Beneath The Surface was an incredible experience. It forced me to take a break from the daily grind and relax in nature and interact with like-minded people. I was able to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in years and make new friends. 

Being able to talk with the Fundy Park staff, our curator Vicky Lentz, the CraftNB staff and all the other experts was an invaluable resource that made the experience remarkably educational. Any questions we had were answered by passionate and patient people. 

Beneath The Surface was a week I will cherish that was full of memories I won’t soon forget!

 I really enjoyed how Craft NB offered us Beneath the Surface artists a well organized, exciting week that was full of lovely surprises! This artist’s retreat in the great outdoors has helped to reinspire my artistic practice and allowed me to meet several other amazing artists from different parts of the world. I look forward to the upcoming exhibition that will result from this amazing experience! Thank you Craft NB!!!

I was very honoured to have been one of twenty artists selected by Craft NB to take part in Beneath the Surface in Fundy National Park.
The Craft NB staff, curator Vicky Lentz and the interpretive team at Fundy did a fantastic job of putting together an incredible week of learning and fellowship. Between the daily hikes and  informative sessions with park staff and guest speakers, I gained a wealth of knowledge. I especially enjoyed our time learning about the pollinators and native plants, some one on one time with Vicky as I got to observe her painting process, and our time with indigenous interpreters Cecelia and Anthony.
It was also wonderful to meet other artisans, make connections and learn about others’ craft. I don’t get to socialize with other artisans often and  I think it’s important to cultivate these relationships. 
I see this residency is an amazing opportunity for me to challenge myself to expand my practice, pushing into new creative territory. It’s given me permission to ‘think outside the box’ and to reach for new creative goals. I feel that I will be drawing inspiration from my Beneath the Surface experiences for many years to come.

My time at Beneath the Surface surpassed all my expectations. I came into this project with a mind distracted from other things I was currently working on. After about an hour, I started to settle and was able to start the absorption process.

Connecting with old and new artists after a few years isolated made my level of creativity rise up again. I spent every opportunity with the park interpreters and guest speakers to learn what was available.

The first night home left me exhausted in body, but refreshed in spirit. I felt lucky and privileged to have been a part of this experience. I have had multiple dreams on installation ideas, and I’m sure they will keep coming. I’m so excited to produce outdoor work for Fundy National Park next summer

It was so valuable to me to spend so much time talking about art in the company of other artists! The wonderful Parks staff who facilitated the experiences in the Park were knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the Park and the project, and our curator Vicki was extremely encouraging and inspiring. So many experience and learning packed into only 5 days and all the while immersed in nature!  Wonderful!

 I am so excited to be part of this project and I think it is going to produce some amazing art!

I have not felt so calm and peaceful in a long time. I would like to express my deep gratitude for all your work (the whole team) for creating such an extraordinary experience and having such a strong belief in craft/art. Thank you!

 I took part in Beneath the Surface 2022 not really knowing what I had gotten myself into nor had I ever done a residency before. Which in hindsight was probably the perfect way to enter such a week. If I had to sum it up in one word EXPANSION comes to mind. Spending the time away from my studio and daily life…  immersed in the park , new people, and most of all the guided walks shifted my entire view of the world and woke up a few parts inside myself that had gone dormant and gathered dust. Such a valuable opportunity as an artist and as a person inhabiting this wonderous amazing planet. The experience has led to new friends and perhaps a new body of work.

Observe

Expand, contract, expand

Beneath The Surface 2022′ was my second BTS residency. I felt it was better than the previous one because I knew what to expect to one extent which helped me embrace the experience deeper.

Being an isolated potter in Northern New Brunswick, BTS helped in expanding lifeline connections with like-minded folks.  I feel much more grounded and confident as an artist after sharing such an intense week with other fellow creators. 

 The goals set by BTS22 are helping in grasping a deeper awareness of nature at all its multitude of levels 

 Its biggest impact is how much more confident I now feel in my artistic process.

Beneath the Surface 2022 was an experience that will always give me inspiration. In my art practice as well as in my daily life.
Thanks to the very passionate and knowledgeable interpreters of Fundy National Park. They have passed on that passion for the natural world in a way that has changed the way I will always look at things around me. I will always think of how everything is connected and how any one thing that exists in nature does not exist autonomously. Although I’ve always known that; one needs to experience it in a guided way sometimes to really let it become an automatic way of thinking.
In terms of my art practice; I’ve always drawn from the natural world for inspiration. But my experience at this Residency will bring that inspiration to another level, I hope.
Another way of thinking brings another way of making.

I will always eat something from the forest before I leave it. Thank you Cecilia Brooks!

The Beneath the Surface Art residency was an unforgettable experience. It was enriching to share space with so many brilliantly creative minds, in the beautiful natural setting of Fundy National Park. The team at Craft NB organized the week very well, everything flowed perfectly and if there were any hiccups they were unnoticeable. We were introduced to Fundy through the park’s interpreters who shared with us a wealth of knowledge about the history of the park, the landscape and the flora and fauna. It was fascinating and very inspiring. Our wonderful curator Viky Lentz is very supportive and I’m excited to continue working with her as I enter the developmental phase of my creation for the exhibition

Beneath the Surface Artist Residency hosted by Craft NB and Fundy National Park was an absolute dream for a New Brunswick nature inspired artist like myself. I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn, share and grow alongside such immense talent. From forest hikes, beach exploration, fossils walks and star gazing, BTS was jam packed with endless inspiration. An incredibly well organized and deeply impactful experience. As an emerging artist, keen to expand my practice into installation work, I cannot thank Craft NB enough! I am walking away from this residency, more connected and in love with New Brunswick than ever.