Artist in residence at Poole Farm, Plymouth

This week is the beginning of a month long artist residency at Poole Farm, a community farm within the urban city of Plymouth. From now until the end of July I will be an artist in residence capturing all of the beautiful eco-therapy and climate connection work that they do. Alongside painting in amongst the plants and farm animals that make up the site.

I’m super excited to see how such a unique place brings so many diverse groups to experience and learn about being in nature, within an urban city like Plymouth.

So what is an artist in residence and what do they do?

An artist in residence is a professional artist who is invited to spend a period of time at a particular place, such as a school, gallery, community organization, museum, cultural institution to create work, engage with the local community, and often share their process or results.

And so across this residency with Poole Farm I will be engaging with all the different groups that use the farm and create visual illustrations that capture the essence of the site!

My process

As an illustrator concerned with engaging communities with climate action using joyful approaches, I am joining all of the different groups to get a sense of what they are like. I will be chatting to all the participants, from those in the eco-therapy school group, to the volunteers who help the farm run smoothly. I will then create watercolour sketches on site in my trusty sketchbook. before using these as inspiration for the final pieces. At the moment the form of the final piece is uncertain - it could be a sculpture, a lino-print, or a detailed canvas painting. I’m really excited to see what ideas are inspired in such a multi-faceted space and the opportunities that this brings!

Make sure to follow my instagram @devontippingdesigns and @communityinprint for daily updates on the residency, and join my newsletter for a more detailed updates on what being an artist in residence is like.

For now, here is a snapshot from some of the scenes of the first week as an artist in residence!