Shorna reflects on her Hatching Residency

“Talking Birds is a Coventry based company of artists, known for their gently provocative projects which explore, and seek to illuminate, the profound and complex relationships between people and place.” These lines from their website says a lot about this astonishing company. I have recently completed my two weeks residency there and feel very lucky to get this opportunity. I was placed in a beautiful studio, “Helloland”. I must say the name of the studio made me so happy because I was planning to illustrate a children’s book that will have illustrations of gardens. My studio gave me a perfect start. 

Studio Helloland

Just before four days of my residency, I returned to England from a holiday. I was very tired of travelling long distance, and lack of sleep. When I was landing, the first thing caught my eyes was the autumn vibes on trees. The trees were changing colours, and I was thinking in my mind that it’s great that I will start my residency in Autumn. My art practice has huge contrasts of lives, seasons, nature, and colours. I notice and appreciate the vibes of a season, so my residency timing was divine. 

The first day I took a taxi to go there. Nest Programme Co-ordinator Charlie Tophill welcomed me with a lovely smile. She is very informative and has a genuine interest in helping me and others. She started with the tea corner, my most favourite thing. She was telling me about the company and other important things that I needed to know. I was amazed by the policies of Talking Birds, especially, their acts on being so gentle on this planet. Everything they do, they focus on sustainability. Everywhere in the building, I saw the touch of kindness toward this planet. She showed me around and took me to my studio, then handed me the key. 

I loved the calm and cosy interior of my studio. It has a big window, one yellow wall, tables, and chairs. I quickly made myself comfortable and arranged my stuff. I stood by the window and for few minutes with tea and watched the canal bridge with autumn trees. First day I wanted to go slow with planning of proper utilisation of my precious two weeks. So, I made some research and notes all afternoon. After lunch I had a wonderful session with my mentor Mandy Ross who is a writer and poet. She gave me so much advice, and outlines that I needed. She was very friendly and informative, and opened my eyes in many ways as an artist. 

Rough Sketches

In my first week I pointed out how should I work on my illustrations. I took some books from Talking Birds’ library to see how story narrations connects with illustrations. I decided to work with watercolour and inks together. Drew few sketches on my story where a little girl gets interested with gardens. I wrote a rough draft of my story lines and calculated how many illustrations I will do roughly. It was a great week. 

Studio set up

After a good rest on my weekend, I returned to my studio. I knew I have only a week left so I was trying to advance my work as much as possible. I finalised the first and last illustrations and the characters. I did a good volume of sketches, and the story draft was also done this week. I was amazed by my productivity because a calm and relaxing place for work really makes a difference. On my last two days I was working on an a4 size full garden illustration which I planned for the story ending artwork. It came out nice, I am quite happy with it. 

On my last day of residency, my mentor came, and she loved my work. We discussed many things and as a well experienced writer, she gave me valuable advice. I am truly grateful for that, she really helped me in so many ways, I can never thank her enough. I received a lovely card from Talking Birds team on my last day which I must not forget. It was so adorable. 

My last day set up before I packed

We had a common room for lunch break or friendly discussions. I enjoyed that a lot. Had a chance to discuss and show some of my works to co-artistic director Janet Vaughan, general manager Phillipa Cross, admin Dom Watson, Charlie Tophill and others. Everyone encouraged me, it was wonderful. I had the full freedom to work on my way. I realised something important there, small everyday actions towards kindness, love and empathy can make this world a happy planet. Its not difficult, just needs a little more understanding. 

The theme of my story was to encourage children to be connected to nature. When I progressed this on my residency, Talking Birds policies on sustainability encouraged me to be a more mindful person in my daily life too. It is like a fairy tale for me that I was working on nature, kindness, love, and empathy in a residency where sustainability is one of their top priorities. This really amazed me, and I will carry on the same spirit, taken from my residency to complete the book.

Complete illustration for the last page of the book

I am truly thankful for this opportunity. I will be in touch and will surely develop as an artist with Talking Birds. Thank you lovely Talking Birds team for everything.