About this project

I have the opportunity to go on an artist residency in France that will allow me to devote time and energy to the development of my art. This juried residency was granted to me for the month of November 2011, and I couldn't be more excited. The facility, CAMAC, is located in Marnay-Sur-Seine, about an hour outside of Paris in a rural area of France. This is the first residency I will have the chance to attend, and I'm looking forward to the chance to have dedicated time to develop my artwork through visual research and experimentation, as well as to network with other artists and cultures in a creative environment.

This Kickstarter campaign is to fund the fee for the residency. Any additional funding received through Kickstarter above this amount will go toward art supplies, such as paper, paints, and drawing materials, shipping of art and supplies to and from France, airfare, and other related costs, and of course would be greatly appreciated! The fee to attend the residency pays for room and food for an entire month, as well as a designated artist studio to work in and access to the nearby botanical gardens. I've already qualified for some funding from the residency organization which brought my total fee to 1350 Euro (around $2000 USD), but am hoping Kickstarter and all of you can help me with the rest of the fee. Considering this fee includes food, lodging, and artistic facilities, I think that this opportunity would be ideal for me and my work, and comes at a perfect time in both my artistic and my professional lives. As a working professional who is busy from 8-5 most days, I find it very difficult to have dedicated time and energy to work on projects and develop my artwork. I have started creating a series of drawings titled flora & fauna that I feel have great potential and which I would like to further develop, but have had a hard time spending the time required to push the images further because of my job and general life distractions. This residency would allow me to explore these ideas, as well as develop others based on what I learn.

This residency is entirely self-driven, so I can choose what to work on and experiment with both my successes and failures as I determine a new visual language. During the residency, I plan to work on my artwork every day, do extensive journal writing and research, visit the botanical gardens for inspiration involving natural forms and plant shapes, and visit the nearby towns and cities for exposure to the art and culture of the area. My goals for this residency are to create multiple new bodies of work, including one series of drawings in which I create one drawing each morning throughout the entire residency and post the finished pieces on a blog for interested parties to monitor my progress. In addition, I plan to create more extensive drawings, collages, and mixed media works on paper that further develop the themes of natural imagery with the human body and identity and my flora and fauna series. At the end of the residency, I will have the opportunity to share my work with the other members of the art residency and the nearby community through an open studio show. All new pieces will be posted to my website upon return from the residency.

For more information on the residency program, go to www.camac.org. For more information on my artwork, including an artist statement and exhibition history, go to www.jenniferhines.net. Thank you very much!