Emma Scattergood, 9 – 23 March, 2024
It was the most rewarding of experiences.
Having two weeks alone with no distractions, especially the early mornings and evenings, and literally living alongside my work in progress, was so beneficial. I could glance at work as soon as I got up in the morning, and when I stopped for lunch, and just before I went to bed.
Spending my evenings alone possibly offered the most revealing and useful of developments, giving me the space to play and drift creatively. At home, when I have a window to work on my art, I’m very focussed on outcome and on ‘making the most of the time’ which, of course, kills the spark! At BV, however, when too tired to continue painting any longer, I turned (unusually for me) to collage – cutting and pasting into my playbook with no real plan, then developing what emerged with ink and pencils. I noticed a repetition of thoughts and ideas emerging around feminine strength and fragility, as represented by the landscape around me, and I’m excited about developing these when my current project comes to a close.
Also, given the extra space to work (what a luxury!) I was able to size up the panels I paint on to 61cm square, from 20cm square, and instantly felt as if I’d found my home. The extra scale gave me the space and freedom to use my full body as I painted, and the looseness this afforded resulted in work with more soul and energy. I was also able to have three boards on the go at once, and flit from one to the other when I felt myself over thinking, which was so valuable. Now that I’m home, I’m looking at the ‘shed’ I paint in and trying to work out how I might create more space to continue in the same vein.
While at BV, my focus was on developing my fundraising Southwest Coast Path project, 50 Pictures for 50 Years, ready for an exhibition. This is due to take place at Durlston Castle, Swanage, supported by the South West Coast Path Association, on July 5-15th, and the work that I did at BV will be playing a key part in that. I hope for some sales, and for further donations to the SWCPA as a result. It is my first solo exhibition, so slightly terrifying, but I am going into it with more confidence thanks to the body of work done at BV.
Emma Scattergood is a painter and writer.
