“It has been by far the most fulfilling experience of my life so far, which will continue to feed my creativity throughout my life.”

— Carmen Abdallah | Artist (EGY/CAN)

Woman with short black hair, wearing a black hoodie with white stripes, working on a craft project at an outdoor workbench with plants and colorful tree stumps nearby.

Creativity at the Edge of Silence

A month inside the AstroVan, in the volcanic quiet of Sete Cidades.

In the crater of Sete Cidades, time doesn’t pass — it settles. Days drift with the weather, silence folds around you like a second skin, and the landscape becomes less a place than a presence. This is the atmosphere that greeted Carmen Abdallah — born in Alexandria, Egypt, now based in Canada — the first artist to inhabit the AstroVan, before the project transforms into Crater’s Artist Residency. She is a ceramicist, writer, wanderer, and, in her own words, a “creative human” rebuilding herself after losing everything when her studio burned to the ground.

She arrived alone, carrying only the essential: a bicycle, a project stitched from poetry and lived encounters, and a quiet hunger for stillness. What she found was something she calls “a life-changing time capsule.”

“1 month, 1 small village, 1 van, 1 crater human,” she wrote. “Alone, immersed in excessive beauty, stillness in time and nature's powerful elements, life slows down and one is able to observe, absorb and feel life unfold… This is when creativity surfaces,” she added. And then, almost as if concluding a confession: “I carry this once in a lifetime experience like a life-changing time capsule in my heart that shifted my mindset forever.”

By Awaken Azores | Sete Cidades - 24.11.2025

Pictures by Awaken Azores and Carmen Abdallah

A person smiling and relaxing on the roof of a yellow bus, with a green, forested hillside and a blue sky with some clouds in the background.

A woman is taking a selfie in an outdoor setting with a table full of art supplies and sketches, a wall decorated with yellow flowers in the background, and a wall with an electrical meter.

A smiling woman with short dark hair and wearing a patterned bandana, black shirt, and necklace, standing outdoors in lush greenery, with a foggy landscape of trees and hills in the background, and reaching out toward the fog with her arm extended.

A woman sitting at a desk inside a cozy room with a window showing an outdoor yard. She is smiling, wearing a green beanie and a dark hoodie with white stripes on the sleeves. The desk has notebooks, a pen, and a decorative bowl, while the window ledge has a globe, a small sailboat model, and seashells. A mountain painting decorates the wall above.

Person sitting on a sandy beach near a lake with mountains in the background, wearing sunglasses, a headband, and a red shirt, smiling with a pen in her mouth.

The AstroVan — “an iconic presence with its travelling history” — became her shelter. Not as a retreat from the world, but as an invitation to stand closer to it.

The rooftop deck turned into her morning observatory.
The fire pit became a small ritual of warmth and grounding.
The outdoor studio, kitchen, and bathroom stretched her days into the open air.
The indoor atelier offered a companion for deep work when the fog curled in.

“I was literally outside most of the time,” she wrote.
“The van, perfectly thought-of with all its comfy details, became my home, my original safe space.”

During her residency, Carmen gathered fragments of her journeys — stories of strangers, landscapes, small gestures, and the quiet heroism of ordinary life — and began shaping them into illustrated narratives, the early architecture of a graphic novel born from wandering and loss. In Sete Cidades, these stories found oxygen. They expanded.

Here, creation happens not because the artist isolates, but because the island insists on presence. “The support and availability of Fred and Veronika was generous yet discreet and respectful, which allowed me to feel trustful and independent at the same time,” Carmen highlighted. The crater asks you to pay attention. The weather erases your plans. The cows cross the road when they want. And somewhere between rain showers and lake reflections, artists remember something essential: that slowness is not emptiness — it’s clarity.

“Through this experience,” Carmen wrote, “I was able to be creative, connect with people, be humbled by nature and discover a whole lot about myself.” And then she offered what may be the truest measure of any residency: “It has been by far the most fulfilling experience of my life so far, which will continue to feed my creativity throughout my life.”

She left carrying not just new work, but a recalibrated way of seeing.

The AstroVan Artist Residency (now the full house Crater’s Artist Residency) was created for these moments — the ones that shift something quiet and irrevocable inside. Each resident steps into the same landscape, but no one leaves with the same story.

See more about Carmen’s experience in the gallery below.

A woman smiling and reading a newspaper in a room with a colorful wall art background.

Carmen Abdallah.

Egypt | Canada

October 2025

AstroVan Artist Residency - Sete Cidades, Azores - Portugal

A woman with dark wet hair sitting at a dining table writing in a notebook inside a cozy camper with wood-paneled ceiling and walls, decorated with framed pictures, flowers, and string lights.

Allison Tanner.

New York | USA

July 2025

A woman is sitting at a wooden table inside a room with walls decorated with numerous framed pictures and artwork. She appears to be reading or looking at something in her hands. There is a window with sheer curtains behind her and a table lamp provi

Person sitting at a wooden table reading a book, illuminated by a small yellow lamp, in a dark room with colorful artwork on the walls.

A woman with short dark hair wearing a striped shirt and jean jacket sitting at a table, reading a book with colorful posters on the wall in the background.

A person writing notes in a lined notebook, with handwritten text visible on the pages, under warm lighting.

A person sitting near a campfire at night with a food truck in the background.

Person reading a book near a campfire at night with outdoor chairs and a small table in the background.

A person sitting on the ground outside near a campfire with a camper van in the background during nighttime. The sky is dark with some clouds and trees are visible.

A nighttime outdoor scene with a wooden structure that has a lantern, a fan, and a sink. There is a fire burning in the background with two small figures sitting beside it, and trees and a dark sky are visible in the distance.

A person with a striped shirt and orange hat sitting at a blue table, working on a laptop in a yellow-walled outdoor space with a blue bench and decorative bunting, seen from behind a yellow vehicle.

A woman wearing a striped shirt and a wide-brimmed hat sitting at a blue table, working on a laptop with an open notebook beside her. There is a red mug with dark beverage on the table. The setting appears to be indoors with yellow brick walls.

A person with long hair lying in a bed inside a converted yellow school bus, reading a book. The bus has the words 'ONE LIFE' on the back and a window sticker that says 'RELAX & CONFIA.'

View through a window showing a grassy yard with wooden pallets, a yellow vehicle, and houses in the background under a cloudy sky. Inside, a person is sitting at a desk with a lamp, reading a book.

A person walking through a lush green pathway with foliage on both sides, carrying a backpack and dressed casually.

Close-up of green leaves and white and blue flowers in the foreground with a woman walking in the background on a fall day.

A person with a backpack leaning on a wooden railing, overlooking a valley with green fields and rolling hills under a cloudy sky.

A person with a backpack standing among green bushes in front of a hillside covered with dense shrubbery, and a directional signpost with multiple signs in Portuguese pointing toward various locations, including Pico do Carvão, Seven Cities, Ponta De

A woman with long, dark, wavy hair standing outdoors on a grassy hill, overlooking a landscape with trees, mountains, and a body of water in the distance under a cloudy sky.

A woman with long curly hair wearing a black jacket and a large blue backpack standing in front of a sign that reads "Sete Cidades," with trees and dark clouds in the background.

A woman with short dark hair is standing in a shower with her eyes closed, rinsing her hair with water from her hands. The shower has patterned tiles, and there is a glass door and a wooden wall with a hanging plant on the side.

A woman stands outdoors near hydrangea flowers, holding a surfboard, with mountains and a cloudy sky in the background.

A woman lying on an outdoor bed reading a book in a backyard, with a coffee maker, a red mug, and a magazine titled 'Into the Wild' on the bed. There are other items including a smartphone, a hat, and a tablecloth with a tropical pattern.

A woman with brown hair tied back, wearing a light blue jacket, is sitting in a boat on a calm body of water surrounded by green mountains, looking towards the horizon.

Woman lying on a yellow cushion reading a notebook outdoors, with another person sitting nearby.

A woman lying on a black outdoor rug reading a book with her legs resting on a yellow pillow outdoors. She is wearing a striped shirt, jeans, and sandals. There is a small white table with a coffee pot, mug, and magazines nearby, and a straw hat on t

Person with dark hair sitting outdoors, reading a book during daytime, with mountains and a yellow brick wall in the background.

Person lying on a bed inside a cozy wooden camper, reading a book during the daytime with sunlight coming through the window.

A young woman with wet hair sitting at a table inside a cozy camper van, writing in a notebook, with books, plants, and colorful decor around her.

Close-up of a person's hand holding a piece of bread or a snack above an open handwritten journal or notebook on a wooden table. In the background, there is a red mug and some yellow objects, possibly food or packaging, near a window with blinds.

A woman with curly dark hair reading a notebook at a wooden table filled with snacks, a cup, books, and pictures, in a cozy room with wooden walls and a TV in the background.

A woman sitting inside a cozy wooden camper van, reading a book and holding a mug, with various decorative items and stickers on the walls and furniture.

A woman with dark, wet hair wearing a denim jacket is writing on a notepad inside a cozy, wood-paneled room decorated with plants, books, and warm lighting.

A bright orange van parked in a yard with a woman in a striped shirt and orange hat standing on its roof, working on the roof or installing something. There is a sign on the van that reads 'Astro Van Artist Residency' and a small white fence in front

A rural neighborhood with white houses, a large pine tree, mountains in the background, and a worker on the roof of a house in the foreground.

Overhead view of a yard with a yellow solar-powered food truck, outdoor seating, and a person sitting on a yellow cushion reading a book.

Aerial view of a backyard with a yellow and black camper van, a woman lying on a mattress on top of the van, and a garden with bushes and a pile of firewood. The yard is surrounded by houses with various roof styles.

Aerial view of a residential neighborhood with white houses featuring red-tiled roofs, parked cars along streets, a lake in the background, and green hills and trees surrounding the area.

A woman walking past a stone wall with pink and red flowers in the background, with trees and a house visible behind her.

A woman standing at a lookout overlooking a lush green landscape with rolling hills and a body of water, cloudy sky overhead.

A young woman with a leopard print headband and a backpack, standing outdoors near trees and hills.

A scenic view of a green river valley with lush hills and mountains in the background, and white and yellow hydrangea flowers in the foreground.

Signboard at São Miguel Nature Park indicating it is a protected landscape area in Portuguese and English, with trees and greenery in the background.

Scenic view of a large body of water surrounded by green mountains and cloudy sky, with white and light blue hydrangea flowers in the foreground.

Three women sitting outdoors overlooking a scenic landscape with a river, hills, and partly cloudy sky, surrounded by white hydrangea flowers.