A Glorious Return to the Hide Artist Retreat!

By Catherine Richardson

This was my second residency at The Hide. Compelled to return!

I had the studio to myself — and with it, the quiet rhythm of waking each day in the same room where I could simply get to work, contemplate, and just be; something I find increasingly rare and increasingly precious.

This year I arrived with a specific focus: a collaborative project with another artist, with an aim to be shown together in 2027. 

My strand of the research centres on coal delivery in 19th century Victorian London — and behind that, delving into the source of the black "rock"; the deeper geological story of the Carboniferous period, when vast forests collapsed and were compressed over millions of years into the coal seams we would eventually mine, burn, and build empires upon.

And yet, surrounded by the layered history and quietly dynamic landscape of the Cotswolds, I found that having a fixed endpoint — defined formats, a set narrative — began to feel somewhat constraining.

This artist retreat has a way of opening things up in my work that doesn't always sit comfortably with a predetermined outcome.

A timely mentoring session in the second week with Alice proved to be exactly the reset I needed. Her observations cut through the noise and gave me the motivation to think beyond the immediate project — to remember the broader terrain of my practice and where it wants to go. 

During my stay Alice coordinated and hosted a book-signing event with Hettie Judah author of "How to Enter The Art World After a late Start etc.” Many artists in the wider area, including Bristol attended and a few gave their own presentations to the group.

I found this very informative especially due to meeting other professional creatives which revealed a thriving art community in this rural location.

Something quietly magical seems to happen for me at The Hide. I suspect it may become an annual fixture — less a retreat, more a return.

By Catherine Richardson