The Northampton group decided to put their pot towards an artists retreat and 12 artists responded. Our group was going to be the benchmark for the possibility of future retreats being offered.
With Ruth Lynne at the helm we were in good hands. She sourced a lovely venue, Sedgeford Hall a few miles from Hunstanton. Being close the the beach was definitely a plus, set in the countryside was another and the final plus was having a private heated indoor swimming pool to use.
Leading up to the retreat there didn't seem the opportunity to meet up to plan our days. This meeting sort of happened virtually with an onward going conversation on WhatsApp. Although the retreat was for 4 days, each person had booked for a different amount of days. I wanted to go for the full experience and that worked really well for me.
Last year I had put in for some funding with the arts council to allow myself a year to step back from my practice to re-evaluate where I was and look at my next steps. I had factored in a retreat in my proposal and so far I have managed to do most of what I said I would do in my step away year on a shoestring budget.
Loads of ideas were put forward as possible activities and only a very few actually happened. These included:-
Batik
Mono printmaking
Bookmaking
Felting
Pot throwing
How to use a Cricut machine
Jewellery making
In the build up I started to get a bit overwhelmed with all the suggestions. My plan was to take a few reading books, a couple of art journals and the rest would happen organically.
And indeed it did.
The venue was just perfect. Very quiet with 8 bedrooms, either twin or double rooms. A large kitchen with a long table so we could all eat together, a very light and airy lounge plus a smaller darker TV space with comfortable chairs. Suffice to say none of us switched the darn thing on although phones and laptops were still activated.
I didn't sleep well the first night but after that I was fine.
We all utilised the swimming pool and there were many trips down to the beach. Everyone used the retreat in their own way, there was even two who spent the time putting an arts council proposal together and one person who just came for the day; she brought new work and received a group crit.
Everyone was sensitive to each others needs and it became a mini community. During every evening meal there was plenty of conversations, mainly around our art practices but also where we felt the Design Nation was heading and how it was evolving from where we were with the Design Factory.
Other activities that took place were Puy, where you swing items around, it's usually fire but we used weighted balls on strings.
There was a pot throwing session, unfortunately the wheel was right on the floor so that counted me out.
A drawing session using natural materials for inspiration.
One person brought along their Cricut machine. I'd heard about these for a while but wasn't sure how they quite worked. I was amazed at how you could use your phone remotely to set the machine off to cut things, in my case is was a flurry of butterflies. It's an ingenious bit of kit and something I will consider for the community projects I'm involved with.
This is the first retreat I have been on and I would definitely do it again, whether with a group or solo. This week has given me the opportunity to totally disconnect from everything. Having that time to be away from the norm has been refreshing. Living with other creatives has been educational and it still re-affirms how generous people can be with their time; to listen and to put forward ideas.
Lastly, most of the group brought along materials they no longer needed to swap or donate to charity,
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