Alchemy Table Settings

July 15 - 29, 223

This year the residency was a little different - harking back to the days (2018) when there was a group of us all staying and working at the same time. 

 There were five artists, all staying in the same house, in July 2023. We were all partnered with wineries and farms nearby. This year I was partnered with Closson Chase Vineyards. 

It is a beautiful winery with excellent wines and a magnificent purple barn converted into their tasting room. Erin McInnis, the general manager, welcomed me and gave me my own little studio space to work in that overlooked the vineyards and their gardens where guests sat enjoying CCV wines. 

My focus this year, as in previous years, was to be present and explore the ‘terroir’ of the place I was working. It’s about a specific place, time, and location. The process and materiality are central themes in much of my work, much as it is part of the wine-making world. Both my work and the wineries I have been paired with employ careful, deliberate and often repetitive processes to achieve meaningful outcomes.  I continued exploring the medium of cyanotypes utilizing materials (garden flowers, grape leaves, sumac) found at Closson Chase and the neighbouring fields. The light

of the sun determines the exposure of the works. Coffee grounds, turmeric, chili, and vinegar were used to manipulate the cyanotype process.

CCV Cloth of Gold, Phlox, Globe Thistle, Lavender on Wind Kinetic Drawing, Cyanotype on Stonehenge.

I also did some plein air works on wood panels, (20X16 in). One an abstract of the gardens and vineyards and two other panels, a diptych of the gardens and beautiful purple barn. 

Closson Chase Vineyard, acrylic on wood panel, 20X16 in.

Closson Chase Gardens, 1 & 2, acrylic on wood panel, 20 X 16 in.

One of the many benefits of living with other artists is the synergy and alchemy of ideas that we share. Adriana Ciocci was working on creating natural dyes from the local plants. She helped me create a great yellow ink/dye from yellow flowers (wild snapdragons) which I used to dye small sheets of Stonehenge paper. I used the small sheets to do some quick gesture drawings of the grape vines and new grapes. I know that this is a technique that I will pursue on other projects in the future.

I photo documented much of the Closson Chase property. I took one of these images and created a triptych painting on canvas. This painting is currently hanging in the Closson Chase Vineyard tasting room for the duration of Ontario Culture Days.

Closson Chase Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, acrylic on canvas, 30 X 60 inches.