JOIN ME IN THE DRAWING DEN - A RESIDENCY WEEK at SEAWHITE STUDIO

Seawhite Studio Residency - come and join Katie Sollohub in the Drawing Den

What kind of space do you need for your drawing practice? A den, a white wall, a huge floor space to move about in, a place to curl up in and draw? How might you create that space for yourself, for a week, your own special den? Come and join Katie in the Seawhite Studio for a week of exploratory play through drawing, where you can focus on your own projects, guided and eased into the day with Katie’s unique approach, combining meditation with short drawing prompts that will set you up for the rest of the day.

The Drawing Den is a metaphor for the space we all yearn to have for our creative practice, whether physical, virtual, or emotional. During this residency week in the Seawhite Studio, Katie will bring the idea of the Drawing Den with her, and help you create an environment in which you will feel totally free to expand and explore your drawings in all dimensions - you might even make your own den, plaster the walls with huge drawings to immerse yourself in, or scatter 100s of smaller drawings, suspended in the space like leaves.

This week long residency is for anyone wishing to use drawing to expand their practice, giving dedicated time and a generous space to commit to making your work. This might be a space where you choose to work large and experimentally, or it might be a space to spread out and look at lots of your work together, making helpful connections so that you can develop it further. It will be a space where you are supported and inspired by the company of other artists. We learn from each other.

Katie herself will be making large scale drawings and installations, exploring the purpose of drawing as a practice. Currently inspired by movement, dance, improvisation and story telling, drawing has always been integral to her work, whether hand in hand with painting or in its own right. It is an opportunity to see how she uses her own practice to make work and navigates the highs and lows of the work as it progresses in real time.

Her role during the residency is to support and facilitate discussions and to encourage experimentation by example, rather than to lead and “teach”. She will be offering guided meditations and drawing prompts to start each day for those who want. During the week each artist will be exploring their own themes and subject.  Everyone has a large working space and use of any of the studio equipment and materials that they need. It is a physical and mental space that you can stretch into and perhaps do work that you would not dare to do by yourself, in your own studio.

“Drawing is for me about being present, seeing with awareness, responding to the space around me, as well as the space within me. With drawing, I can let go of control and follow the touch of my materials, the movement of my hand, and enjoy it like a dance.  This will be a week of improvisation. Come and join me in my drawing den.” 

This week follows from the two day Embodied Drawing, and would be an ideal partner course to follow on from this - make your space over 2 days, tuning into the creative energy and your own body’s innate impulse to move, draw, and leave its mark. And then keep working with it for the next 5 days. It will be perfect for anyone whose practice has drawing at its core, wants to explore a new subject, likes the spontaneity and freedom of drawing, and feels excited by the prospect of taking risks with the scale and content of what a drawing could be. 

NB Emily Ball will also be doing her own drawings in the studio for the week, alongside Katie. So with the inspiration of two professional artists there is a lot of energy and expertise that can be gleaned from working next to them.

APPLY FOR A PLACE ON A RESIDENCY

To ensure that your time is really well spent during your residency week we would like you to make an application. Preparing well before you come and having an online tutorial will be a huge benefit. Please submit 9 images of your work and two pieces of writing, each no more than 300 words. The first should be about your process and inspiration for your work. The second is about what you would like to get out of the residency and what you think you might need in terms of materials and equipment.

We will consider your application and get back to you quickly. If your application is successful we will fix a date and time for a one hour online tutorial with Katie. This tutorial is an opportunity for a discussion about the most productive way to prepare for the residency week in terms of studies and preparatory work to bring with you and also what the studio can have in place for you when you arrive. It is also a time to discuss your work and get feedback from a fellow artist.

Please email your application to emily@emilyball.net

More info: www.emilyballatseawhite.co.uk

Cost: £480