A Spring Fortnight in France
Et si on prenait le temps....This spring I had the amazing opportunity to participate in a two week artist residency in France. This is something I've dreamt of since I was a little girl just learning to paint along with Bob Ross.
This stunning 12th century chateau was our home during the residency and came complete with a private chef to prepare our dinners each night. The luxury of having unscheduled days to myself to create was made even more special by spending it in Chateau de' Cerisay. Located on 100 acres, three hours outside of Paris, the French country side spoke to me. Most days started with sunrise walks around the chateau while everyone else slept, then wandering outside down the country lane, coming back in to begin my painting work with coffee and croissants. I even painted them! (along with some of the yummy onions and garlic that seemed to make their way into every dinner)
Time and responsibilities slowed down allowing my creativity to expand! I focused on watercolor work while also experimenting with oil pastels (both easy to travel with).
There are so many fun, enlightening, engaging moments that I could share, and those come primarily because of the amazing women that attended the residency. Artists tend to spend a great deal of time working alone, yet yearn for community. Spending this much concentrated time working and having fun with 9 other exceptional, accomplished artists exceeded my expectations. My particular residency was multi-disciplinary. Our group included writers, photographers, musicians, singer-songwriters, painters, performance artists and even a rug hooking artist! Coming from the US, Canada and Australia, these women brought a diverse and unique brand of fun and learning.
In addition to working creatively we had the opportunity to attend several day trips and visits to nearby villages for shopping etc. I saw this phrase on a postcard in an antique shop..."Et si on prenait le temps". Google translates it to "and if we took the time." It stopped me in my tracks and I thought about this at length.
We spent our last evening together sipping wine and reviewing the work we had each completed during the residency. As a going away gift to each of the artists I created some bookmarks with that phrase on them. At the heart of it, that's what this residency gave to me. Time. Time to create. Time to rest. Time to experiment. Time to heal. Time to laugh.Time to explore. Time is our most precious gift.
We took the time to know each other. Strangers on day one, women from different parts of the world, with a variety of beliefs and backgrounds were united over art. It sounds cliche' but we laughed (a lot), we cried and we bonded over creativity. We took the time to see each other and become friends. Its truly difficult to articulate how much this time meant to me. We are still in touch, messaging and sharing information and artistic questions and accomplishments. And we hope to re-connect in some way soon via workshops or future trips.
Time spent this way is NEVER wasted. Quite the contrary, it is the most valuable thing you can give yourself. So if you ever have the opportunity....J'espere que vous prendrez le temps.