The good thing about a residency at the end of the world (for all practical purposes, not *really) is that I can concentrate on my work: there are no temptations: city's too far and train's too expensive and I feel time will run out on me before I get to where I want to be: which is - what?...
No, I didn't know in the beginning, I only knew I wanted a Big change.
Very much thanks to the heat wave of about 3 weeks, we had a sunny day every day. Much better than rain every other day, which is the usual practice of Swiss summers, they tell me.
At first I went out a lot, but the heat was too heavy to bear sometimes. And then I opened my eyes to the beauty of the studio itself. Not that I didn't see it before: but the view from the window of majestic mountains and trees and rooftops distracted me just a little bit.
The studio is a loft space complete with wooden beams supporting the roof high above - maybe 8 meters high? - and slowly I got the idea I should paint it, rather than *from* it. And I did - first with pencils, just to get the structure right, then with watercolor and markers.
With the first drawings I figured it all out, with the markers I let go of the idea of ever getting it right.
Then I pushed reality even further away
But staying in Trelex was a great blessing. I was aiming for that which draws people to such a refuge in the first place - an insight, a few new ideas, the beginning of something that may have long lasting influence on the way I look at things and draw them.
So I wish to thank Nina Rodin again for her great idea which she brilliantly put into practice: artists helping artists in any way they can. It was an unforgettable summer, and as the pictures below (all made in Haifa in October) show - the story is just beginning.
