Brittany Loar

American Artist & Designer

The main goal of Brittany Loar’s residency was to have time and space to focus on her fine art in order to create a new body of work that she could exhibit on her return. As a full time Senior Designer at an agency in Boston she has little time left over to dedicate to her artwork. Brittany fully immersed herself in her creative activities during her residency, being consistently found drawing, painting and thinking in our ‘garage’ studio.

Weblink: brittanyloar.com

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Meredith Alloway

American Screenwriter

Meredith Alloway’s residency’s main focus was to work on her next feature script, but she got more out of it than she’d bargained for when two other short film scripts started to develop during her initial research into the history of the area. The feature script she predominantly worked on was a development of her pilot for a horror series called ‘Deep Tissue’. Studio Faire organised a test screening of this new short film to our own private audience in Nérac, along with her debut short film ‘Interior Teresa’.

Read more about her residency and her work.

Weblink: www.meredithalloway.com

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Alan McGowan

Scottish Artist

In 2012 Alan McGowan published ‘The Language of the Body: Figure Drawings in Four Chapters.’ and in 2017 ‘Unstill Life; Paintings, Drawings and Writing.’ These publications not only demonstrate Alan’s fabulous figurative oil paintings but also written quotes, thoughts and observations. Alan focused his residency at Studio Faire on developing his writing, with a continued spotlight on the figure in art. He intends to edit these after his return and develop a new publication.

Weblink: www.alanmcgowan.com

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Brigid Collins

Irish Artist

In order to make the most of her seven-day residency, Brigid Collins  immediately started to gather natural objects of inspiration from the surrounding area, the local farmer’s market and the gardens here at Studio Faire. For the rest of the week, she could be found in various locations around the garden, standing in the sunshine, submerged in these objects and creating beautiful watercolour paintings and mixed media studies.

Read more about her residency and her work.

Weblink: www.brigidcollins.co.uk

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Sarah Gittins

Scottish Printmaker

Sarah Gittins chose to split her four-week residency into two shorter visits and, for this first fortnight, she predominantly spent time at Chateau du Frandat, a vineyard and orchard just ten-minutes bike ride from Studio Faire. Her project is focused on the history, cultivation and celebration of plum growing in this region and, during this visit, Sarah was able to watch the plums ripen and then, experience the beginnings of the harvesting process.

Find out more about her residency in her own words.

Weblink: sarahgittins.wordpress.com

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Elín Gunnlaugsdóttir

Icelandic Musician & Composer

Elín Gunnlaugsdóttir’s residency involved recording environmental sounds and developing these into musical compositions on her computer. The theme of one of her compositions was Thoreau’s Walden, which will be premiered in Iceland in October and also some theatre music that will be premiered in Iceland in November 2018.

Weblink: soundcloud.com/elin-gunnlaugsdottir

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Justine Gaubert

English Writer

Justine Gaubert visited Studio Faire with her creative partner Vicky (see below) to develop a collaborative project that focuses on neurodiversity, in particular, exploring all things Aspergers. They considered their own personal triggers and personal experiences as creative women in their 40’s and also helpful strategies to share with others. They began developing a website whilst at Studio Faire, with support from Colin, and intend to launch this very soon.

Weblink: www.linkedin.com/in/justinegaubert

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Vicky Morris

English Writer

Vicky Morris arrived with her creative partner Justine (see above) to develop a joint project focusing on neurodiversity. They worked together on research and their plans for the project and created their first in a series of podcasts. They also began developing a website to house it all whilst at Studio Faire, with support from Colin, and intend to launch this very soon. Vicky also worked on some personal projects and her poetry practice.

Weblink: www.vickymorris.co.uk

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

James McGinley

Scottish Musician

For James McGinley, music is his ‘medicine‘ and during his residency he spent time developing new music on both guitar and piano, as well as working out the best method to get some of his music down on paper, to ensure he doesn’t forget these tunes!

Read more about his residency and his work.

Weblink: soundcloud.com/james-mcginley

Robin Gee

African American Choreographer & Dancer

Robin Gee came to Studio Faire in order to develop [movement] material for a screen dance inspired by the local environment. Even though she has a fantastic studio space at UNC Greensboro, where she is Associate professor, she feels it’s necessary for her to remove herself from her place of work for the ideas to really start to flow, without distraction, both physical and mental. This is why a residency at Studio Faire was so valuable for her development at this point in time.

Read more about her residency and her work.

Watch the video ‘sketch’ that she made with Colin and his drone.

Weblink: www.greensborodancefilms.org

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Karl Stern

Scottish Painter & Printmaker

Karl Stern used his residency to develop a new body of work.  He has a rare approach to creating his works of art, initially he created collographic plates, which he then painted into. These will be finished off during the printing process after his residency. The images he created were inspired by the characters, buildings and landscapes in and around Nérac. They all reflected Karl’s interest in people and his environment.

Read more about his residency and his work.

Weblink: www.facebook.com/Karl-SternStern-Art

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Rebecca Wilson

Scottish Ceramicist & Jeweller

The gift of solitude, time, and space, was just what the doctor ordered for mother of two young children, Rebecca Wilson. She spent her residency collaging, sticking, drawing, painting, and gathering inspiration to take home and develop into fresh designs for upcoming summer shows.

Read more about her residency and her work.

Weblink: www.rebeccawilsonceramics.com

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Louise Ritchie

Scottish Artist

As Louise Ritchie has been exploring the Philosophy of Music within her humanities studies, she decided to use her residency to engage and challenge herself in that area through her drawings and by beginning to learn the guitar.

Read more about her residency and her work.

Weblink: www.louiseritchie.com

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Paola McClure

Scottish Artist

For Paola McClure, inspiration came in the form of our tangled wisteria and some old slates, twigs and chicken wire found in the barn. Sculptural ‘stacks’ and constructions began to pop up around the grounds like characters in their own right.

Read more about her residency and her work.

Weblink: www.facebook.com/paolamcclurevisualart

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.

Leena Nammari

Palestinian Printmaker

During her residency at Studio Faire, Leena Nammari took some time to reflect on her personal MFA program and consolidate some of her ideas. She also used the wallpapers at the house as inspiration for some stunning cyanotype made outside in the sunshine.

Read more about her residency and her work.

Weblink: www.leenanammari.co.uk

Photo by Colin Usher at Studio Faire.