I often think being an artist is a lot like standing up in school on Monday morning and doing the ‘show and tell’, but with bigger projects to explain.

For my final Masters Arts & Place project I chose to present my 13 minute film, artworks and accompanying book at an artist talk in the Pottsville Environment Centre on Friday afternoon.

I gave myself plenty of time to set up, but there is always an element of nerves before giving an artist talk, especially if there is any technical equipment to organise. The sun was still bright and the projected images looked washed out. After much rearranging of furniture, laptop and projector, the solution was to place the projector screen in a dark(ish) alcove and arrange chairs in a semicircle around it. Not very glamorous but it worked.

Following the film screening, I talked about the processes of making art; collaborating with nature ‘on site’ and how mark making can be used as an immerse experience. It helps to demystify artmaking when you can see all the paper tears, the pencil floating out to sea and the way you can use sand, mud and the lines made by shadows as the foundation for drawing.

One of the audience questions was about how I got from the start of my Masters projects in April, to the final project resolution in January. Having documented all the residency projects, it was easy to see how one idea or process led to another, which was then fine tuned and became a book, large scale drawings on paper and the film.

You can see the entire residency projects of 2023 and follow the link to watch the film. It’s the digital version of ‘show and tell’.

The film and book will also be presented in the Dartington Gallery, Devon for the MA Arts & Place Graduate group show from Friday 19th January to Sunday 28th January 2024.