Last month, I started the first part of my artistic residency at Orleans House Gallery. The residency is part of Artists Make Space 2025-26, a programme supported by Richmond Arts Service that offers studio space to individual artists and collectives looking to grow their practice.
This past month has been an incredible journey! It’s been an absolute pleasure to spend time at Orleans House researching new plant dyes, learning about the connections between Orleans House and my birth country of Panama, developing new ways of toning my cyanotype prints on fabric, and connecting with the Orleans House community.
I made a visual diary of every day I spent at the gallery to share my process with you. Inviting the camera into a space so private and personal can make one feel vulnerable and exposed, but I hope these quiet, meaningful moments in the studio that Kizzy Budd captured give you a glimpse into how I make my work.
Diary of an Artist in Residency
Orleans House Gallery
Day 1
First day of my residency at the beautiful Orleans House Gallery assisted by the fabulous Kizzy Budd. Today we spent the day scouring, mordating and prepping the fabric samples to start testing the new vegetable pigments that I will be researching.
Day 2
Today I spent the day prepping fabric swatches and photosensitising them to get them ready to start testing the different plants that I'm researching during this residency. I also spent some time learning more about the person who built this house, James Johnston, and his connection to Panama.
Back in the 17th century, he was Secretary of State of the Kingdom of Scotland (before the Union) and he supported the creation of a scheme that would see Scotland start a colony in Darien (today part of Panama). The scheme was a complete failure, which some sources say cost him his position as Secretary of State but also cost Scotland its indepedence.
The colony was situated in what today is known as Sukunya Inabaginya (formerly known as 'Puerto Escocés', Scottish Port in Spanish) in the region of Guna Yala in the Caribbean coast of Panama.
Day 3
Today I exposed to UV light all the cyanotype samples, getting them ready for this weekend when I will start toning them. I also continued my research into the Darien scheme and have already started thinking on how to bring all this research finds into the new work that I will be making.
The Darien scheme was the attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland (before the Union) to colonise a region of modern day Panama called Darien and to establish a settlement called New Caledonia. The intention was to compete against England and the other European empires in the trade of goods extracted from what they called the “Indies”.
Day 4
Long day spent bleaching the prints in preparation for toning tomorrow. Also, I prepared all the vegetable pigments and some of the pigments look and smell so delicious that I’ve had to label them “do not ingest” to avoid any temptation!
Day 5
Today I finished toning all the samples with the 8 plants that I’m researching during my residency. The next step is to choose the ones that I will use to produce a new phototextile artefact during the next few weeks.
When we think about the resources extracted from the colonies, we tend to think only about minerals like gold and silver. But plants, including those that produce pigments, were incredibly valuable commodities for Europeans.
All these plants endemic to the American continent were extracted during colonisation and taken all over the planet, greatly benefitting the economies of the colonising powers.
Day 6
Today, I documented all the plants that I researched last week and all the cyanotype samples that I toned. Then I started prepping the fabric for the new artwork that I will produce at the end of the residency.
Excited to see so many beautiful colours and already deciding which plants I will use for the new piece.
Day 7
Tomorrow I will start photosensitising the fabrics so I had to prepare the cyanotype solution today. My practice research not only investigates the botanical legacy of the pre-Columbian world, but also interrogates my practice itself and explores how to expand these techniques combining them with botanical elements.
This residency has also given me the time to dig deeper into the history of the techniques I work with and I encourage any artist working with cyanotypes to learn the link between cyanotypes, the slave trade and the extraction of resources from the colonies.
Day 8
All day working in the dark photosensitising the fabric that I will use to make the new phototextile artefact. You don’t need to work in full darkness when working with cyanotypes, just make sure that they are not exposed to sunlight while you are sensitising your medium.
But be warned, some bulbs emit small amounts of UV light in the frequency that reacts with the cyanotype solution so not all artificial lighting is safe when working with this process.
Day 9
Long day of exposing the cyanotypes to UV light. Excited to see the images slowly appearing on the fabric in that very peculiar Prussian blue. It’s all coming together rather nicely.
Day 10
Today was a day spent bleaching the cyanotype prints on fabric that we exposed to UV light yesterday. I then toned them with dyes made from the plants that I selected from my research of new plants from the previous week.
The palette that I selected includes avocado, brazilwood, logwood, blue corn and sunflowers. All plants endemic to the American continent. A very elegant palette, if I do say so myself.
Day 11
There’s something about your cyanotype prints coming out of the toner that feels like a quiet farewell. A moment of transition, where the Prussian blue whispers its last words and a beautiful new colour sees the light of day.
This process makes everything slow down, inviting reflection, creativity, and a deep sense of presence. It’s full of moments of introspection.
Day 12
Continuing my research on James Johnston, the first inhabitant of Orleans House, and his connection to the Darien Scheme.
The Darien Scheme was a plan that would see Scotland create a company called The Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies (aka the Scottish Company, the Scottish Darien Company, the Scottish Indian Company, the Scottish East-Indian Company and the Scottish African Company, even though it never traded with that continent) intended to give Scottish merchants a competitive edge in the lucrative foreign trade, start a trading colony in Darien (present day Panama) and compete against the English East India trade.
Johnston, in his role of Secretary of State, introduced the Bill to Parliament that would see the creation of said company. The strategy was to setup a colony on the narrow Isthmus of Darien (today, the Isthmus of Panama) which could then be used to connect the Atlantic and Pacific for trade.
Thanks so much to Andrew, David and the rest of the staff of the house for sharing their knowledge on Orleans House history.
Day 13
The images that I’m printing for this piece are all related to the history of the failed attempt to settle a Scottish colony in Darien, today part of Panama.
The person who came up with the idea to start a colony in Panama was called William Paterson, a Scot who had made his name as one of the founding directors of the Bank of England. Paterson’s plan was to turn Scotland into the major player of the trade with the Indies.
He came up with this plan after he met a Welsh sailor called Lionel Wafer, who had published a book about his adventures in a wonderful paradise on the Isthmus of Panama, with a sheltered bay, friendly indigenous people and rich, fertile land - a place called Darien.
Day 14
Something that usually artists won’t tell you is that mistakes are bound to happen. We tend to be very precious about the way we work and have a difficult time opening the doors of our studios to other people, particularly to other artists, out of fear that others will realise that we are not perfect. That sometimes things don’t work out as we planned.
But I say: let yourself be vulnerable. Show the world your best work, but also show the world how you got to make that work. It is only through practice, through trial and error, through research, that you learn and grow.
I had a full batch of prints that didn’t turn out the way I expected them, for various reasons: images completely washed off during bleaching process, pigment that didn’t set in, toner that didn’t react with the cyanotype prints, etc.
Don’t see mistakes as a waste of time, money or materials. Yes, mistakes can be those things too, but they are also lessons. And, every now and then, they can also be beautiful in their own right and open up new avenues that you hadn’t considered.
Artist residencies are perfect spaces for that. You are given the time and the space to research, to contextualise, and to experiment.
Day 15
Day trip to Oxford to meet with Dr Sarah Edwards, author of The Ethnobotanical and expert on the interactions and interrelationships of people and plants and how these are reflected in art, music and storytelling as well as traditional practices like cooking and healing.
Sarah is Plant Records Officer at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum, and teaches Ethnobiology and Biological Conservation at the Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford. We are exploring potential collaborations in the near future, so watch this space!
Day 16
Day spent toning the cyanotypes that I had to reprint. Also, I started packing everything related to prints and dyes because next week is my last week of the residency and I’m only going to focus on stitching the piece together.
Day 17
This is the final week of the residency and all the prints are toned and ready to be stitched together. I spent the day thinking of different ways to arrange them for the final piece.
Day 18
Finally decided on the final shape and design of my new phototextile artefact and started assembling it.
Day 19
Day spent stitching the piece together. It’s coming together rather nicely! Also, researching the last bits of information about the Scottish colony in Panama.
The fact that William Paterson, the person who came up with the idea to start a colony in Panama, had never actually been to Darien did not deter him. But the whole operation was kept a secret so that the English wouldn’t find out where Scotland was planning to settle this new colony.
Even as they departed from Edinburgh, the people on the expedition still did not know where they were going. It was not until the ships had passed Madeira that their captains were allowed to open their sealed orders which revealed the ultimate destination of the expedition.
The colonists reached Darien, which they called New Caledonia, in November 1698. But by April 1700, the colony was abandoned. It had suffered from an unforgiving climate, a marshy land difficult to cultivate, a series of attacks by the Spaniards, zero support from the English colonies in the rest of the continent, and a population devastated by disease. Of the approximately 2600 Scots who settled the colony, only 600 made it back alive.
Today, the area where the colony was settled is called Sukunya Inabaginya and it’s located within the land of the Guna People, Guna Yala, an Indigenous nation split between Panama and Colombia.
Day 20
Today, I’m finishing assembling the piece. The act of stitching is a meditative process with its repetitive motions, and focus on the present moment.
Embroidery provides a non-verbal means of self-expression and creativity, which leaves you with a deep sense of satisfaction.
Day 21
My new phototextile artefact is finally finished! I’ve entitled my new piece Memoirs of Darien, in honour of the land where the Scots attempted to settle a colony in the XVII century to compete against the English East India Company.
This work combines photography, textiles and botanicals, and through these materials I hightlight the importance of all the natural resources that were extracted during the European colonisation of the American continent, which in turn have created new cultural identities around the world.
Day 22
Today’s the last day of the first part of my residency at Orleans House. I’ll be back in January 2026 to continue my research and work on the installation of my phototextile artefacts.
Incredibly grateful to Orleans House Gallery and to Richmond Arts Service for this amazing opportunity, and to the lovely staff and volunteers of the house who made me feel welcomed and supported every single day.
Thank you so much for following my Diary of an Artist in Residency.
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