En route back from Canterbury I stopped off to visit Alice Shepard Fiddler, artist and owner of The Hide, a beautiful artist retreat in the Stroud valleys where I will be taking on a residency in May as part of DYCP.
Alice and I met as part of an online crit group during COVID as we were both Associate Artists selected by Bricks for their online programme during lockdown. An online friendship was born through those engaging conversations with our fellow peers, and we met in person when I came to stay for a short weekend residency in 2022.
We had a great conversation as informal mentoring exchange prior to the residency, both laying out ideas for the year and advice for each other on ways to get started. Some key takeaways were:
- To document work using a professional photographer throughout the year.
- To have a series of portraits of me working on projects taken throughout the year.
- For our mentoring sessions during the residency to take the form of 2 conversations and 2 'play' / making sessions.
Image: The Hide, Alice Shepard Fiddler