Time set aside to let your creative self relax and find new ideas is critical for any artist. It is also critical for any human in my opinion. We’re all creative beings and there is nothing more rejuvenating than spending some quiet time exploring a landscape and your own ideas. An artist residency is a great way to do that. At the end of this post I’m going to talk about an artist residency called Fortnight that I run in southwestern Colorado. But first I want to share some about the artist residencies I’ve been lucky enough to make time for.
Is an artist residency something you’d benefit from?
An artist residency is simply a time set apart to do your work. For many residencies, you can focus on whatever work you want to. Sometimes artist residencies are free but most charge something. Occasionally there will be a residency that is endowed that will pay the artist to be there usually in exchange for something like a public lecture or donated piece of art.
I’ve done a handful of residencies in the last 8 years and I find them incredibly important as they provide a time away from all the minutia of everyday life. They allow me to focus on a particular artistic problem or just to nourish my creativity with some quiet time. Usually I do some hiking, drawing, reading, and always I do some weaving.
Pot sherd found at Petrified Forest National Park (and left in place).
The feeling of having enough time also lets me explore. I’ve found so many things that felt like treasures or tiny miracles on all my residencies. There were petroglyphs and petrified wood at Petrified Forest National Park, mountain trails full of moss and mushrooms in Georgia, and so many wonderful discoveries in nature from rock formations to flowers to bobcat tracks.
In one residency I organized the outline of my book, The Art of Tapestry Weaving, and in another the following year I found myself spending much of my time doing final edits of that same book.
In all of my residencies I’ve done small sketch tapestry pieces. This practice of wandering, observing, making notes, and weaving something simple about my experience is my technique to slow down and let ideas come to me. The small tapestries are sort of like samples. Some become seeds for larger works and some are just simple reminders of an experience. (To join me in this practice, join the upcoming live Summer of Tapestry course HERE.)
Art supplies waiting for creativity
Wandering Petrified Forest National Park with a loom, a journal, and a good book.
If you’re interested in doing your own residency in a beautiful place, I now run a residency on my property in southwestern Colorado. We call it Fortnight because it is generally two weeks long. When you come, you’ll have your own personal straw bale casita along with a detached 300 square foot art studio. I have two dates left for 2025 and then we’ll be full for the year: May 31 to June 13 or Sept 27 to Oct 10. If you’re interested, take a look at the details on my website here: https://rebeccamezoff.com/fortnight.
Come spend a couple weeks exploring your work while enjoying the incredible opportunities of this area of the country. You are minutes from Mesa Verde National Park as well as a handful of National Monuments and the National Parks of Utah are a couple hours away. The La Plata Mountains offer unending mountain hiking and the adorable town of Durango is 35 miles from here.
And if you’d like, you get some time with me to talk through anything you’d like someone else’s perspective on. If that is tapestry weaving, then I might have some useful ideas for you! If you’re working on other art forms, you’re still welcome here and I’ll be excited to see what you’re working on if you feel like sharing.
I dearly love doing artist residencies. I haven’t had enough of them over the years but I always have my eye out for the next opportunity. Maybe the Fortnight residency is your next opportunity. In any case, I hope you make time to nourish your creative soul this year in some way.
Happy weaving! ❤️ Rebecca
A view from the casita and studio: Fortnight residency