Su Jolly

Artist in Residence, November/December 2024
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I am a New Zealand born Artist with ADHD, and a keen cyclist, living at the foot of the Kent Downs in the UK, and recently I was invited for the life-changing experience of an Artist Residency at Mud and Wool, Wales. 

My work is primarily inspired by the natural beauty of my birth and adopted homes, and I'm often to be found stopped at some viewpoint or another on my bike taking photos of a special view, or play of light.

I have always been fascinated by colour and texture so I sewed, then embroidered, then felted, then spun, dyed, and wove wool. I discovered watercolours during the pandemic and soon recognised that this was MY medium. I needed to play with colour in a different more fluid way, so I permitted myself to play and to fail. ⁣I used photographs of beloved landscapes on both sides of the pond as reference and allowed my mind to travel where I could not.

Perhaps this explains the feeling that inspires so much of my art, a profound and wistful longing for home; a home to which one can never return, a home perhaps that never was. The Welsh call it Hiraeth. Wales reminds me very much of New Zealand, with its big skies, ever present mountain ranges, and rolling pastures.

I am drawn to liminal spaces and this wee farm between the mountains and the sea is one of the most liminal spaces I have ever known. Sunrise, sunset, mist, memory, and the shoreline, these were all here for me, plying together like the yarns I know so well. Overwhelming though it is, I have endeavoured to respond to this magnificent landscape.

When not painting, I ventured out on my bike, walked the land, and took hundreds of photos to capture these elusive moments as well as I can. ⁣Creating Fibre Art with Jo was an absolute joy in our rare spare moments, as were long chats over cooling tea with Adam while watching the sunrise.

Art created on my residency will appear in my first ever Exhibition, Hiraeth, at Creek Creative in Faversham between the 16th and 26th of October and on my Facebook.

I cannot thank Jo and Adam enough for this opportunity to immerse myself in my Art and the wonderful landscape surrounding their farm. My time here has re-energised me, helped me kick start my social media presence, and given me the confidence to exhibit.