Upcoming Residencies

French Residency Summer 24'
French Residency Summer 24'
From £1,500.00 £0.00
From £1,500.00

The John Richardson French Residency Award

Under the patronage of Hambly & Hambly and mentorship of Irish Artist Eamon Colman

Hambly & Hambly are delighted to sponsor a two week residency in France for multidisciplinary Artists on an annual basis. The residency is under the name of John Richardson, Ciara Hambly’s late father who supported her initiatives. An open call is made in August for submissions from Artists of all genres and medium; literary, musical, visual. H&H shortlist from the entries a finalist group of 40 Artists and their submissions are complied into a physical exhibition in the gallery and a virtual exhibition. A panel of ten esteemed judges then make the final selection of the winning Artists to take part in this fully-funded residency which promises professional development and new creativity in association with their representative Gallery and Mentor.

To find out further information and apply please contact ciara@hamblyandhambly.com

Previous Winners

“We went on two memorable trips to two separate islands on different days, for example. I always had my notebook with me and collected thoughts and impressions which then later formed into first drafts of poems. A single open sunflower in a sunflower field, the countless swallows nesting in the eaves, their fallen chicks, stories of an earthquake days before our arrival (experienced and relayed by Ciara Hambly), the packed cherry tree in the garden, the harvesters squeezing through the houses of Dampierre, the light from the stain glass church windows kneeling at the foot of the altar etc all these things entered the poems. There was no shortage of images.”

Thomas Brezing

“Taking part in the inaugural John Richardson French Residency was one of the most wonderful experiences of my artistic career to date. Ciara has created a rual French paradise for artists to bask in their creativity. Highlights for me were the nightly conversations over French feats laid out on the red chequered table cloth and my sunny al fresco studio space - I was free to play and write in stereo birdsong.”

Clara Tracey

“It is the optimum environment for creativity, having the uninterrupted time on a residency to work, it sets you up for weeks afterwards when you go back to your own studio. You develop a great routine of daily practise and the freedom from the normal demands allows the ideas to flow, which means you get back to your own studio with material to start on a whole body of work. I have returned with a sketchbook full of notes and colour studies and loads of watercolour sketches from which to start a whole new series of paintings and am feeling completely refreshed and excited to get started.“

Ciara Gormley

“The time I spent in France gave me two weeks of uninterrupted time to focus completely on my work. It allowed me the space to experiment with new approaches and to consider the materials I was using. Having the opportunity to exhibit with Eamon Colman and Katarzyna Gajewska was something that only happened because of the residency.”

Gary Robinson

“I was very pleased with the work I got done: several first drafts of poems, collected plenty of source material for down the line, texts and impressions which will germinate into something more tangible in weeks and months to come. Even though we all worked separately, I feel we also worked as a team in terms of encouraging and complementing each other, looking out for each other.”

Thomas Brezing