How to apply

The residency will be open from first week of December to last week of March, for a minimum of three weeks and a maximum of 3 months. 

Anyone can apply: here is how

All residencies on the Trelex Model aim to be open and free, welcoming all artists, whatever their background and level of experience. To prevent abuse of the generous but limited facilities, the residency will not be advertised publicly but aims to make itself known through word of mouth.

There are no application forms and no deadlines, which is central to the residency model. 

To apply send an email to amazon@trelexresidency.org. Please let me know how you have heard about the residency. If i don't reply within a week, then by all means badger me! As an artist myself, I sometimes take a break from the dictatorship of the screen.

Do befriend me on Facebook (using my 'Nina Rodin-Artist' profile, not my personal profile because I won't respond) so I know who you are. Please do not apply for the residency via Facebook private message. 

When you contact me, you should suggest dates for your stay, after having checked on flight availability and prices. I will then check with the lodges that they can receive you and make sure your dates don't clash with anyone else's proposed dates. Once this is confirmed, you will then have to book your tickets and send confirmation to have your place definitively reserved. The earlier you book your ticket, the cheaper the trip will be.

Your place at the residency is not booked until you have booked your flight. However, please bare in mind that you cannot change your dates once you stay is confirmed as it is a huge amount of work for our hosts to adjust in their booking system. We rely on the hard work of the Rainforest Expeditions team to keep the residency open and wouldn’t want to jeopardise it by causing unnecessary hassle.

If several people apply for the same period within a short time, I will give priority to those who can stay the longest. Otherwise, places are allocated strictly on a first come first served basis.

(Jan 2016: due to the number of applicants there is a waiting list.  Please be both patient and respect that places are subject to availability) 

I generally prefer people to come for a minimum of a month. However if you can only commit to a long week-end or a couple of weeks, because e.g. of financial or family pressures, don't hesitate to get in touch. Short visits are however quite disruptive to the lodges so you need a very very strong reason to apply for less than 3 weeks. You are welcome to come for up to three months, either in one go or over repeat visits.

You do not have to be a painter or even a visual artist to apply. All and any artists are welcome.

The Trelex Residency support artists with children passionately. Children can share your room with you but will be your responsibility at all times. And you need to think such a project through very carefully. We will be very happy to answer any questions on that subject as they arise.

Residency (non-)Requirements

There are basically no requirements for coming. There are a couple of things I ask you to do but only because I think it makes it will make your stay more interesting and help you communicate with your hosts. So I ask you to bring two sets of images: the first is a set with 10 examples of your work. This doesn't have to be the most recent or the best, simply the ones that are most relevant to you at the time of coming and that you are interested in discussing. If you are not a visual artist, we'll talk about another way for you to share a selection of your work.

The second is a set of 10 images of things that inspire your work but are not your work. This may be work by other artists or not be artworks at all. It might be music, writings, family or holiday snapshots, a set of memories. They may be the inspiration for past works or things that are one your mind and that you want to integrate somehow or other into future work or they may be about a passion or interest that you don't yet relate to your work at all. I am sure you have a ton of such things in your sketchbook or your studio. Having to select just 10 and deciding which are the more important is a really interesting exercise as an artist.

It's very informal and will serve to introduce yourself to guests, staff, the community and other residents you may overlap with. You could invite people for a small presentation after dinner, once a week or take the 10+10 images to a local school. From experience at Trelex, it is always the case that the artists are asked unusual questions from anyone who doesn't know their work at all, yet doesn't necessarily have a formal background in Art. Being in a laid back setting where everyone is comfortable asking questions will give you very different feedback than at a private view, for example.

Finally, it is helpful if at the end of the residency, you contribute a small summary of your impressions for this blog. This will help inform future residents as to what to expect. These pages aim to give as honest an account of what you can expect on your residency but if artist who comes can write a few lines about their own very particular and subjective experience of the rainforest, that will really help to bring the residency to life for prospective residents.