Land Art

Inspired by the work of British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist Andy Goldsworthy, the local French artist, Christophe Eppe from St. Julien suggested doing a Land Art day with our residents and other locals. It was a lot of fun!

The photos were taken by Kerry and one of our residents Lynne Hollander . First up a slideshow:



And now a little explanation:

Lynne Hollander (in blue) and Kristal McMillan from Roquefere, puzzle over what should become a stone sphere.

The rest of the team are busy foraging for flat stones with round edges of all sizes.

La Muse residents Lynne Hollander and Jaclynn Gereluk (right) join neighbors Kristal McMillan (from Roquefere) and local artist Christophe Eppe (from St. Julien) in finding the perfect stone for each spot.

Meditative work, indeed!

Great work can't be rushed.

After realizing the sphere was starting to look like an egg, Kristal, Christophe and local French artist and sculptor Virginie Campagnie (from Miraval) undo the sphere in order to give it a rounder, more stable base.

Christophe's advice, "Don't rush!"

A new beginning.

La Muse co-owner/director Kerry Eielson lends a hand to Jaclynn, Katharine Whitcomb, Kerrie Maynes, Kristal and Virginie to make a broader base for a rounder form.

You can see what Katharine has about the getogether here and what Kerrie had to say about it here.

Essential for a sound structure: each layer has to be flat and solid.

Kerry, Jaclynn, Katharine and Virginie aim for a surface worthy of a meal.

Avalanche!

Our stone sphere "rolled" off its perch. No one was squashed.

We decided this would be a good time to break for our picnic, which was fortunately sustaining (chicken with prunes and olives, carrots, toasts, cheese, apples, oranges, chocolate, and coffee).

Turns out Land Art is pretty hard work!

We decided to let the stones lead the way, and build an egg after all.

"How about a really small egg?" said Katharine after lunch, in French to boot!

This is Kerrie and Katharine adding another layer.

Layers later, after working through sun, mist, rain and wind, Christophe and Katharine near the summit!

 An egg with a view...

Thanks for the great idea Christophe!

"Play Time"

We finally found some time to upload some photos from the art expo we had for two local French artists at the end of June!


Part of the show before people got into the atelier to see it.

The artists, who are married and come from the North of France, live in Miraval Cabardes, about three villages away from Labastide. They are:

Virginie Campagnie (with her little girl):



and, Sebastien Darroman:


Sebastien's the smiling guy in the white pants and black t-shirt - the white and black installation of circles on the easel in the corner, as well as the colorful circular one hanging from the ceiling above the man in the shorts and cap are some of Sebastien's work. They are all made out of hand carved wood and then painted, and people move them about as they pass through the exhibit.

Both Sebastien and Virginnie's work is all centered around the idea/concept of play, hence the title they gave to the expo, "Play Time."

Here's some of Virginnie's smaller sculptures:




Below is one of her acrobatic suspended sculptures. The sculptures are made out of wire and papier mache, then painted.

Below, is Jean-Pierre, in black, from Labastide, the droll waiter from the Sire de Cabaret down the road, who is probably telling those two ladies how much he loves them.

Virginnie's sculpture below was at the entrance of the studio and a lot of people got a great kick out of it.

That's Virginie, below, doing some face painting, with Max our baby-sitter, who's a French horse-whisperer.

Seamus, below, as a tiger!!!




John Clanchy, the Australian writer, pretending to be interested, as John talks about potatoes and the price of cabbage in Venezula.