Therese Urbanska graduated from Coleg Menai in 2004 - one of the first graduates on the new Fine Arts degree course held there in partnership with NEWI Wrexham. She was the winner of the Young Artist Award at the Spirit of Llyn Art Competition 2004 with her work "Dacw'r Bwthyn Gwyn" in mixed media, she also exhibited at the 2002 Spirit Of Llŷn Exhibition, Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, Llanbedrog, and in 2003 - 2004, at Wrexham Open Exhibition, Wrexham Arts Centre.
She has since held numerous solo exhibitions throughout Wales, having a popular sell-out at Plas Glyn-y-Weddw in 2006.
Early in 2009, Tess was fortunate to be chosen to take part in the TIR project, which was organized by Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw, and she spent 10 weeks as a residential artist on Inis Oirr, one of the beautiful Aran islands off the West coast of Ireland.
There, she experienced extreme weather conditions which is typical of island life, and dramatic sky and seascapes became part of daily life

TIR Residency Report:

It was a really strange experience arriving at Inis Oirr. It was a really strange experience arriving at Inis Oirr.
When we left the main land it had been dusk, but as we travelled across the ocean on the little passenger ferry,darkness fell. It was a real venture into the unknown. I wasn’t even surewhether there would be anyone there to meet us at the end and whether we would even get off at the right Island in the dark! Darren and I were weary after our long day travelling with our daughter Lili, who was 10 and half months old at the time, and who, I might add, was wide-awake. I was almost dreading having to get off the relative comfort of the ferry and face the strong atlantic wind and dark night to undertake the last leg of the journey. I can remember the moment I stepped precariously off the ferry and onto the little pier of Inis Oirr with Lili strapped to my back. The wind was howling, and I could see very little, I just
remember being bustled along by American students and the odd local who all seemed to know where they were going. I had never in my life been more grateful than to see Anya’s friendly face, she come striding through the crowds and asked in the most beautiful Irish accent ‘ Are you Tess?’ I had left Darren with the luggage and she could see that we were all exhausted, ‘C’mon, we will take you and the baby first’ she said ‘hop in here’, So myself and Lili (in her rucksack!) clambered into the little electric Island bus, and Paddy and Anya drove us up through the little winding Island lanes the van headlights catching the myriad of stone walls and highlighting the odd Islanders cottages with their warm comforting glowing windows as we climbed the hill out of the village to our new home, Aras Eanna Art’s Centre. I know perhaps in this report I should be referring to how the adventure effected myself as an artist, but actually I think this residency had an impact on my family, my relationship, everything. It became more of a life experience that changed all of us as people not just as artists. Perhaps that sounds a little sentimental to those who are reading this, but my husband (to be) and I had had such and eventful 12 months, and little did we realise that this adventure would test our strength as a couple perhaps even more than having a newborn around!

Aras Eanna was an odd building, an old woollen factory that had been converted in part into an art centre and in part to a community centre and Cinema. It was also home to about half the Island population of Crows, who roosted in its eaves and we were their lodgers! Actually the abundance of wildlife is something that struck me about Inis Oirr, or, not even just the wildlife but also the abundance of farm animals and domesticated animals that shared the Island with the Villagers. There was something very solitary about some of them. In fact their solitude and seeming loneliness
reflected a lot of my own feelings for some of my time there. I seemed to find a comfort and sympathy with the odd little donkey that appeared around a corner and over a stonewall, with its sad and forlorn eyes (until it bit me! Ouch! (they can’t half bite). The animals were to feature a lot in my work. The studio was amazing. It was joined to our studio apartment by the tiny galley kitchen, and had a huge window that looked out across the Atlantic Ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see, only broken by the coastline of the middle Island, Inis Meain. This view became stored in my subconscious, the forever-changing sea and dramatic sky. The Islanders described the weather conditions, as being all four seasons within one day! I hadn’t had such an opportunity to paint since I had left
university. There were (appropriately in my case) not many distractions on the Island, other than the general day-to-day challenge of caring for our daughter and this meant I had the opportunity to really develop my own practice. I don’t think I really felt it at the time, but in hindsight the Inis Oirr residency was a huge turning point in my art, although perhaps not with the work I produced whilst on the Island, but certainly the work I produced after returning home to Pen Llyn, where I began to look upon my own environment with fresh eyes.

We made many good friends along the way. I had Irish lessons, and Darren went fishing, a lot! We experienced a
helicopter rescue, an Island funeral, our daughter turned one, we drank far too much red wine, and towards the end we actually started to feel part of Island life and its culture. We became quite familiar faces to the Islanders and them to us, and I hope they appreciated my terrible attempts at speaking their language! The warmth that they showed us and the welcome that they gave us will be things that I will treasure as part of my fond memories of our time on the Island.
I hope the work in the exhibition will help to give more of an idea of our time on the residency than I can in this report. I don’t think I have really done it justice in this, but then I am an artist and not a writer! I could have gone on and on about the endless inspiration to be found on the beautiful Island but this almost goes without saying, it is a stunning place and anyone who goes there, artistic or not, would be inspired by it. It was a truly memorable residency which I am extremely grateful to have been part of, and although the engagement ring came off a few times, I’m glad to
say we would all go back and do it again at the drop of a hat. Also, on another personal level, I am glad to report that Darren and I did get married in the following spring, so it has certainly become a shared memory and experience that has not only made me grow and mature as an artist but which has also strengthened the bond I have with my husband and my small family.