Catching Up: Looking Back at the Residency Year and What’s Happened Since

 




It’s been a long time since my last update — almost a year now — and a lot has happened in between. The residency work was completed, the exhibitions took place back in June at Torre Abbey and Artizan, and life and work have moved on at a fairly steady pace since. I never got around to writing about any of it at the time, partly because once the paintings left the studio, I was already shifting into the next phase of work.

Looking Back at the Exhibitions

Seeing the two large paintings installed at Torre Abbey earlier this year was a strange full-circle moment. After months of living with them in the studio, having them shown just steps away from the spaces that inspired them created a very physical dialogue between the work and its source.

Artizan’s exhibition brought a different kind of perspective — the work sitting alongside the studies and supporting material felt more like a complete record of the residency process. By the time June ended, it felt like that chapter had closed properly.

The Acquisition

One of the main outcomes — and something that still feels significant — was Torre Abbey’s acquisition of one of the major pieces from the series. It’s now part of their permanent collection, which is something I’m still quietly absorbing. The sister painting, Manifestation, is back with me at Cockington Court, where it sits among more recent work and feels like a marker of that period.

The Work Since Then

After the exhibitions, I stepped away from representational work for a while and moved into a run of abstract pieces. I haven’t shared much of that yet — not for any particular reason other than wanting time with them before putting them out into the world. They’ve given me space to work more instinctively, without the structural pressure of large narrative paintings.

Teaching and Shifting Focus

Alongside this, teaching has become a larger part of what I’m doing. It’s been grounding, especially after the intensity of last year’s project. Working with students on fundamentals, colour, value, and composition has fed back into my own practice in quiet but important ways. Some days it’s the teaching that anchors the studio work; other days, the studio feeds the teaching.

On Blogging (or Not Blogging)

I’ve realised I’m not particularly consistent at keeping a blog. When I’m in the middle of a project, writing tends to be the first thing to go. But looking back, it’s useful to have some record of the process — even if the posts come months apart. So rather than trying to “catch up” on everything I didn’t write, I’m picking things up from where things are now.

Where Things Stand Now

It’s November, the abstracts are still developing, teaching is ongoing, and the residency work has settled into whatever place it now occupies — part milestone, part turning point.

I’ll aim to share more of the recent work soon, but for now this serves as a marker: an update on everything that’s happened since the residency, the exhibitions, and the shift into the next phase.


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