what kind of a city was it? I had a moment where I just stared at him. My tolerance for questions about Australia has hit an all time low at the moment, especially from Americans. I know that's bad but I can't seem to help it. Anyway my time was up and I gathered my things together and gratefully made myself a Bourbon and coke. I was disappointed in my ability to relate quickly and succinctly about my work. What was I trying to communicate?

Melissa showed her work next and was upset because she only had videos and Louise could not see the TV and quickly became disinterested and distracted. Everyone else had a good time seeing them but the person we had all come to see was not able too. It was confusing and strange on many levels.

The piece de resistance though was a young man who had brought a large painting to show Louise- it showed huge figures made from turds, yes turds- and one 'female' turd figure was giving head to the 'male' turd. It was set on a toilet bowl. I honestly did not know what to say. Robert told him it was painted very 'anally', which it was! I was glad Louise could not see it - I know she would not shy away from the subject matter- but it was so unsophisticated compared to her work and very very weird. Probably he will be picked up and made famous.

At this point Louise requested something and Brigitte announced she was making Tapioca pudding and did anyone want any. Of course we all said yes and watched as Brigitte went into the tiny kitchen behind Louise and lit a hearth! Soon after we ate tapioca, milk and sugar from old chipped plates (my favourite bit from the whole day). After a few more strange artists showed their work it was the end. We all thanked Louise and Robert and Brigitte and some people took some photos of Louise. I would rather have died than taken a picture of her at the time but I am grateful to have Melissa's pictures now and I send them on to you.

The whole experience was extraordinary, amazing and a little disturbing. I felt a lot of different emotions. I hope that as an old lady I can be doing something similar. I was also thinking a lot about how trusting and open she was- at 96 just about everyone you knew would be gone- you would just always be with younger people.

Love Jo

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30 August 2007- Goodbye to NYC

Hi everyone

Just a quick note to say tomorrow is my last day in NYC! It has been the most amazing time here and although I am looking forward to Madrid and Singapore I am so sad to be leaving Nth America.

Thanks everyone for your emails and wishes- they have kept me company the whole time.

Here are my last photos- from the top of the Empire State Building last night- a full moon over New York City!

I'll be back in Perth end of September, until then lotsa love from Jo xxx

Goongarrie!!!!!

What an amazing opportunity this residency was. To live and breathe the landscape that holds your passion is a far different experience than just passing through. The subtleties of the earth, sky, wind, and of passing clouds are diminished in the hustle of temporary camps.

The residency allowed me to be still and observe. Then there were the fossicking expeditions. Forays into the trapped timezones of old townsites, tips, museums and ruins provided treasure troves of artefacts and inspiration. For an artist who uses found objects as signifiers of time and place, the residency was an invaluable gift, an opportunity to replenish my stocks and refresh my creative well.

The old stationmaster’s house sits between the railway line north and the Goldfields Highway. Days and nights were animated by friendly tooting locos and the spectacle of mighty light spangled road trains. The 40cm thick stone walls of the house kept both noise and heat out. Gravity fed rainwater tanks, a hot water chip heater and lively resident mice population made life real and challenging.

Thanks Artsource and Shire of Menzies for this unique opportunity. I´ll be back!!

Expectations / Realisations:

To explore new possibilities for art making,

• I wanted to work with different materials than what I was working with in my Fremantle Studio. I was successful in completing quite a number of works on paper, as well as doing experimental work with paper mache and I also finished three larger paintings on wood.

To travel to major European cities and experience new artworks first hand

• Basel is a city that has a great number of different museums and art galleries. I enjoyed exploring their collections ranging from classical and modernist to contemporary works.
• I was also able to visit other museums and galleries in Zurich, Munich, Freiburg, Hamburg, Berlin and London. This provided me with the opportunity to see many more exhibitions and explore the current cultural climate in those cities.
• The experience of the Frieze Art-Fair in London, which brings together works by most of the contemporary artists, represented by the best galleries from all over the world, allowed me to survey the cream of the international art practice under one roof.
• The Tate Modern and other various contemporary art galleries in London, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Zurich staged exhibitions that were equally inspiring to me.
• One of the main reasons to apply for this residency was to experience major artworks first hand, not mediated through journals, catalogues and the Internet.

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To forge new professional contacts and friendships

• Anna, Ruth and Andrea from the Christoph Merian Foundation made me feel welcome and introduced me to a great number of local artists. They kept me informed of current cultural events, openings and meetings and made me feel part of the Basel’s cultural circuit.
• I was also able to re-establish contacts with some of the Swiss artists who had residencies at the Old Customs House, Fremantle in previous years. They also made me feel welcome and introduced me to more art practitioners and gallerists with whom I am still in contact.

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To be allocated the studio in central Basel

• Before arriving in Switzerland I wanted very much to be able to use the studio in the centre of Basel. However all those studios were already allocated to exchange artists from other countries. I was given the studio in Arlesheim, about 30 min. by tram from the centre of Basel. As it turned out, I was very happy in these very spacious and quieter premises.
• I also enjoyed the walks along the river and in the forest around Arlesheim.

Achievements during residency:

I am very happy with the work I have been doing in the Studio in Arlesheim.

Even though I may not pursue all of those experiments, there are certain new directions in my practice that I am very excited about and that I have continued to explore since I have come back to Australia.

While in Basel I applied to participate in a group exhibition that involved 11 venues in three countries and was accepted. While it was very exciting to be part of this, I experienced some problems with the local curator and the organisation of this event. The curator seemed to lack sufficient experience to work out the logistics of the installations. The matter was resolved when a more senior curator arrived.

Over the years I kept in contact with Daniel Goettin, who was the first Swiss exchange artist to come to Fremantle. He was very helpful in showing me around the galleries and studios in Basel. He introduced me to a gallerist who expressed an interest in my work. After visiting my studio she agreed to take some of my work to show in her gallery.

During my six months in Europe I took almost a thousand photographs, many of them of artworks in exhibitions I have visited. I have since compiled these photographs to make up an extensive archive. The resulting PowerPoint presentations were used to give talks on contemporary art to students at Curtin University, the West Australian School for Art, Design and Media, Artsource and the AC4CA artist group.

Other photographs, that were not documenting artworks, turned out to be really interesting in their own right. I am considering developing them into an ongoing body of work.

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Support during the residency:

The support from the Christoph Merian Foundation was excellent. Whenever I needed assistance they were always willing and ready to help. They were friendly and tried to find solutions to the problems I presented them with. At some stage my bed broke down and they immediately organised a new bed for the studio. They provided the transportation to and from the airport. The Foundation created opportunities where the exchange artists could present their work and meet with each other. I was issued with a monthly free tram ticket as well as with a museums pass. They also provided assistance when the computer malfunctioned. They also informed me about cultural events that took place in Basel on ongoing bases.

General comments:

Basel is a small place and after a month or so one gets to know most of the cultural places and finds out about the events that go on there. Culturally Zurich is a much more vibrant city, more cosmopolitan, and experimental. If this were at all a possibility, to have an artist exchange with Zurich would be a lot more exciting.

Six months is a long time in a small place such as Basel. One really needs to travel to make it an interesting time. The problem is that it is usually very expensive to stay in other cities. The Australian Dollar is not the strongest currency compared to the Swiss Frank or the Euro. The $20.000 would work fine if one stays just in Basel. They are not enough by a long way if one wants to travel, even though airfares have come down in recent years, there is still the problem covering the cost of accommodation. My suggestion is to top up the residency by up to $5000 or $10,000. Involving a sponsor could possibly do that. I have come back enriched by the cultural experience but financially broke and am still trying to find my feet again financially.

I consider myself very fortunate as I had no language barriers and already had some contacts there. However initially I did experience some culture shock before settling in. It was also very helpful that my partner came to visit me for a month.

For me the residency provided a very valuable experience of learning and experimenting and I feel privileged to have been chosen. I am very grateful to Artsource and the Christoph Merian Foundation for making this experience possible.

• Beverley October 2006
• Esperance November 2006
• Viability of residencies

Beverley October 2006

In 2005 the RACWA invited me to participate in their project of taking art workshops to rural areas. Beverley, one of the towns which I visited, had a enthusiastic art group with ambitious plans to convert their local railway station into a community art studio and gallery centre for the display of the shire’s art collection. In conjunction with the shire, the task of completely renovating and furnishing the century old building was completed by June 2006.

It was at this time that their president Jenny Broun invited me come to Beverley as their resident artist. In the process of applying I got to know Yvonne Holland the manager of Artsource Fremantle who was most helpful with her advice.

Consequently, I was accepted to the residencies at Beverley and later at Esperance.

I arrived at the historic town of Beverley in mid afternoon of a warm spring day to find Jenny Broun and Ann Rayner showing visitors through the Station Gallery. The gallery consists of four adjoining ground level rooms of the beautifully restored two story stone building, which combines a railway station and station masters residence. The latter consists of a sitting room, kitchen, laundry and bathroom downstairs and two bedrooms and office upstairs. A reassuringly comfortable situation with two hospitable hotels and a local supermarket, all within a few minutes walking distance and have whose services I availed during my stay. Two other art group members John and Iris, and Wayne the shire liaison cum Mr Fixit arrived, so it seemed appropriate to invite them to share a beer and bonding!

Not having any official ties the first week, I had time for early morning walks to explore and sketch beautiful Beverley. Most mornings during my stay I enjoyed walking and discovering many ideal painting locations. My afternoons were occupied with painting, keeping the gallery open and associated tasks. A routine I found most agreeable.

On Sunday 8th October, Jenny, Marylou, Sue and John held a joint exhibition of their art at Spooky Hall Restaurant in York which I had the pleasure of opening. It was a lovely day enhanced by sparkling cider, art and company. The joint exhibition was titled The Gallery Girls and The Geezer!

The following Wednesday, October 8th, I travelled to Quairading to give a one day workshop to artists working in various mediums. The artists were enthusiastic about the workshop and claimed the day most beneficial!

I also gave a watercolour workshop for the Beverley artists on the 13th and 14th October at the Old Station Gallery. The weather was good and we spent time painting on the platform and had one train pass through which provided an entertaining diversion.

Last but not least my dear wife Myrna arrived Saturday and met a number of the artist. Later we dined at the Bottom Pub and enjoyed the hospitality of Ken Bradley the charming Irish publican.

Liken many small communities, Beverley is very hospitable and I enjoyed their generous hospitality on a number occasions. Little more than an hours drive from Perth, Beverley remains hospitable and unspoilt, possessing the laid-back lifestyle and charm of yesteryears.

For me the two weeks at Beverley was an enriching experience and I would have no hesitation in recommending to resident artists seeking a location where one has time to reassess priorities and rekindle creativity.

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Esperance

Having a workshop at Kalgoorlie two days prior to commencing my Esperance residency, my route from Safety Bay to Esperance was via Kalgoorlie. Myrna who had accompanied me to Kalgoorlie was continuing to Esperance and staying for the first week.

As I had no official commitments in that first week this gave us an ideal opportunity to refresh the fading sixteen-year-old memories from our previous visit. As well as revisiting Cape Le Grand, Frenchman’s Peak, and some of the beautiful bays we had enjoyed previously we also discovered new attractions, such as Hellfire Gallery, Woody Island and the mobile Coffee Cat, which dispensed a range of alluring beverages.

Perhaps one of the features of Esperance is the attraction their main jetty is to the locals and tourists alike, to such an extent that it has become a part of the Esperance culture.

My flat at the Cannery Arts Centre was about a #4 Iron from the main jetty. From 5.30 in the mornings when I enjoyed a walk, till late at night there were always people enjoying the jetty, men, women, children - fishing, regulars exercising, tourists sightseeing, and also a meeting place for many to share a cup of coffee. The jetty had been built in the early thirties for shipping and was in use till a land backed wharf was established in the sixties. Though the new facility had negated its original purpose, the jetty has continued to have a different but relevant focus in the lives of the inhabitants and visitors of Esperance.

Adam Cousins the capable young manager of the Cannery Art Centre is energetic and blessed with initiative and some good old-fashioned common sense. On our arrival Adam showed us the flat where we would be living and the gallery and studios where I would be working. There was also a well-equipped pottery and glass studio with its own member rostered retail shop which was well patronised by tourists and locals. Also a photographic studio, which is in the process of being rebooted.

Later we discussed a programme and I agreed to give painting workshops on the last three weekends of my stay.

The first being, Marine Art - November 4th / 5th

The second, Watercolours without Mud & Tears - November 11th /12th

An introduction to water colours for beginners.

Intermediate / Advanced Watercolours - November 18th / 19th

A course designed for experienced watercolourists and those who had done Watercolours without Mud & Tears.

Classes, while being small (5 to10), were enthusiastic and keen for extended painting hours.

The Cannery Art Centre was planning a 9x5 fund raising exhibition, and so convincing was Adam’s enthusiasm for the project that I volunteered to paint six 9x5s on the theme of Jetty Life for their fundraising auction. I was pleased to hear later that my 9x5s had raised $900.00 for their cause.

Esperance differs from Beverley, both geographically and economically, as it is remotely situated about 730 kilometres distant on the south east coast of West Australia and is an eight-hour drive from Perth. It has a population of approximately 14000 and serves as a port for a vast area where the main industries are mining (gold, iron ore, nickel) agriculture (wheat, barley, canola, beef, wool) and fishing. Because of their isolation they have become self-sufficient and have that cohesive community spirit and generous hospitality one experiences in remote communities.

As in Beverley I enjoyed the friendly hospitality of the local people, which was extended to me on numerous occasions and felt very much at home in both Esperance and Beverley.

Such friendly attitudes especially when in a new environment I find helps me relax and stimulates my creativity.

During my residence I met local artists of various disciplines. Painting, Pottery, Photography, Poetry and Creative Writing, Sculpture & Wine Appreciation!

Esperance has the studio facilities to cater for, and the population to create a demand for, tutors and resident artists with skills in the above arts.

Also I did hear aspirations of a summer school in the near future; it has great potential.

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Viability of residencies

Regarding the burning question of the viability of residencies. 0ne of the reasons I had elected to do residency work was to enjoy a complete Seachange and not bring any home studio projects with me. I wanted to start my residency with a "Clean Sheet" with time to enjoy the people, the place, painting and my community obligations as resident artist. So for me, any income generated would be from workshop fees, art commissions and sales.

Both Beverley and Esperance were keen to have painting workshops, so fees were discussed and finalised with their Principals in the first couple of days.

Because I was enjoying free accommodation, and regional people in many instances have significant distances to travel to attend workshops, I reduced my fees by 50%. However this was entirely my decision.

I generally take a folio of unframed work in various sizes, mostly water colours and a small number of acrylics and oils on canvas.

At Beverley (two workshops) and Esperance (three workshops) class numbers were generally small ( 5 to 10). I also had a workshop in Kalgoorlie where I spent four days before commencing my residency at Esperance.

Of the six workshops undertaken, four were two day classes and two of one day duration. Class times were fairly democratic; usually 9am to 5pm.

I was pleased by the demand for unframed work and commissions which were completed while in residence, even though it required some ten hour working days during my last week in Esperance. Whether this demand for art was associated with Christmas I am not sure!

Both residencies were viable due to art sales, commissions and workshop fees, but I won´t be buying a new car!

Residencies - an unknown quantity

The interesting thing about residencies is the diversity in what is offered by the host and what is given by the artist. This is an exciting opportunity for new creative ideas to emerge.

Our recent residency at the Beverley Railway Station was for us an opportunity to experience a small WA country town. We ran a number of workshops in Digital Photography which were well attended by locals in the region. Participants were keen to practice Art photography using New media. This was also supported by the fact that we were set-up in a public Art gallery.

The novel thing about the Beverley residency is that we were living in a fully restored Railway Station and Residence, complete with double brass bed and Goods train which would come through each morning at 4am.

Beverley is a very self contained town so you can live for 2 weeks without a car and enjoy the local community - the local Butcher is T Bone & Sons which will satisfy the most gourmet appetite. The Freemasons hotel has the best beers cheaper than Perth. The locals can be seen on occasions walking back from town down the railway line, past the Railway Station Arts Centre.

A few days a week we would put the Gallery sign out the front and wait for the few people to look over the Art collection, but what was more effective was the interest generated by our workshops from which people would reconnect with the Art Gallery.

The residency was overall immersed in an atmosphere of exchange of ideas, new technology and friendliness, a very rewarding experience for us and our Digital Camera Workshops.