Here we are at the end of May! It’s already the end of my 2nd month as a resident at Yellow Studio! The bad news is that I haven’t kept up with writing about my experiences here.

A mood board showing cyanotypes, monoprints, and small artworks in yellows, greens, browns, and blue — *Mood board at the Yellow Studio*

The good news is that I have been in the zone at Yellow Studio and Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. I’ve been hiking, sketching, photographing, collecting, papermaking, cyanotyping, printing, collaging…getting into my creative storm.

And it has been so, so good!

*The start of a creative storm at the Yellow Studio.*

I’ll share more pics at the end of this post, but first, let me tell you about two things I have been thinking about for the past few weeks.

One of my goals for this residency is to create more sense of place in my collages by incorporating alternative photographic techniques. The techniques I have been experimenting with are cyanotypes and solar prints. I’ve had more success with the cyanotypes and am loving the process as a form of documenting as well as for collage elements.

I am most excited about the results of toning the cyanotypes with green tea. The results are beautiful earthy tones that I can’t get enough of.

An open sketchbook with notes about cyanotpye exposure times and samples. — *Cyanotype toning test strips in my sketchbook*

I’ve also been thinking about how the most significant discoveries or changes in my work have happened when I was not concerned with what I was making. In moments of play and exploration, I have found what comes next in my work. I need to remember not to come into a project with too many set ideas. I started this project with a clear idea of what I wanted to do in terms of my process and inspiration. Where I made a mistake was bringing a plan or a color scheme and seeing it as a continuation of previous work. It wasn’t until I let go of those pre-determined ideas that I approached the creative storm and got lost in it.

Side by side photos of color schemes for a collage body of work, — *Left: My color scheme at the start Right: My color scheme now!*

When looking for a change or to move to the next iteration, take some time to notice, explore, and play. This pattern of creation I have worked with at my past two residencies is exciting and makes sense.

I follow my curiosity where it takes me, and somewhere along the way, a thread emerges that brings everything together.