Transcendence in Tuscany
2 - 8 May 2022
I spent one week in the idyllic setting of the Apennine Mountains in Tuscany on a solo artist's residency. My stay at Studio Panicale provided a novel source of inspiration and allowed me to reconnect with nature, and with myself.

Studio Panicale
Studio Panicale is an artists' residence in the historic village of Panicale—a fortified medieval settlement in the densely-wooded foothills of The Apennine Mountains, Italy. For the residency, I had a complete run of a beautifully refurbished five-bedroom house, artist studio, large garden, olive groves, pool, and tree house.
Printmaking experimentation
I was incredibly inspired by the colours of Tuscany which led to a new monoprint series. I'd been experimenting with symmetrical mono-printing techniques in the studio for some time, and on the residency, I developed a new process using acrylic paints and pure alcohol.
The architecture of Tuscan villages became the source of inspiration for my colour palettes. Whilst out on walks I took photographs which were later used in the studio to inform paint mixing and the building of a simple three-colour palette for each print.
I used photographs as a reference for paint mixing, leaning towards pigments with high levels of iron oxide. When acrylic paint is mixed with pure alcohol the paint breaks down and creates interesting textures when monoprinted. The shapes and textures created were reminiscent of the materials from whence they came - stone and earth.