There’s a quiet fascination in the hedgerows and woodland floor - textures, layers, and traces of what lies beneath.
During my time at The Hide, I fell into a simple, creative rhythm: walking each morning down the steep hill into Nailsworth, crossing the expansive common, or stopping for coffee at the shop tucked inside the church. These small rituals grounded me, opening up space for deeper reflection in my practice.
My work has always been fueled by a lifelong interest in geology—rocks, sediments, and the imprints of time. I’m drawn to the buried and revealed: the materials we build with, the fragments we dig up, the stories we unknowingly walk upon. As a child, I would bury objects in the ground, only to dig them up later, curious to see what had transformed. This sequence echoes through my creative process. It feels like an excavation of consciousness— a method for unearthing a hidden essence of self and inroads to possibilities.
At The Hide, I could fully immerse myself in this exploration. Digging beneath the surface became a metaphor as well as a playful act—uncovering unexpected surprises. The Cotswolds, with its vast limestone reserves, has long been a magnet for me. For centuries, its quarries have shaped the region’s homes and churches. I arrived imagining cavernous spaces underground, and the paradox of beauty and damage in human intervention.
One of the most valuable aspects of my residency was the critique and discussion with Alice in the first week. Her intuitive insights and clear assessment of my complex ideas helped cut through the fog. She challenged me to make a decisive choice about what to focus on, pointing out where I was limiting myself and she offered constructive ways to move forward. I hadn’t received such a thoughtful critique in years, and I was reminded of the clarity and energy that comes from a well-observed conversation about the work, choices and ways to arrive at solutions.
With a more confident sense of direction, I turned to the materials around me. For my palette I experimented with making inks from coffee and seasonal blackberries. I gathered willow and hazel sticks for drawing and building small, playful 3D structures. These foraged resources tied my practice to the landscape itself, deepening the sense of place.
Living and working in such a nurturing environment allowed me to sink further into the process. Sleeping alongside my work, waking each morning to see it afresh, felt like an ongoing unravelling—an opening to deeper resources within myself. Confidence grew, and new, actionable ideas began to emerge.
Equally important was the physicality of the experience. The daily steep walk into Nailsworth became more than just exercise—it was a way to inhabit the environment with my whole body, building strength while creating a rhythm that felt both grounding and expansive.
The Hide was not just a space to create but a place to rediscover. It allowed me to dig, both literally and metaphorically, into the buried layers of my practice and bring them to light. The process has left me calmed, inspired, and ready to carry this momentum forward.
You can find out more about Catherine’s work here:
instagram @Catherinejrich
website Www.Catherinerichardsonart.com