For painter Toby Rainbird, the 2025 Freelands Studio Fellowship at University of Brighton has been an opportunity to rethink what it means to work, teach, and paint in dialogue with others. His practice relishes the unpredictable nature of painting: moments of frustration and play, uncertainty and discovery. Within the university, his studio functions as both a private space for exploration and a shared site of exchange. Surrounded by students, mentors, and peers among the faculty, Toby embraces experimentation and risk-taking – reminding him that openness to mistakes, chance, and dialogue is generative to his painting practice.
Through tutorials, crits, and informal studio visits, Toby’s interactions with students have become an ongoing exchange of ideas. He shares how guiding others through their own challenges has mirrored his process of questioning and renewal, and the insights gained from teaching continue to loop back into his own work. The Fellowship has thus offered time and structure to reflect on the evolving role of painting – as both a solitary and communal act – while rooting him within Brighton’s wider artistic ecology. For Toby, the experience reaffirms that art-making is a shared pursuit: a conversation that continues long after the paint has dried.