"As this was my first art residency, I had no idea what to expect. So naturally I overpacked, mostly in regard to art supplies (thank goodness I returned my plein air easel). I was hoping that the experience would bring focused, intentional time to think about and make art and to commune with my fellow artists. That's exactly what I got, although in a different way than I had imagined but in a way I needed more than I knew.

The thing that made the biggest impression on me was how much I got out of our conversations about art and the art world and each of our places in it. My daily art practice is pretty solitary now that I work from home (both with my commercial work and since I moved out of my collective space painting studio). Getting a chance to talk about everything that goes with and moves around art making with other artists was a great experience, and all of it coming from the perspective that we're all women too was super impactful.

I made a lot less art than I thought I was going to during my week at Winter Camp and that surprised me. I know as an artist I need to have time for "input" as much as I put in time for my "output", but I often feel guilty for taking that time. My work has always been a journal of sorts, about processing experiences, the world around me and yet I've always found it hard to slow down and be IN that experience, to be present and this trip gave me the opportunity to do just that. It also didn't hurt that we were in a really beautiful, majestic place. I used my phone less and sat and listened more. I wasn't split in a bunch of different directions, there were no deadlines, parenting needs, or endless loads of laundry to take me out of the moment and it was new and hard and really really great. The one moment that I did manage to capture during the Winter Camp and was able to put into my sketchbook was a scene from the view of our window overlooking the Totten Inlet and the beautiful moody environment that we were able to witness every day."