I came to Elsewhere in March of 2020 with the goal in mind of spending time in mountainous landscape (something I’ve longed to do since growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut, absent much of such wonder) where I could work on drawings and carvings to fuel a new body of linoleum cut and stamp based monoprints, while in an environment that was supportive and nurturing to my goals. And Elsewhere was just that place.
Upon arriving at Elsewhere and consistently throughout my stay, Carolina and Henry were more than supportive, generously offering their time to give feedback on my work and studio visits, and always checking in to make sure I was comfortable. Paonia itself is a town that is filled with artists and creatives of all sorts, a fact I was quick to learn upon being introduced to many of them at the meet and greet, all of them humble and friendly folks who made me feel very welcome in their community.
Paonia offered me a temporary homebase from which I could drive to surrounding national parks and ranges of mountains to gather copious amounts of reference imagery through sketching and photography. Coming from Maine, where I’ve been living since moving out of Connecticut, it was a treasure to be able to have what felt very much like a temporary home across the country to explore areas of the landscape I would normally not have access to. I spent time making drawings of geography at places like the Black canyon and the Grand Mesa, sketching from landscapes I had never before seen with my own eyes. Here I experienced drawing from life such wonders as deep canyons, rocky mountains, sandstone mesas and looming plateaus. Paonia itself offers its own natural beauty, as it is nestled between the mountains and pierced by the powerful Gunnison river, along which I found myself walking morning after morning. I found a wonderful rhythm in venturing out in the crisp March morning air to sketch, and then bringing my sketches back to the studio where I would work on turning them into carvings until evening. In the studio, I was often joined by Tomatoes the Elsewhere cat, who immediately exuded the energy of an old friend or some kind of spiritual guardian.
After spending time carving and hanging with Tomatoes, when the sun went down I found myself happily caught up in the goings on of the Paonian community often accompanied by my fellow residents. Between free ping pong and pool at the bar across the street, open mics and karaoke, music nights of all sorts (from folk duets to improvisational blues ensembles) there was always a multitude of ways to keep yourself busy in the surprisingly eventful nightlife of this small Colorado town.
This residency truly fueled creative growth of all kinds for me, as I was able to find a fine balance between studio time, community based events where I could get to know all of the colorful characters of Paonia, downtime with other residents, and hiking the inspiring and lively landscape of Colorado. And then halfway through March, the gravity of the global pandemic Coronavirus began to set in and throw things for a spin.
This unfortunately (understandably) cut down on the time I was able to spend building relationships with locals and attending events, but Elsewhere remained inspiring nonetheless. Carolina and Henry did everything they could to ensure the comfort of myself and my fellow residents as the news of the Coronavirus and the onset of quarantine swept the nation and the anxiety and uncertainty of the state of the world swiftly became a factor in my stay at Elsewhere. Even so, Elsewhere was a wonderful place to be quarantined. I spent many nights sitting in the studio's beautiful backyard gazing at the moon accompanied by Tomatoes, and in the cozy living quarters with plentiful in-house libraries that are accessible to all residents. Even when the physical show at the end of the month had to be cancelled in compliance with quarantine regulations, Carolina and Henry quickly came up with an optional alternative way to share our work through a live streamed zoom meeting at the end of the month. Because of this, myself and my fellow residents were still able to share and celebrate the work we accomplished while at Elsewhere to an online community and receive valuable feedback and experience through having such a platform to talk about our work to an enthusiastic and supportive audience.
All in all, Elsewhere Studios very much felt like a space where any artist could go to make the space their own while feeling the magic of those who passed through before them (sculptures, trinkets, paintings and all manner of things from past residents adorn the living spaces, revealing the rich history of artists who’ve spent time there before). It's an environment that is extremely conducive to allowing you the time and space to exist and work and focus on life as an artist and a human following their own inspirations, while simultaneously finding new ones around every corner of this magical little place.
