Cody Maycock reflects on his Nestival Residency

I recently finished two weeks in my temporary studio space and it was exactly what my creatively blocked brain needed.

I went in with the messiest mix of ideas that I so desperately wanted to all come together, and my time in the Solid Blue studio helped me do just that. I knew that I wanted to mix media and develop some skills that I was not the most confident in. I ended up creating a 3D digital art gallery to display multiple poems of mine, along with a piece of art to go with each one. I have always wanted to share my poetry but always felt very self-conscious and didn’t want to just
have them written down, so this idea coming through was exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to come up with whilst in The Nest. I tried out so many of my ideas: I filmed, photographed, drew, and even crocheted (!!) before settling on the final product. I couldn’t be happier with the whole creative process I went through during my time here.

Everyone at Talking Birds was so welcoming when I arrived, and made me feel at ease the whole way through. I was always greeted with a smile and a chat, and everyone made me feel so much more confident in the work I was doing. Being surrounded by people who share interests and creative outlets is such an enriching experience and truly made it so much more exciting to get up and head over every day.

I couldn’t go in on one of the days as I got called in to work an early shift at my part-time job, and the Talking Birds team invited me to make up the day after I finished my residency! They offered me Hotel 104 for the day, as it was empty at the time, and it meant so much to me. So during my residency, I got to explore two of the amazing studios, both feeling as comforting and clear as the other. I’ve come to learn over these two weeks just how important changing environments is. I was stuck in a rut for so long, and I was finding it so hard to pursue my creative ideas, and this time in The Nest brought it all back for me. Although my project isn’t quite finished yet, I had the most productive 2 weeks I’ve had in a very long time!

I appreciate Talking Birds giving me the space to just create freely, without any pressure or restrictions. It’s been an experience I won’t forget and one I will always be thankful for.