I decided to apply for the Cwlwm Glaslyn project's artist in residence at Beddgelert because I'm an artist with environmental concerns and it was a potentially environmentally concerned residency. I was also attracted to the location and, as I'm Welsh by birth (Llansanffraid) I was interested in learning more about Welsh culture.

Such residencies usually break down into one third community orientated work, one third research and development and one third developing and creating your own work. It's important to research the history, natural history and culture of the area to ensure your ideas are appropriate for the area.

There are very few distractions on a residency - no friends knocking on the door - you can just disappear into your work for six months.

I worked a lot with the local school and we did a variety of things including a project on structures, like cob structures. Cob is an old building technique where you mix mud, straw, clay and sand. There's a way of mixing and packing it where it dries really hard for building. It's been reinvented as an environmental building method these days but it was also a way of the children learning about the way in which local houses and farm buildings were built in the past.

We also built a school sign - they didn't have one, partly because the teachers were too busy to sort out all the red tape associated with planning permission in a national park. So I sorted all that out and the children helped me design and create a school sign.

I also ran an art group, helped with creating some flower sculptures for the flower festival and held a noson lawen (variety show). I was lent a building and decked it out with hay bales and invited performers like the poet and singer Twm Morys to perform under the title of 'people and landscapes', the theme of my residency. It was all done through the medium of Welsh, with headsets for translation, and was a great success, especially the chat it generated afterwards which was really interesting.

The biggest piece of work I created was an eight foot sculpture on top of Aran Mountain, overlooking Sygun Copper Mine. I had done some research into the occupations of people in the area over the years and found out a lot about the men, but not so much about the women. I did discover however that women had worked in Sygun mine, dressing the stone and extracting copper ore. They worked high up on the mountain without much shelter and many died each year because of the harsh conditions. I found a few letters describing their lives in detail and I wanted to commemorate them - put the women back into the mountain.

I learnt dry stone walling whilst living in Beddgelert and used this skill to create a stone cairn skirt. I then placed a copper bodice on top to create the image of an empty dress which looks out across the valley. It's made of indigenous materials which are in and of the area, which was a symbol of my role as artist in residence.

I had such a fantastic time during my residency, it was totally brilliant. It was a bit lonely sometimes, but I loved the people and the area and when I left, I couldn't go back to London. After the beauty of the mountains I couldn't face the smoke of the city and I'm sorry to have left! I'd never dreamed of landscapes before, but I did when I left Beddgelert. It's had a massive impact on me and my work. I wrote a book, From Peckham to Paradise about my experiences.

Being an artist in residence is a great experience for your work as an artist. It is hard to organise - taking six months out of your life is a long time and it's not hugely well paid so you can't have much money at the end to get yourself back on track.

So it's a big commitment in lots of ways but personally I think it's worth it.