Monday, October 26, 2015

My Greek Island Residency


Plowing through the monthly listings of artist's calls for entry, grants, etc., I came across one for an artist residency on Skopelos, an island off the coast of Greece.  It calls to me.  I keep thinking about it even though I added up all the costs and it would be about $3,000, which is more expensive than any vacation I've ever taken.   In spite of that, I'm obsessed with  thinking up reasons why I should do a residency in Skopelos, Greece.  I actually have a solid project in mind that would be perfect for the place and the culture and everything.  But I just don't think I can afford it.

I'm thinking of brilliant sun, water and rocks.  Mornings in the studio making sculpture, afternoons baking on the beach, evenings full of music and laugher.  What I can do is have my own private Greek island residency in Wisconsin in April next year.  My studio there is unheated and uninsulated, so there's always a lull before I can start back to work full-time with clay in the studio.  I could work on my Greek project in the house for the 3 or 4 weeks until it's warm enough to work in the studio.  In the mornings, I can work in clay; in the afternoon, I can do Mediterranean stuff:  buy a bottle of ouzo, eat a lot of Greek salads and listen to CD's of Greek folk music.  And go to the beach; even though it will be only about 50 degrees, I can always work on my tan.  And then I will have a whole new body of work for my next solo show.

Uh, oh!  I just found out about a residency in Nepal.  Going to be hard to do an imaginary Nepalese residency in WI.  No yaks.  Maybe I need to actually go there and make some bronzes in Patan.  And, of course there's the one in Chapala, Mexico that I can't do this year because of my solo show, but maybe next year.  I  need to think of something small and ceramic to do in Mexico...



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