The Nest

A Solid Blue Portal

| Charlie

Jaz Morrison reflects on her Nest Residency in association with MAIA

I haven’t been on many residencies, so I wasn’t sure what to expect during my time at the Nest. I remember asking if Talking Birds had any expectations of me, despite reading that this was about using the time as I felt best. The commute was surprisingly long – around 90 minutes from door to door – but it allowed me time to read books I’d put off, and the walk from the station familiarised me with the city centre. I even ran into an old colleague in my final week.

Continue reading →

More Than Human

| Charlie

Lisa Franklin reflects on her Nest Residency

Back in April 2023, I had the opportunity to undertake an artist residency with Talking Birds at the Nest in Coventry, delving into the world of fungi and flora as artistic collaborators. This experience was transformative and allowed me to explore the intricate relationship between humans and the wider natural world in ways that I hadn’t imagined.

Continue reading →

The Light is Important

| Charlie

Amy Kakoura reflects on her Talking Birds residency

Keep it to yourself, but there is something in Hotel 104.  I don’t know how long it’s been following me.  

I felt it moving around, the moment I asked to be here. It makes this dreadful, almost-sound, like a cough before it happens.  I don’t look straight at it.  

I keep my eyes forward these days. 

Continue reading →

This Space is All Mine

| Charlie

Tizzie Frankish reflects on her nest residency

When I hear writers equate the writing journey with riding a roller coaster, I couldn’t agree more. It’s a cliché for a reason, right? A couple of years ago, my writing journey hit a bone-crushing low when my second agent left the industry, and I decided to get off the roller coaster. In fact, I shut down the writing-ride completely- which was fine for a year, until not writing began to feel just as disappointing as writing. Did this mean I was ready to get back on the writing-ride? Possibly… But did I want it to be the same ride…? Absolutely not! Destination Publication was no longer my ride of choice, but finding fun on ALL the rides was much more appealing (you can read all about these experiences here). Over the next year, I found joy in the creative process again- writing anything and everything, from pitches to proposals, to TV samples and scripts, articles and education, flash and non-fiction… and finding the fun in writing again sparked a new idea…

Continue reading →

colour, pain and sound

| Charlie

Veronica Grant reflects on her Hatching Residency

During my Nest residency, I found myself filled with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. I had eagerly applied and been accepted, but I also felt the weight of my own expectations and the pressure to create something great during my time there.

Continue reading →

I might want to go ‘off-piste’…

| Charlie

Rachel Bunce reflects on her Hatching residency

After spending 10 days on a relaxed retreat-style Swedish residency, I almost had some ideas. I was given space to play with the tools that I normally use to earn money and create with others. It was brilliant, fun and terrifying (in equal measure) to have total creative freedom without a brief! Chatting with Janet and realising I wanted to take one of my almost-ideas further gave me the impetus to apply for a Nest Residency. I’m so glad I did, and not just for my creativity and idea-forming but for my sense of community, my physical and my mental health. 

Continue reading →

Swimming against the current

| Charlie

Po-Shin Chao reflects on her Hatching Residency

As an artist, for my residency my project focussed heavily on exploring and experimenting with ways I could reflect and display my own identity and internal struggles through the world of fish and marine life. An aspect I wanted to include was my cultural heritage; with the use of fish surrounding Taiwan included in my artwork, art styles and choosing fish that symbolized particular meanings. Many of the fish I wanted to paint were heavily inspired by hierarchies and societal roles in everyday life. I worked primarily in paints and inks related to traditional artworks such as gouache and calligraphy ink and spent the full ten days at the nest, popping in and out over the course of two months.

Continue reading →

A Journey from Brain Waves to Slime Mould

| Charlie

Craig Clarke reflects on his Hatching Residency

I had known about the Nest Residency for a while after attending creative co-working several times. It had been on my to-do list for a while however an email stating that they were about to close applications promoted me to stop procrastinating and finally sort out my application. A few weeks later I got the good news of being accepted and an exchange of messages found some suitable dates.

Continue reading →