From Phoebe Eccles

6 - 26 May 2019

My legs wobbled as I disembarked my London-Geneva flight. I had foolishly chosen a Henry James novel for the journey. I didn’t have a clue what was going on. I questioned whether I was worthy of being an artist in residence. What was an artist in residence, anyway? I had never been one before. Was I supposed to have a plan? Had I packed the correct shoe and sock combinations? Was I supposed to know more French than “je suis désolé?” Was I going to be ok?

I was going to be more than ok! I fell in love with glorious Lac Léman. I fell in love with my fellow residents. I was already in love with Gertrude Stein but I appreciated her with a fresh intensity as I read Tender Buttons on a sunny fishing dock. My three weeks in Nyon were wonderful and I would recommend the experience to any artist.

The Nyon residency is situated in a large window studded studio. Inside this studio is four bed-pods. I cannot remember being in the womb, but I reckon that sleeping in the bed pod is not dissimilar to that 9 month pre life snooze. Upon waking from vivid dreams (useful for poems) I would go for a run by the lake. Then I would spend a few hours writing and editing at a sunny desk or on the balcony. Around 4pm I would return to the lake for an ice cream and a swim. Dinner was usually shared with Kiran or Cool or Michele. We would chat about our lives and our art and then I would return to my pod to read and rest. 

The line between residency and retreat was at times blurred, with a lovely afternoon spent at a Geneva sauna and almost as many ice creams being consumed as poems written. I shared fondues and wines with Kiran and Veer. Towards the end of my stay the Trelex residents came for supper at the Nyon studio and what a lovely night it was! We broke bread and swapped puns. I decided I would get a large tattoo of the lake on my belly when I got home. 

Thank you Nina for the residency. I will treasure May 2019 as a time of inspiration and rejuvenation. It was brilliant learning about the creative practices of so many wonderful artists while simultaneously furthering my own writing endeavours. I am going to get the tattoo as soon as I have finished digesting all that fondu, and I hope to return to bucolic Switzerland in the near future.