You have not seen the last of me Paonia! By Stephania Urst

My month at Elsewhere is definitely up there as one of the best months of my life. My month is over and I feel like I either got to Paonia yesterday or a year ago. My time flew by but I also accomplished so much and fit in so many different experiences. Our final show was an amazing evening and connection to the community. We had a great turn out from all walks of life, which was really nice to have that support from the town.

This is the first in the series of photos that show the deterioration of the mushroom portrait.

This is the first in the series of photos that show the deterioration of the mushroom portrait.

During my month I collected mushrooms from the area and created a sculpture of a portrait of my mom and then documented it as it deteriorated. When I got to Paonia I immediately engaged the community in order to find all the mushrooms. Many people gave me some, told me where they were and gave me lots of information about mushrooms. During the next three weeks while I was observing the mushrooms I also did many other artist practices like painting, life drawing, and wood and glass sculpting. For the final show all those people who helped me collect all of the materials I needed, and more, came to see how the final pieces turned out. I got great feed back and it was incredible to share a part of myself and my practice with the town. I am leaving with amazing new creative ideas and directions to go in.

All the talented & beautiful residents on a hike in the black canyon

All the talented & beautiful residents on a hike in the black canyon

It is really amazing how in one month I made so many friends, acquaintances and colleagues. I feel a real connection to Paonia because of the projects I created but also because of the friends and bonds I made. All of the people in Paonia that I met are genuine, nurturing, friendly, creative and multidimensional. This month was a much needed breath of fresh air for me creatively and personally. It is going to be hard to go back to Brooklyn after being in such a beautiful and inspiring place but I am going back newly invigorated and going to take a part of Paonia and Elsewhere with me in my heart. I feel so grateful to have had this experience and touched by the love and care from the people I met. Thank you everyone from Elsewhere and Paonia for an amazing month!! I will return!

new friends!


You can see more photos of my sculptures at http://www.stefaniaurist.com and follow my journey as an artist on instagram @stefaniaurist

Sterile Equation: A Translator’s Importance by Arendse Lund

We all need a little balance in our lives; for example, I split my time between writing and translating. While those may not seem terribly different on the surface, the mental break provided is just what I need to reset.

I translate Hans Christian Andersen—known and loved mainly for his folk tales like The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling—from Danish to English. I was interviewed by the wonderful Gabriel (a previous Elsewhere resident!) on his podcast this week and we talk about that very subject. If you want to hear some more about translation, come on over to Elsewhere next Monday where I’ll be hosting a brief talk about modern translation. Hope to see you there!

If Painting is Batman, Robin is….?

I came to Elsewhere thinking of painting as my main media.  As an artist, I’d spent the last 2 years working to create a professional body of artwork.  Just prior to arriving here, I realized that I desperately needed to experiment and loosen up, so I dove into my residency with that as my goal.

In the process I picked up several media that I thought of as peripheral (sidekicks!) to my main focus of painting and started to play around.  If painting is batman, Robin is… figure drawing and ceramics?

The only thing is, I started to question my own categorization of different types of art; and, I’ve found myself wondering just what direction I will go with it all when I leave Elsewhere.  I’ve learned how important it is to add playfulness and experimentation in with focus and goal orientation.

I think the residency has been successful.

Goodbye Elsewhere

It is my last day at Elsewhere, and as I am leaving tomorrow morning for the airport I feel it is about time I wrote my blog post.

It is 10 am, fellow residents (and now good friends) Christine and Jeane are working away on their computers as the rays of light are beaming across the floor where Tomatoes, the cat, lays soaking up the warmth of the morning sun. I have made the whole house smell of bacon, and have been happily chomping away on some fresh bread from the bakery next door. Everybody is relaxed after Friday night’s open house; a good local turn out to see the artwork we produced during the month of March.

When we first arrived there was snow covering the ground and a crisp chill in the air, now the first buds of spring are popping up and the birds are warming up their vocal chords for the months ahead. It is a lovely place to be based; a welcoming and friendly town with the beautiful backdrop of the mountains. My experience here will be treasured, I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. Nonetheless, I am ready to move on; I am not used to staying in one place for very long, and there is more of this amazing world to see. Not only am I leaving Paonia, but I am also leaving the US. After nearly 2 years of living and travelling this wonderful country I am bound for pastures new. I am sad to be going but also excited for the future, holding many amazing memories from the people I have met and the places I have explored.

To avoid being absorbed in reminiscing too much, the coffee pot distracts me; frantically yet comfortingly bubbling away to create a new aroma to surround our happy (yet temporary) home. I am reminded I need to pack my bags and start preparing for the next stage of my journey.

Although I have only been at Elsewhere for a month, the time here has given me the opportunity to bring together and develop my creative process in a way I could not have planned. As a person, I feel less lost; embracing transition and feeling more content with every day that unfolds. Art is like therapy and I feel lucky to have been immersed in it with other inspiring creative minds. I am looking forward to seeing how my work progresses, as well as the other artists I have shared my duration here with. Thanks y’all, and good luck with with all your future endeavors!

Leaving Time for Process | Elsewhere Artist Residency - Christine Lee Smith

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Living in Paonia, Colorado — a small and quaint artist town — has changed my sense of time. I feel a little like I’ve just entered a time warp, going from 60mph to 5mph, and the world is still slowing down as I integrate into my new rhythm.

Switching from shooting digitally (with virtually instant results), to shooting mostly film, it emphasizes the process of creating rather than the product or outcome. And in painting, as well — I need time to mix colors, let the paint dry between layers, and clean my brushes (if I want them to last).

It’s all got me noticing and wondering how much, and how often, I squeeze life into the margins trying to get a better or faster outcome or result. Having an opportunity to experience the difference between leaving the margins for what they’re there for, versus filling every possible second for efficiency, out of necessity (because there aren’t a lot of alternatives here) is showing me how ultimately ineffective trying to “do it all” really is. It drains me, leaving me but by bit less ready for the next day ahead — rather than resting in the natural pauses of my day, as I’m learning to do here.

I’m human, and I need time to breathe, to think, to process. I need time to feel, to consider, to choose wisely. And when I rob myself of that time so I can “get things done” I’m actually being less productive. Huh. It’s an odd reversal to think that being more productive actually means resting.

If you want to follow along Christine’s journey while at Elsewhere, visit her online at: christineleesmith.com, or view her iPhone gallery at christineleesmith.vsco.com.

The Dance of the Woodstove - Ky Burt

My time at Elsewhere went by so fast, and yet the daily mornings by the woodstove, the afternoon walks through downtown Paonia, and the evenings spent sipping tea, writing, and sharing stories with the other residents, seemed like an endless lifetime of comfortable creativity.

And yes the Woodstove…what a metaphor for my process of writing music. At times, I felt that my energy was like a warm simmer, where if I moved away from the heat, I would feel cold, but close enough, things were just right.  Other times I was burning up, popping out idea after idea, excited and motivated.  And other times I was dead cold, looking for fuel for the fire, reaching, flickering the lighter, hoping something would get started.

I set out with the goal to experiment with the process of songwriting at Elsewhere. As a burgeoning songwriter and nationally touring musician, I’ve been writing songs for years, always with the feeling of other responsibilities to attend to.  For this one month retreat in the Gingerbread House, I was able to solely focus on my craft, a privilege and an honor that I was so grateful to enjoy and explore.

The best part was, one of my songs turned out to be about the Woodstove that I so frequently interacted with.  I’ve included the words to that song below. And I look forward to releasing the video that I made with local filmmaker Teya Cranson on my website www.kyburt.com.  Thanks to Elsewhere, the residents, and the community of Paonia for a productive month of honoring the muse.

 

The Wood Stove Song

When the sun is swallowed by the night

And the moon is shining brightly

And the embers are burning alive

While the stars seek to gather

And the crickets cease their chatter

Before the morning after

There’ll be sparks in the wood stove tonight

 

The windows set crooked in the stone

And the firelight dancing on the ceiling

And the mist is rising off the bones

Where the old trees save each other

From the winds of their mother

Before the morning after

There’ll be sparks in the wood stove tonight

 

Leaping silhouette, leaping over the fire

Peering from the darkness, warm to the touch I desire

And its you and me babe, flickers of our dreams

Staring in the image of what we might

And its you and me babe, flickers of our dreams,

Staring in the image of what might be

 

When the moon is shadowed by the light

And the sun is shining brightly

And the birds are chirping up high

While the meadow sways its flowers

And the raincloud pours in showers

Before the golden hour

There’ll be dust in the wood stove,

There’ll be dust in the wood stove.

There’ll be dust in the wood stove.

Falling In to a Communal Culture of Creating - Katherine Saviskas

At Elsewhere, I am moving in a space with other artists, existing outside the 9 to 5, and I get to watch other artists’ daily practices. It is inspiring and comforting to cohabitate with people tuned in to their gifts and themselves.

Look! There are these beings who move in ways I want to move! Look! There are these individuals who prioritize in ways similar to how I prioritize!

This February, I was so very held and nourished by Elsewhere. And Paonia. The kind of connectivity, individual caring, and networks of support shared with me here are unique and powerful. I directly experienced solidarity through work peptalks with my fellow Elsewherians, working side-by-side with other artists, being linked up to supportive individuals in town, folks being hospitable and inviting me to things and making me roasted chicken, Karen being Karen, folks attending our events, people being curious and asking questions. So many direct forms of solidarity.

I also experienced solidarity through shared understandings, most of which went unsaid. I’d like to take a moment to list some.   This kind of subtle solidarity was also demonstrated in our communal culture of creating at Elsewhere, and these forms of communal agreement can be quite rare:

  1. the belief/knowledge that one month is a short amount of time
  2. the belief/knowledge that visiting a place for a project for 1 or 2 months is a reasonable thing to do (i.e. there is no rush, no need to live a project in chunks of 1-2 weeks to “get back” to my “real life”)
  3. the idea that you can live the life you want to live by waking up and making things with your hands, like a basket that’s becoming a nest
  4. the potentiality that the life I want to live can be segmented and timed and marked by how long it takes to make a felted cocoon, or write the chorus of a song, or edit together a 4 minute video
  5. the idea that a perfectly reasonable thing to do with your day is go to strangers’ homes, talk with them and learn about their lives, and make things based on what you learn
  6. the potentiality that life can be lived without a permanent apartment, for months on end, and instead following the craft that comes out of you
  7. the belief/knowledge that following the craft that comes out of you is exactly what you should be doing, and this can mean a happy life of building your schedule several months ahead of time, or only one month ahead of time, in order to seize surprise opportunities to offer your craft
  8. a commitment to: let’s just live near each other, make our own projects, think each other’s arts are fascinating, and make each other tea and live communally, with days that overlap and parallel closely
  9. the idea that it is possible to live somewhere where most folks go to the same activities, and that in some ways you can live into a community without extraordinary effort spent in creating one
  10. the belief/knowledge that it is possible to live in a community where folks hangout for lots of fun reasons, not just for consuming food and drink (although those are delicious and wonderful too)

Sewing Seeds-Amber Imrie-Situnayake

Yesterday, Adriana and I installed 25 in the upstairs studio. It’s been nearly two months of home visits, wet felting and personalizing these little hovels and finally, it’s all come together in a whimsical installation. I’m only going to give you some teaser shots in hopes that if you are local you’ll come out to see this interactive installation in person. If you can’t make it, have no fear we will post another blog about how the opening went next week so stay tuned and subscribe.

            

Come out and see, feel, smell, and hear the art of the evening at Elsewhere Studios this Thursday Feb. 26th from 6-8pm.
Click here to read more about the show, and all the projects and artists involved.

January Opening at Elsewhere

Yesterday, Elsewhere hosted its January opening showcasing the work of our fellow resident Nazish Chunara. During her one-month stay she completed a large-scale paper installation and a series of printed textiles. Nazish delved head-first into her first-ever installation and took her geometric paintings to the next level. (Claps all around!)

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The show also highlighted the past work and in-progress experimentations by gouache and watercolor extraordinaire, Aralia Rose.

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Amber and I showed our in-progress collaborative installation in the upstairs studio as well as a few samples of our solo work
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 It was a lovely night of white wine spritzers, home-made samosas (Thanks, Nazish!), interactive fiber art, lushly illustrative gouache experimentations, suggestive clay sculptures, and good company. Thanks to all who came out to support the Elsewhere residents and celebrate Nazish's time here! Come back this February 26th to see our finished Paonia Cocoons installation and various solo projects. Also, it's not too late to have your home or business represented in the Paonia installation. Email us at venisonmagazine@gmail.com for more info on how you can get involved.