Roller-coaster ride of emotions

Pre-Oaxaca arrival

Holy moly I'm nervous! It's our last full day in Spain and tomorrow I fly out for Mexico. It's going to take me about a day to get to Oaxaca, but then the residency will begin.

I've been looking at a lot of art in Spain, and normally I'd find it inspiring, or at the very least calming, but it's just freaking me out at the moment! Seeing all these amazing artists and suddenly feeling like I'm not going to be able to come up with an ounce of creativity when I arrive in Mexico, or wondering what on earth I think I'm doing when faced with the brilliance of what I've been looking at!

Oaxaca day one

Fast forward two days and I've made it to Oaxaca. The place we are staying is perfect. We each have our own space in a large shared studio, and while the two of us doing the instructional residency have a little more of a structured program, we still have a lot of time to do our own thing.

Today has been incredibly intimidating for me. Firstly, I'm stupidly jet-lagged, which isn't helping, but it's also clear I'm the least professional of the group. Mia, the NZ woman doing the instructional weaving with me, is more a mid-career artist which makes me feel very out of my depth.

My room for the next six weeks.

Oaxaca day two

After a very long sleep and a good talking to myself, I'm not going to focus on what anyone else is doing, or compare myself to the others. I'm here to develop my practice and project, and that's what I'm going to do!

Our first week is mostly for research – easing us into the program. Tonight we had a meeting with a local textile collector who showed us some amazing pieces and talked us through the type of loom we'll be working on, the different motifs used and what he looks for when collecting.

Tomorrow we have a personal tour of the Oaxaca Textile Museum and then later in the week we're visiting a number of villages where the residents specialise in various forms of weaving and embroidery.

Then next week, we're on the looms ourselves – I think this whole thing is going to work out just fine!