A Painters Journey

You may have read some of my short blogs that I posted while teaching in France this August. I was limited in the number of images I could upload because I was posting from my iPad. If you have the time, sit back and enjoy the expanded version of my stay at La Bonne Etoile, an artist's retreat.

The Village: It's located in a small farming town about an hour and half southeast of Paris, a region not visited much by foreign tourists. The towns are not remarkable as most of the old buildings front the narrow streets and give little suggestion of what lies behind the high walls.    

But here is what is behind the green metal gates of La Bonne Etoile, home of Atlanta native and artist, Kippy Hammond and her French husband Jerome Henrique!  

That's Chantal, an art conservator and friend of Kippy and Jerome who served as our model and meal server, descending the garden steps during our photo shoot one morning. There are many such gardens in the village, many home to people who work in Paris during the week. But since Fontaine-Fourches is a typical farming commune, its not unusual to find farm equipment parked behind the high walls just next door, or a modern tractor or harvester bouncing down the street at the end of the workday before turning into a hidden barnyard. In France, many of the farmers live in the village, which leaves the vast farm fields largely unencumbered by barns and outbuildings. Just a few minutes walk from our gates we could find views such as these and could paint there undisturbed.

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Every village has a church though most are only used on special occasions. Here's our village church which dates from the 12th century...still standing and the bells still ring!

One evening when the moon was full, four of us painted nocturnes while standing near some 18th century tombstones on the grounds of the church. It wasn't spooky, but strange to think of the changes that very ground must have seen during the 800 plus years that the church has stood on that spot. I imagined lots of mud, oxcarts, cooking fires, grass roofed huts...not the neatly manicured stone homes that ring the church now. Maybe I was imagining too much and not paying attention to my painting because it wasn't very good.

The studio:

Painting is what we were there for, so in addition to the terrific plein air opportunities, here is our studio: 

Its on the second floor, a modern addition  to the huge old barn, complete with motorized skylights and air conditioning. When workshops aren't in session, this is Kippy's studio, much like my studio in Easton. However, I find her still life objects gathered from the brocantes  (antique markets) of the surrounding area much more interesting than mine...but maybe she would say the same thing about mine? It was quite hot the second week but luckily the studio, with the addition of fans, was a nice place to spent the hottest hours of the day.

Meals: One word - delicious. Prepared by a professional chef, Marc Bosq,  and brought in each day for lunch and dinner, we were treated to a wide variety of French cuisine, all of it accompanied by plentiful glasses of the local wines. Here is Marc preparing a lunch for us on the day he invited the group to paint in his garden.

Excursions: For all of us, this was our first time to La Bonne Etoile so everything was new to us. One day we took the train to Paris

and visited the Musee D'orsay, the Orangerie Museum to see the huge Monet waterlily paintings, and the Sennelier store on the Left Bank, and explored the area behind the Louvre known as the Palaise Royale.

Another day we toured the incredible chateau Vaux-le-Compte and the town of Fontainebleau where we shopped in an antique market next to a beautiful carousel. 

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One day we painted in Moret-sur-Loire on the banks of the Seine where Alfred Sisley painted.

Another evening we drove to Sens to see a fantastic light show projected upon their ancient Gothic cathedral facade.   Quel magnifique! And sometimes we just enjoyed the local markets in the larger towns only 10-15 minutes away.

Some Funny Things :

French Sense of Humour  - a creative portico, obviously a car enthusiast.

Stubborn cows: We desperately wanted some photos of backlit cows, but these stubborn animals refused to come out of the shade. We called and whistled and coaxed with handfuls of fresh green grass from our side of the fence, but they refused to budge.  Finally, one took pity on us and went to stand on the outer edge of the shade for about 10 seconds so that we could get our photos . Of course it was in the high 90's that day so we couldn't really call them stupid cows....

An unaccompanied horse strolling down a village street: One morning when I went for a pre-breakfast walk, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw a horse ambling down the middle of the street with nary a human soul in the vicinity. Thinking this would be a great photo op, I quickened my pace. Just as I got within camera range it turned left and disappeared. Obviously, it had been following it's owner and was apparently so tame it didn't need a lead. But it gave me quite a start!

Miscellaneous village photos from top to bottom: The old mill (where they ground poppy oil), one of the four lavoir, or washing house,  where villagers would wash their clothes in the natural spring water, a village garden, and the road to the mill.

On the last night, Kippy and Jerome hosted a vernissage, or exhibition, of our work and invited friends and villagers to come admire, sip champagne, and nibble hor'doerves.

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It was a fun and fitting end to the two week artistic adventure and much enjoyed by all. Of course it was followed by another fantastic meal and this time Chef Marc and his wife, well-known and extremely talented fabrique designer, Agnes Handi , joined us. What fun! It was a short night for those who had early flights.

Members of this artist retreat came from Canada, Australia, Grand Cayman Islands, California, Texas and Maryland. Some were very accomplished painters, others were still improving their skills, some were experienced painting plein air while others were completely new at it. Everyone, including me, came to La Bonne Etoile not really knowing what to expect. I think , during this time, everyone grew as artists and I know we had a wonderful time getting to know each other. Kippy and Jerome are great hosts and do their best to make a stay at La Bonne Etoile comfortable, fun, delicious, interesting and....well, just a prefect retreat! I'm looking forward to another La Bonne Etoile Experience next September. Join me?