Portal ~ Sou’wester Artist Residency 2024

I had the immense and well-starred pleasure of basking in hermitude and artmaking at Sou’wester in November 2024. Sou’wester offers a self-directed artist discount for those seeking a space to make art in quietude near the moody coast. I prepared for my first artist residency ever by coating many 9 x 12 inch sheets of paper with cyanotype chemicals. Using objects in the Airstream I was staying in (like the lacy bathroom curtain, a textured glass base, and a plain metal kitchen strainer), objects found on the beach, an a humble piece of burlap I brought from home, I indulged in a chaotic substrate of images. Then, using baking soda and water, I painted these fern-like undulations into the figures to add both a drawer-ly and emotional layer to them. I am so grateful for this time. Not only was this my first residency, but where the plan, intention, and trip itself was distinctly my own. These works and this trip opened something in and for me, and I am excited to see what else they reveal as I, as my friend Erin identified: continue my obviously rapturous love affair with my art.