Artist in Residence: Niki Groom
As part of our Emma Festival we were thrilled to be joined by super-talented reportage illustrator Niki Groom as our Festival Artist in Residence. Her background in fashion design made her the perfect person to capture the heady whirl of our annual Dress Up Day! Read on to learn all about her residency in her own words...This weekend I was transported back in time to the early 1800s with hundreds of Jane Austen fans who had gathered together to enjoy this year’s Emma Festival!
My role as Artist in Residence was to capture on paper the scenes that unfolded in front of me, as well as deliver workshops in Regency fan painting and Regency fashion design & illustration. It was a busy but really fun weekend, one of many planned by the House in the year that sees the celebration of 250 years since Jane’s birth.
I ran two workshops over the weekend. In the first we decorated our own Regency fans and it was great to see the variety of outcomes – some inspired by patterns in the house, some inspired by famous Jane Austen quotes.
Then my Regency fashion design & illustration workshop encouraged participants to choose a Jane Austen character they would love to create a costume for! Again the outcomes were varied and it was a real highlight to hear everyone talk about their character and why they were dressed in a particular colour or style.
On Saturday it was Dress Up Day, and people arrived in their finest attire ready to walk though the picturesque village and visit the house in which Jane lived. It was so amazing to see such finery! Beautiful empire line gowns, delicate parasols and the occasional top hat.
I especially enjoyed painting the dancers on the lawn. I always love to capture movement and energy, rather than try and replicate what a camera can easily document. I think it really expresses the joyful mood of the day.
All in all – it was a wonderful creative weekend, thank you to Jane Austen’s House for having me!
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As a result of this residency, we are delighted that one of the artworks that Niki created on site will now be accessioned into the museum collection. This is a wonderful painting of the Regency dancing in full swing – full of movement, colour and joie de vivre!
This artwork will go on display at the House and is also available as a print from Niki herself – find out more about Niki and buy prints here.Â