Catherine Moore

Tour of Historic Homes & Gardens ~ Spring 2013

This past weekend we had the pleasure of participating in a tour of historic homes and gardens in the neighboring towns of Sharpsburg and Newnan, GA.  While it may not have been the ideal day from the standpoint of weather, we had a great time sloshing around in the rain and were  grateful for the unique opportunity afforded us. Our thanks to the many volunteers who put this tour together!

My mother and I donning our umbrellas outside of The Magnolias Plantation home, circa 1829.  As a gardener, this house was the gem that made the extreme weather conditions worth braving the elements.  Not to diminish all the other beautiful properties, but this garden and federal style home are nothing short of spectacular!

We toured four historic homes in total, if you include our final stop at the 1859 Antebellum home where we lunched afterward.  We began our day in Sharpsburg at the Bailey Home, a Plantation Plain style house built in the early 1830s, which was painstakingly restored by it's current owner to its yeoman farm history.  The historical society put together some delightful demonstrations depicting how life once was on this property, and the Coweta County Master Gardener Extension Volunteers created a small sample kitchen garden, representative of one that would have provided year-round food for the family.

This primitive cabin is located on the Bailey property.

The kitchen garden.

The Bailey Home, circa 1830s

A pastel artist of the Bailey home on the porch captures the view of a neighboring home.

We arrive at the Magnolias Plantation, located at the end of a long wooded and very private, Magnolia-lined drive nextdoor to the Baily Home.

The Magnolia home was built between 1829 and 1833 for Dr. John MacFarland of Edinburgh Scotland, and remains one of Georgia's premier showcase Federal style homes. It was moved to its current location in 1997 and has been restored to the Federal style decor and landscape design.  The current owners were there to greet us and were the consumate hosts.  They employ one full-time gardener but it may just as well have been ten as the gardens were luscious and immaculately kept. 

View from the boxwood garden.

View of the boxwood garden from the Portico.

Plein air painter on the Portico.  

This garden wall separates the Magnolias Plantation home from the other home on the grounds.  This garden was beautifully conceived and made me appreciate the importance of structure in organizing space.  On the right side of the wall is the entrace to the cutting garden.

The cutting garden is actually where my video garden tour begins.  So, if you care to take a walk in the rain with me, that is where my walk will start.   And, you will hear the wind and rain as I wend my way through the garden pathways.  

 

 

I left The Magnolias Plantation home feeling inspired to add some new features to our garden.  Thank you for sharing your home and gardens with us.  I can't think of a better way to spend the day!

Our next stop was The Reese Home, circa 1856, on Greenville Street in downtown Newnan, GA. Unfortunately, as the rain began to come down much harder we did not have an opportunity to take photos.  We lunched at Something Special in an antebellum house located next door to the Reese home.  The lunch menu was typical southern fare of the era, and delicious!

Happy Spring!

It's been a very busy couple of months tending the Timekeeper's Garden, and before the heat of summer is upon us I thought it might be nice to share some of my spring flowers.  I have been wanting to do something fun with those little peat pots I see at the garden center and finally decided why not plant some of my new garden characters!  

What is it about spring that makes you want to clean. I never really understood this phenomenon when I lived in S. Florida but here in Peachtree City we enjoy all four seasons, and when the light changes I begin to see little details that escaped my attention during winter.  I just cleaned my kitchen window and oh what a lovely day we are having today.  It's spectacular and I plan to get on the other side of that window very shortly because this weekend it is expected to rain all day everyday.  Good for the earth, but perhaps not so good for all the Earth day activities we had planned.  

Now that I have my window sill free of the orchids that reside there all winter, I thought it might be nice spot to display a very different type of flower, some of the flower ladies from Timekeeper's Garden.  They were quite fun but I found I needed quite a few flowers to fill my pots and with all the fine detailed cutting, I decided that some new Studio Assistant dies would be a good idea.  And, with all the new dies in the works, it seemed like a good idea to redesign the web site to show them off. So, please take a minute and drop by to see all the changes and the new dies.  

As you know my son Ian re-designed my web site last summer before entering graduate school.  While I love the new more polished web site, I have to admit that losing total control of site design was tricky and I don't like to trouble him at school to make updates.  But, when he came home for Christmas he gave me a hands on web building tutorial.  Now he administers to all the highly technical things and I can add pages and make updates.  So my technical skills have also been updated!

Getting back to my spring flower show.  If you'd like to try your hand at some of your own, here are a few simple instructions to get you started:  Paint or collage the outside of the pots, then cut a piece of florist foam and instert it inside the lower half of the pot, and cover with floral moss.  Attach floral wire (the kind wrapped with fiber) to the flowers and characters, then insert them into the foam.  

The figures were stamped onto white cardstock with black ink (Tsukinkeo tuxedo black), the colored with Copic markers.  

It's a lovely day and I'm off to do some gardening.  Happy Earth Day and Happy Spring to you!

The Timekeeper's Garden

1/3/2013:  Update, production times are running behind schedule.  I am hoping for late January, but stay tuned for further updates. 

Fall Greetings!  

After a wonderfully busy summer, I returned to my studio a few weeks ago energized and ready to illustrate a new Character Constructions collection for 2013.  This year I really did not have a plan in place, but had this idea about flowers that I wanted to explore.  It's never a good plan to build an entire collection around one idea, so I decided to incorporate a hint of steampunk. Steampunk, seemingly, would be a good fit for me with its origins in the Victorian epoch, albeit for the garments which tend to be heavy, dark and masculine and do not align with my feminine sensitibilites.  But, alas, Louis Vuitton's fall Paris fashion show proved to me that it could also be a lot of fun.

I was particularly inspired by the costume accessories, magnificent hats, oversized bags, and those dramatic round eyeglasses. Merging steampunk with flower fairies was a challenge, balancing the hard and soft, the light and dark. So much so that initially I was designing two dinstinctly different character types, but as the story began to unfold the characters aligned and a title emerged, The Timekeeper's Garden.

The flower fairies and their steampunk counterparts are scheduled to arrive in Peachtree City in early January 2013.  

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

Prêt-à-Papier

I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer!  It's been a busy one for me.  Summers for some reason are always so hectic, and not the relaxed reprieve that I crave.  With all the changes happening in our home, with youngest son moving to NYC to attend law school, I have been busy cleaning, purging and reorganizing.  However, Dale was planning to visit Washington, D.C. on business last week and asked me accompany him.  As things have been so busy I did not take a minute to research or plan anything for myself during the times he would be working but I felt confident that there would be an abundance of options.

On the second day of our three-day sojourn, as luck would have it, I was enjoying breakfast and gazing out the window when I spotted a sign for the Red Door Spa located in the Willard Hotel across the street. Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to get a manicure to both get a closer look at the famous Elizabeth Arden spa and to heal the hands that have been so busy with household tasks all summer long.  During my brief wait in the "relaxation room," I picked up a magazine and found an advertisement for the Isabelle de Borchgrave exhibit, Prêt-à-Papier, at the Hillwood Estate.  OMG, my heart fluttered with anticipation.  This was a totally unexpected and rare opportunity to see something unique and beautiful that up to now has only been exhibited outside the U.S. (and as I learned at location in San Francisco).  The following morning I taxied over and spent a delightful 4 hours exploring the mansion and gardens.  

Isabelle de Borchgrave first came up on my radar when she published the book, Fashion a la Mode, the pop-up book of costume and dresses, and again when I discovered My Venetian Sketchbook. But it was her exhibitions in Italy, Fortuny and I Medici, that truly excited me and elevated her to icon status.  My friend Pat recounted the details of her exhibitions in Italy, and I swooned at the thought of the exquisite paper confections.  I never dreamed I would have the opportunity to attend such an exhibition here in the US.

My day began with a one-hour tour of the gardens.  During the tour I learned a great deal about the estate, which was once the spring / fall home to Marjorie Merriweather Post, who during her day was one of the richest women in the United States.  She had a passion for art and collecting and designed her home, purchased in the 1950s, to showcase and house those collections with the thought that it would some day be a museum. The garden tour afforded me the opportunity to learn a little of her history, as well as to calm down and work my way into the exhibition which is displayed throughout the mansion, visitors center and Adirondack building which is a special exhibition space.  This was the first contemporary art exhibit that has ever been held at the estate, but it was the perfect setting.  Six of the twenty-five dresses on exhibit were atually created specifically for Hillwood.  Marjorie Merriweather Post was once the wife of Joseph E. Davies, U.S. amabassador to the Soviet Union.  They lived in Moscow for 18 months during which time her collecting interests broadened to include Russian Imperial Art. Several of the dresses exhibited in the home were Russian themed. 

The Japanese-style Garden, this garden was designed to be zen like and I have to admit I fell under it's spell.  

But the French Parterre garden was my favorite.  Here is a view of it as seen from the bedroom window of Marjorie Merriweather Post

A view of the boxwood hedge inside French Parterre Garden.

The details of the white Carrera marble garden sculputures were so feminine and lovely, they were enchanting. 

Lovely terracotta garden sculputures welcome you into the to Parterre.

The entrance into the French Parterre felt a bit like the path into The Secret Garden.  Living "walls" enclose this formal garden, consisting of an open-weave wire structure onto which has grown English Ivy, and a variety of little songbirds were frolicking in and around it.

You have to love the Breakfast room, which feels a lot like being in the garden.

View of the Lunar garden from inside the breakfast room.

In honor of the exhibit, the table has been set with Venetian tableware.

But the breakfast room is meant to be a comfortable and less formal room for guests to enjoy breakfast, compared to the magnificence of the dining room:

The fresh flower arrangements were created with flowers grown in the estate's cutting garden.

One of the frist paper dresses I discovered!  The patterns are hand-painted. 

The home is vast and layered with exquisite furnishings, art objects and artworks.  I immediately realized that a person could spend a month on site and only scratch the surface of the first floor.  So, without further delay, I toured the mansion in search of the fabulous de Borchgrave costumes papier!  My favorite spaces in the mansion included the entry hall and grand staircase.  The portraiture and framing is exquisite, as is the quartz chandelier.  The dining and breakfast rooms were magnificent, and Marjorie Merriweather Post's private quarters with a view of the french parterre garden below was quite special in that it gave you a glimpse into the private realm of this woman who by all appearances led a fairy tale life. 

The large portrait in the center is of Catherine the Great.

The Countess Samilova dress was inspired by the portrait by Bruillov at Hillwood.

Russian Bridesmaid.

Now it's time to move to the Adirondack Building for the Pièce de résistance!

 

Even this sign is delicious!

This was truly a fascinating exhibit.  All I really know about the process is what I could see, and I left wanting to know more.  I have ordered to book so I may at some point post some additional details.  What I did learn from the audio tour is that the artist prefers everyday nonprecious papers, which she hand paints.  All the details on the dresses, hats, shoes and embellishments were made of paper and machine sewn.  I wonder if the artist herself constructs the garments or if she has a seamstress studio assistant. The workmanship of the sewing and garment construction looked flawless.  

I hope you enjoyed the show! 

 

 

Summer Sojourn 2012: Sanibel Island

Dale and I are recently home from Sanibel Island where we spent nine days shelling and chilling. The extended forecast called for thunderstorms every single day of our stay, but each morning when I pulled back the curtains in our room it was just another glorious sun-drenched day on the seashore.  

From a shelling standpoint, storms are actually a good thing as they wash in shells from deeper waters but even with calm seas there was an abundance of shells and we had no trouble finding the Sanibel Six, conchs, cones, whelks, tulips, olives and murex. Cones are typically more scarce but we came home with a large alphabet cone, three Florida cone shells, a nugmeg, a beautiful intact worm shell, and some very colorful scallop shells.  I also found this spectacular red finger sponge washed up on the beach.  

We did most of our shelling in the mornings, walking several miles on the beach, averaging about five to six miles round trip per day. After shelling we enjoyed a picnic under our beach umbrella, and caught up on our reading and napping.  

We have been visiting Sanibel for the last 22 years and we keep coming back because we dearly love the island. Sanibel is unlike any other Florida resort destination, with more than half its land, 5000 acres, a dedicated nature preserve and bird sanctuary. One of the things that also makes it unique is that unlike other barrier islands, Sanibel is positioned east and west of the mainland allowing for bountiful shell deposits.  For that reason, its gulf-rimmed beaches rank among the top shelling locales in the northern and western hemispheres.  I have always felt a spiritual connection to this island, possibly because I was raised on old Florida’s sun-drenched shores and spent all my time in and around water and Sanibel is still the Florida of my youth, vintage Florida.  Thankfully, native Sanibellans have done everything possible to keep it undeveloped and chaste.

There are plenty of ways to keep busy on Sanibel, but during our stays we tend to keep things simple. On this most recent visit, in addition to shelling along the gulf shore, we embarked on a couple of ocean explorations.  One evening we drove over to Southseas Island resort on Captiva a couple of hours before sunset for a relaxed evening cruise.  Dale captured the sunset and some of our experience on film just as the sun descended below the distant horizon.  We were afforded a sizzling array of carmine, coral and crimson but we did not see the ellusive green flash, maybe someday . . .

We also jet skied over to Cayo Costa island off Boca Grande early one morning. Being on jet skis was certainly more work than sailing.  However, it was a blissful day on a serene Gulf of Mexico and skimming across its waters was breathtaking.  On the trip over to Cayo Costa we were able to hug the shore and see some of the exclusive islands otherwise only accessible via boat or small plane.  On the way back, to avoid angering the fisherman who were anchored near shore fishing for red fish, we ventured a mile or more offshore.  That was certainly exciting!  It was high tide on our visit and the shelling was no better on Cayo Costa than on our beach, but I have heard that shelling at low tide is pretty good there so we'll be back another day.

When we were not treasure hunting along the shore or splashing in the Gulf, we also enjoyed visiting the shell shops. The most visible is She Sells Seashells, but the oldest on the island and my absolute favorite is Sanibel Seashell Industries which reads more like a natural history museum than a shop. There is not a question you can ask the owners that they cannot answer whether you are talking local shells or shells from around the world.  And, of course, there is also the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, which is a touchstone for shellers and we always make a point of visiting when we are on the island. Tower Gallery, an artist cooperative gallery, is another favorite spot.  We have been collecting pieces from Tower for ages and I was delighted to find Katie Gardenia using Character Constructions in inventive ways.  

Shelling on our beach (West Wind Inn) is so amazing that we have never bothered to shell anywhere else but we decided to be a bit more adventurous this time and shell at Blind Pass.  The photo postcard below gives you a bird's eye view of Blind Pass, which is the passage between the islands of Sanibel (below) and Captiva. There is a dangerous current travels between the islands from the bayside to the Gulf of Mexico.

(Blind Pass)

In addition to shellers, fisherman seem to love the island as well. The day we visited there were fisherman on the bridge as well as posted along the shore.  A large brown pelican, also a fisherman, was standing there with them just like one of the guys! (I think he has hoping for donations.) On the other side of the pass, on Captiva, there was a man preparing a makeshift alter for a sundown wedding.

Actually the wedding at Blind Pass was one of two weddings that we witnessed.  The other was on our stretch of beach, also at sundown, just three people, the bride in a gauzy white dress, her groom, and a woman officiating. Dale laid an offering of shells at their feet as we passed them on our evening stroll.

Thank you for visiting.  I hope you enjoyed a taste of Sanibel. If you decide to plan a visit, you might consider coming during the 76th annual Shellabration March 7 - 9, 2013. 

Georgia Tech Spring Commencement 2012, Highest Honors

Our youngest son Ian graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology this past weekend with "highest honors."  It seems like only yesterday that we moved him into his freshman dorm, but it's been nearly four years.  I asked Ian if it went fast for him and he told me "it felt like a lifetime ago."  

We are so proud of all that Ian accomplished at Tech, straight As (okay one B), two semesters of co-oping, and so much more. Co-oping, technically speaking, is taking three semesters off (usually every other semester) from academics to work in your field.  Ian spent two semesters researching at the GA Tech wind tunnel research facility here in Georgia, as well as at NASA in Mountainview, CA.  It was during his time at NASA that he gained insight into the complex relationships between disparate private sectors of the aerospace industry working hand-in-hand on government projects. Each party contributing to the whole while protecting their individual inventions / intellectual property.  He returned from California inspired to combine his training in aerospace engineering with intellectual property law.  In order to begin law school in the fall, he had to study for and take the LSATs while taking 19 credit hours last semester. Ian will enter law school in the fall at NYU.

We are so proud of him, but it was not all work and no play.  I am thankful that he took time to have some fun too.  He and two childhood friends spent several weeks over their winter break touring Europe. They took on a very ambitious itinerary, beginning in Dublin, travelled on to Amsterdam and then Munich where they spent Christmas before travelling on to Barcelona for New Years, followed by a visit to to Paris before returning home completely exhausted. 

During his time at Tech Ian also developed an interest in web site development while working on class projects. Consequently, web site development and coding are his "hobbies."  So, guess what Ian asked me if he could do this summer?  He wants to help me to modernize my web site.  You can get a peek at what we've been up to here:  www.CathWrenMoore.com  It's fully functional, but we won't go live on the Character Constructions domain until we get it all ironed out. Oh did I need this!!  My old site, which I built on ItsMySite ten years ago, uses very outdated table formatting technology which is very limited.  It's served me well. I am so excited about all the new opportunities on the horizons, and especially for my sons who have always made me so proud of them.  

 

 

Oklahoma City Travelogue, part 2

While visiting OKC, one of the things that most amazed me was the local talent!  The paper dolls submitted in the Paper Crown Valentine contest just blew me away. And the caliber of the classes taught by Jackie Peters at Paper Crown and Lisa Bruno at My Heart's Fancy are exceptional.  In fact, I was so mesmerized by all the eye candy that I was not even taking photos.  Thankfully Jackie shared her photos with me (see my previous post), and Lisa Bruno was kind enough to send me some pics of some of her Character Constructions projects which are now posted below.  Thank you Lisa!

Oklahoma City Travelogue, Spring 2012

Here I am face-to-face with the newly styled Girdie at Paper Crown in OKC!  Can you imagine a more exciting time for a visit?  My friend Jackie Peters only just completed the re-styling of her famous larger-than-life paper doll, Good Grief Girdie!  And, she just happens to be dressed in Beekeeper's Tea from head to "toe".  A visit to Oklahoma has been on my wish list for some time, so in early January while my friend Lana Kloch and I were having a phone chat discussing the possibility of a joint art adventure it occured to us that this was just the place.  We both visited Jackie's blog, also named Good Grief Girdie, and decided there could not be a more perfect time.  Jackie had recently posted a new paper doll class using my latest collection of stamps, Beekeeper's Tea.  In a matter of 24 hours we were both booked on flights to OKC, and it was all a big secret.  I wanted to just stroll in and surprise Jackie and Cindy (owner of Paper Crown) but a couple of days before my arrival I decided to give Jackie a call and let her know we were coming, hoping she might have some free time to get together during our stay.  Jackie is such a warm and generous friend and did not hesitate to take on the role as hostess. 

So, on our very first day in OKC we took part in a paper doll class with Jackie at Paper Crown.  I cannot tell you what a pleasure it was to just be there and not be working.  It was heavenly, and I sat there for a good long time just relaxing and coloring and cutting out doll parts.  I cannot even remember the last class I took.  And this was something truly special.  If you have not already done so you really need to check out Jackie's blog to see what I mean. The project was beautiful, the class was impecibly organized and was also accompanied by a tea. And this is pretty much standard operating procedure for Jackie's classes. 

Here are all the lovely ladies who attended class that evening.  That's Jackie up front between Lana (left) and myself on the right.  This was such a friendly and fun loving group of ladies, we could not have felt more welcome. Thank you Cindy for taking our picture, but I sure wish you were in it too.  On our next visit we'll make sure you're going to be in town.

Jackie and I

Here are a couple of pics of the tea party that Jackie prepared for the class! Yes, she does this for each of her classes and makes the prettiest name tags for everyone.  We are all wearing teapots with our names spelled out beautifully in the prettiest calligraphy.

Relaxed and really into my coloring.  I was in the zone.

My friend and travel companion, Lana Kloch.

Thank you Jackie for a delightful evening of coloring, cutting, and creativity.  And for the divine spring tea party!  

The following morning Jackie met us back at Paper Crown and took us on a tour of OKC, which included a visit to the new Anthropologie, and lunch at Republic a new gastro pub.  Our friend Lisa Bruno had been teaching all morning at My Heart's Fancy but was able to meet us for lunch!  This is a fun place, great energy and yummy food.  I tried out a mini selection of beers called Abbey Road and had the vegetable crepes which were delicious.  Lana shared some of her fish & chips which were also very good, but the Ahi Tuna Tartar was my favorite!

After lunch we visited My Heart's Fancy!  Lisa and Maura (owner of My Heart's Fancy) have been CC devotees for many years and I was so excited to finally meet them and visit them in Edmond, OK.  I am always amazed that there could be two such wonderful shops in one community, and two of the most talented teachers as well.  I can't wait to get back again.  Thanks so much for your friendship and hospitality!

Catherine, Lisa, Maura and Lana at My Heart's Fancy in Edmond, OK.

Thanks Jackie for sharing all your great photos, and for these photos of Girdie that you sent me when you didn't know I was coming.  XoXo

Merci, au revoir!

L * O * V * E

In the realm of paper arts Valentine's Day is probably my absolute favorite holiday of all, but it also happens at the tail end of a very busy period in my life and I rarely find the time to make Valentines.  That doesn't seem to stop the paper confections from arriving in my mailbox.  For which I am so very grateful, truly I am, because I love Valentines !   But, I am not comfortable accepting all these lovely offerings without proferring one of my own from time to time if not in February then some time down the road I will surprise you.

This year I did manage, just barely, to put a Valentine doll together. In fact, I finished my Valentines just minutes before the post office closed and made a mad dash to get them posted.  I wasn't alone, however, the lot was full and there was a line spilling out the door of the post office.  With all the rushing about, I didn't manage to even take a photo!  Thankfully, my friend Jackie Peters had a nice pic on her web site which I have captured:

If ever there was a way to gain some insight into what thoughts are tumbling around in my mind, all you ever need do is observe what's happening in my studio.  My Valentine was more than a little maternal. Our sons have so many exciting things happening in their lives right now, my heart is full.  I hope you enjoy her!

Instructions:  I stamped the bottom of the love letter dress from Bird & Bee Paperie onto dotted paper, then stamped the top of the dress and face from Beekeeper's Tea on the same paper.  The apron I cut freehand.  The small doll is also from Beekeeper's Tea, and the legs are from French Laundry. I stamped my message (which could be anything that fits the occasion) onto the apron and attached it with some foam tape to give it a little extra dimension.  And the rest is just embellishments such as ribbons, lace and some heart confetti.  I constructed about nine of them, so to save time I used dies from my Studio Assistant line of dies to cut out the face, dress top & arms, as well as the legs and small doll.  

Calendar Girls 2012

Bonne année everyone!  Yes, I know it's March but it's been such a busy year for me so far.  The beginning of each new year (and the end of the former year) is all about the design and production of a new image collection for Character Constructions.  It's a more involved process than you might imagine and there is a long list of tasks to complete from conceptualizing and illustrating a new "story," to typesetting the plates in preparation for manufacturing, designing a catalog supplement, web site updates and working up new print advertisements, all in hopes of having a finished "product" available in January. I suppose when I choose to release a new collection is arbitrary but with most everyone eager to get their year off to a creative new start, new art tools are essential (don't you think?).  Once the new stamps are available things tend to get even busier for a while (well hopefully they will). Until, finally, a moderate pace settles in by late February / early March.  

With so many administrative tasks to complete, it's a wonder that I manage to get into my studio during those busy months at all.  But, thanks to Chris Capista, this year has been somewhat different.  That and the fact that I am making a concerted effort (New Year's resolution) to find some balance.  So sprinkled in amongst all the "have to dos," have been some things that I chose to do just for the pure joy of doing them.  

Late last year when Chris wrote to say that she would like to organize a 2012 Character Constructions calendar collaborative, it would have been so easy to pass but instead I embraced the challenge and invited some special friends to participate.  And, viola, in the midst of the madness of the holiday season we designed a dreamy 2012 calendar which I am so pleased to finally share with you:  

* Miss January * Lana Kloch

* Miss February * Jackie Peters

* Miss March * Lisa Guerin

* Miss April * Connie Fong

*Miss May * Chris Capista

* Miss June * Laura Haviland

* Miss July * Teresa Gifford

* Miss August * Linda Warlyn

* Miss September * Catherine Moore

* Miss October * Lisa Bruno

* Miss November * Barbara Smith

* Miss December * Gabistella

I hope you enjoy our calendar pags as much as we did. It was so exciting to find each of the twelve pages arrive one by one in our mailboxes earlier this year.  

Thanks so much Chris for the inspiration, and to all the Calendar Girls for accepting my invitation!

The Beekeeper's Tea

Tip your cup with your pinkies up.  You are invited to attend The BeeKeeper's Tea coming in early January 2012.

 

 
"How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour,

And gather honey all the day From every opening flower."

Isaac Watts

 

France Travelogue: Chapter III

Bonjour Madame:  Journaling the Journey

Bonjour Madame!

I decided to call my Paris workshop Bonjour Madame because I wanted to emphasize language and communication. Overall my experience has been that French people speak considerably more English than we speak French, but it hardly takes any time at all to learn a few French pleasantries, such as bonjour (good day), pardon (pardon me), s'il vous plait (please), merci (thank you), and au revoir (goodbye).  To that end, I included in everyone's workshop kit a set of French phrase stamps to use in their journals, as well as a set of an old type face to add a few phrases of their own.  I also chose the title Bonjour Madame because it has a sense of whimsy about it! 

During my two-week stay in France, I found French people to be quiet and reserved, as well as approachable, friendly and welcoming.  After returning home I found myself almost saying bonjour at the grocer or when meeting with friends, as I did in Paris where every encounter was completed with merci au revoir. 

A Color Story

My plan for this visual journal was to create a color story.  My journal is divided into four color chapters.  I always create chapters in my journals so that I do not feel compelled to work front to back.  And, I like to use anything but white paper, which immediately eliminates that glaring blank white canvas.  Everyone was asked to chose a color scheme and arrive with paper for four signatures in their chosen color palette, as a jumping off point.  Along the way, my color chapters evolved to be more about juxtapositioning colors. 

Because Paris has been a recurring theme that I have played off of in illustrating Character Constructions, it seemed fitting to give figures center stage in this workshop.  I designed a kit that contained all the collage elements needed to develop characters large and small.  As an illlustrator of art stamps, I carried over that methodology, and supplied my workshop participants with the tools they needed for personal expression. I gave everyone a kit that contained enough material for 20 or more journal pages and dozens of characters.  This worked out well as it gave everyone the ability to work at their own pace and to continue to journal their stories later back in their own studios.  And, to give our Bonjour Madame mascot something to cover her sweet little head, I also designed a series of six hats and demonstrated some of my embellishment techniques working with paper, string and ribbon.

In addition to characters, I developed some other illustrations for journaling, such as a chiffonier with lots of little drawers that could actually hold things.  In Paris, we visited boutiques where materials were stored in old cabinets and drawers, and I thought it would be fun to mirror that on the pages of our journals.

(This page contains the chiffonier I designed, as well as the fish that I found at Tombées du Camion, and some items that were in the shared pile such as the little clown that I altered to allow him to ride the fish.  The houses in the background were also in the shared pile. The women on bicycles are from the Mannequin Cafe collection.)

And, because we were living "like Parisiennes" in our Paris apartments, I also designed a couple of different apartment illustrations for use in our journals. I crafted the workshop similar to the way I design a stamp collection, with imagery to illustrate our personal stories. 

(One of two apartment illustrations I designed. Our apartment was on 13 Rue Beaunier.)

In addition to the collage materials in the kit, I asked everyone to bring some collage material from home, along with some to share.  I found some serendipitous imagery in that shared pile, as well as in the petit reins (little treasures) discovered on our daily outings.   

Last year Barbara Smith and I went to the flea in Mt. Dora, Florida, where she introduced me to the Polaroid pogo printer.  You just plug your camera into it and chose the photos to print, and viola it prints these tiny little photo stickers.  This was so much fun of course I had to have one and brought it along so that we could incorporate photos from our daily explorations into our journals.    

This page contains Merry-Go-Round paper that I discovered in Michaels and included in the kits, as well as one of those little Pogo photos of the Metro (bottom right).  On the left, is a Polaroid transfer of a merry-go-round, my contribution to the shared collage material. I printed a whole series of transfers using vintage Paris slides. Merry-Go-Rounds were a common feature in Paris parks and other public places.

Black and white images like these formed my first impressions of Paris as a young woman, which carried over into illustrations for the Mannequin Cafe collection. Both of which had a place in my Paris visual journal.

(A sweet gift from a friend that arrived on the eve of my journey. The note says take me with you, so I did!)

(The La Mere Catherine graphic was actually copied from a plaque, a gift from a fellow traveller that is now a part of my story.)

 

I printed information about the fashion exhibition at Versailles onto this dressform.  Another inventive way to add texts to a visual journal.




I am always looking for inventive ways to incorporate texts onto my visual journal pages.  Here I found an old Underwood typewriter graphic and a free Underwood font online!

This page details some of the hats and hat embellishments that I experimented with.  It's a great way to give a 2-dimensional paper element some texture. You cannot appreciate the texture in this photo, but the hats were created with suede paper.   The embroidery patch in the upper right corner was a Paris find from La Drogerie.  

The figure on the right was embellished with ribbon that wrapped a patisserie purchase, and the hat is embellished with feathers discovered in La Drogerie. This page and the last one in my journal are in a pink palette, a nod to Versailles and Marie of course.  

This is my final entry, created after the journey to incorporate a delicate piece of ephemera from Laduree which was also a gift from a friend.

And, Viola, all the signatures are sewn into place!

As you can see, I am very particular about the materials I choose. Every element used so far is meaningful in some way to my story.  I have incorporated a lot of materials that were given to me by friends who supported my dream to lead a workshop in Paris.  

Thanks for stopping by!   

France Travelogue: Chapter II La Côte d'Azur

After my Bonjour Madame workshop & retreat in Paris, Dale and I flew to the south of France.  I literally chose our destination by zooming in on the location with Google maps. Dale and I were married outdoors on the seashore and more often than not find ourselves gravitating back to coastal waters, and that is how we found ourselves on la Côte d'Azur."  Incroyable, Sensationnel, Magnifique!

We arrived early on a Monday morning craving a little rest and relaxation, but as our room was a few hours from being ready, we immediately found ourselves wandering. We wandered down the Promenade des Anglais in the direction of vieux ville (old town).  We had no itinerary whatsoever, just a wish list. On that wish list was a visit to the flower market in vieux ville along the Cours Saleya.  As it turns out, however, Monday is flea market day, the only day when there is not a flower market.  Unlike the dark back street where the Marche aux Puces de Porte de Vanves is held in Paris each weekend, the Course Saleya, is a capacious pedestrian avenue positioned amid ochre buildings illuminated by the Provencal sun, lined with beautiful boutiques, cafes and galleries. The booths artfully presented, the sellers friendly and the prices fair. After a couple of hours of exploring the market, we were hungry and found ourselves seated outdoors in front of Restaurant La Cambuse.  The menu was a reminder that we were not in Paris anymore, and I selected a seafood risotto that was delicious and brimming with prawns, crayfish, mussels and tentacles.  One of the really wonderful things about eating in a cozy cafe setting, is that you meet the nicest people and we had the pleasure of dining alfresco with a lovely Australian couple.  In fact, we met quite a few Australians in Nice.  The Australian economy is booming, their dollar strong, and viola there were many vacationers from down under in Nice! 

Restaurant La Cambuse in the Cours Saleya

We found it so easy to get around in NIce.  For a single Euro you can take the bus to all the neighboring cities along la Côte d'Azure, Monaco, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Ville-Franche-Sur-Mer, Beaulieu-sur-Mer.  So, on day two we decided to explore the medieval hilltop village of Èze.  Èze is situated on a cliff 1,401 feet above the Mediterranean sea, and is surely one of the most beautiful places we have ever visited. We wandered the serpentine cobbled passage through the village all the way to the top, and found ourselves in the clouds at the Restaurant Chateau Eza. Chateau Eza was once the winter getaway of the Swedish royal family from 1923 until 1953; today it's a hotel. We had lunch on the terrace perched on a cliff overlooking the Riviera and azure sea below, literally among the clouds.  And the meal was equally breathtaking in every way, and I cannot recall ever having had better service.  For dessert we tried a local specialty, a Provencal dessert that incorporated strawberries, figs, rosemary and olive oil, and it was luscious. I will apologize in advance for overuse of the word luscious, it's unavoidable. 

Lunch in the clouds at Chateau Eza

Dale's salad at Chateau Eza with edible flowers

My pumpkin soup and flower garnish

We also dedicated an entire day to visiting a few of the many museums in Nice. Admission to all but one, Musee Chagall, is free.  We caught the 22 bus just a half block from our hotel which took us directly to both to the Musee Chagall, and later to the Musee Matissee and the Archaeological museum which are on the same site. At the Chagall museum we saw the painting Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel (Marriage at the Eiffel Tower), which a few years ago inspired a painting I did to commemorate our 25th wedding anniversary.  Lovers and weddings were frequent subjects of Chagall, and I am an ardent fan of this bright Chagall color palette. We didn't see so many paintings at the Matisse museum but there were a number of collages and a series of ten or so whimsical mermaid sketches. The archeological museum is actually on the site of the ruins of the ancient city of Cemenelum and just behind the Musee Matisse. 

Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel, by Marc Chagall

As I was arranging these photos it struck me as odd to juxtapose these images of carrousels, ruins and museums in this quaint neighborhood setting.  I suppose this is one of the reasons that we enjoy visiting Europe, the layers upon layers of history that are a part of everyday life. This park was full of neighborhood people with their children enjoying the day.  

My favorite of the many quaint carrousels we saw throughout our visit to France. This one is circa 1900. The rose colored building in the background is the Musee Matisse.

Musee Matisse, all of the architectural details were trompe-l'œil. The patina was real, however, and quite beautiful.

One in a series of whimsical mermaid drawings by Matisse.

Ruins of the ancient city of Cemenelum.

View of Matisse Museum in the background of ancient ruins of Cemenelum.

Dale could have spent the entire day wandering the ruins of this ancient city, but we did eventually travel on to the MAMAC, the modern art museum.

"Foire aux Puces" 1984 by Daniel Spoerri

At MAMAC we discovered a retrospective of the work of Niki de Saint-Phalle, a self taught painter and sculptor, who used unconventional objects in her work.  Early in her artistic life she was not entirely appreciated nor respected, but that would not have been the case today.  There was also this fabulous assemblage by Daniel Spoerri entitled Foire aux puces (1984) which captured the magic of the flea market in objects that I particularly like.  Another favorite sculptural piece was Vestito Blu (2005) by Italian artist Enrcia Borchi, a blue dress elegantly sculpted from recycled plastic water bottles.

Vestito Blu (2005) by Enrica Borghi

Dale on the roof of the MAMAC, a great spot for getting photos of Nice!  I took this photo from inside the museum.

View from the roof of the MAMAC.

Exterior view of MAMAC.

We enjoyed one glorious sunny morning after another, so we decided a picnic was in order and walked over to the marche on Cours Saleya to see the flower show and to gather fresh foods for a feast.  We selected salami, pate, chevre, Roquefort, olives, cherry tomatoes, bread, palmiers and strawberries. Then we caught the 82 bus and were on our way to Cap-Ferrat. There we spent the first couple of hours touring the Ephrussi de Rothschild Villa and Gardens. This rose colored seaside villa was built by Baroness Béatrice de Rothschild in 1905 and was constructed in the style of a Venetian Palazzo. We were enchanted by the villa and its nine perfectly manicured gardens. The gardens were conceived in the form of a ship, designed to be viewed from the loggia, with the sea visible on all sides. Rockers have been strategically placed on the loggia so that you can sit and enjoy the effect of floating upon the sea.  We shared an all too brief glimpse into the private world and whimsy of the wealthy baroness. I want to know more, but could find no biographical reading material on the baroness.

Entrance to Villa.

View of French Garden.

Inside the villa, looking through to loggia.

I fell in love with this wood carved figure on the loggia.

After our tour of the villa, we walked in the direction of the village to find our picnic spot. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn and ended up in a residential area.  It would have taken us hours and hours to find our way into town from there, had it not been for the kindness of a stranger who discovered us wandering through her neighborhood and offered a ride into the village.  She dropped us off right in front of L'epicurien wine shop. You just have to marvel at serendipity sometimes because this outing could have gone seriously wrong.  We discovered another amiable local at L'epicurien.  DJ helped us select a bottle of wine for our picnic and we enjoyed the wine along with our picnic in DJ's dockside cabana.  Cap Ferrat is well known for the many celebrities who have homes there, such as members of U2, Tina Turner and others.  DJ said that he had met all the members of U2 and described them as "gentle."  We found DJ to also be a gentle soul. After a relaxed picnic among the yachts of Cap-Ferrat, we said our farewells to DJ and off we went to find the 82 bus back to Nice.

Picnic on Cap-Ferrat

On the way to our hotel that evening, we stopped along Rue Massena, a pedestrian avenue that we traversed during our daily outings, for a simple dinner at La Pizza Cresci.  We had the most heavenly, beautifully presented meals throughout our journey, and the pizza that emerged from the oven at La Pizza was no exception, due in large part, I think, to the cheeses.  A simple green salad, freshly baked pizza and a bottle of Orvieto Classico, were all that we needed to embrace a little joie de vivre!  And, once again, we had the good fortune to be seated next to a friendly couple, from Northern Ireland.  They told us that Northern Irelanders are known for being friendly, and they were indeed very nice and we passed the time pleasantly with them over pizza.

The next day we decided to visit the Le Château (or "the castle" as it was commonly referred to).  The castle is actually a high rock bluff overlooking old town and the Mediterranean. The castle that was once there was blown up in 1706, but it is a dazzling plateau from which to view la Côte d'Azur, and the adjoining parc du château was peaceful.  Here we found lots of locals enjoying the parc, reading, relaxing, and picnicking in the beautiful Provencal sunshine. We could also see people swimming below in the crystal clear azure sea. There was a spectacular cascade (waterfall) in the park and more ruins to explore.  We wandered and relaxed and spent a pleasant few hours here.  

la Côte d'Azur with old town on the right

 

The cascade at the parc du château 

mosaic on a wall in the parc du château near ruins

Architectural detail on building near ruins. 

Our location in Nice was perfect.  We were a mere two short blocks from the Promenade des Anglais and the pebbly Nice seashore, and central to everything else.  There was an abundance of little markets and restaurants. I had my first moules et pomme frites at Brasserie Le Jockey right on Meyerbeer a block from our hotel, as well as my first marmite de poissons en bouillabaisse. It was a simple earthy little brasserie. The service was friendly and the food was decent, and they seemed to get a kick out of me sampling the local specialties while Dale watched.  We had everything we needed to get our day off to a good start, cafe creme and pan au chocolat, and luscious Nutella croissants that were worth every buttery morsel! Our neighborhood boulangerie was the Artisan Boulangerie Dalpozzo, named after the street it resides on. Each morning Dale would make his rounds, first to the bakery, then off to LouLou on Meyerbeer to get our cafe cremes from the twin brother owners.  The friendliness of everyone in our neighborhood made us instantly feel at home and welcome.  By the end of the week, we were starting to feel a little homesick but we were sad when we had to say our goodbyes.  

Villa Massena is a beautiful neoclassical Italianate villa built in 1898 that we visited on the Promenade des Anglais just a short walk from our hotel. It once belonged to the Massena family. André Masséna was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

 Place Massena, an expansive square that we fell in love with.

Those figures at the tops of the posts were lit at night.

Merci au revoir!  We I hope you have enjoyed a little slice of Nice vicariously through our eyes.

Fall 2011: France Travelogue, Chapter I.

Bonjour Madame, workshop & retreat

Monday, September 26, 2011, we arrive in Paris!

On the evening of our arrival in Paris, there were two moments that would set the tone for our week in Paris.  The first of which occurred as we enjoyed aperitifs in our apartment.  To honor this very special occasion, my husband Dale had prepared a toast, in French no less. "A cet instant, et les moments à venir!" (To this moment and moments yet to come!) And, there were many many wonderful moments to follow.

Dressed to the nines and ready for our night on the town!

Thanks Steve for sharing all those great photos you took!

 

CITY OF LIGHT

Paris has a myriad of nicknames, but she is most famous as "La Ville-Lumière" or the city of light.  And, as such, it seemed only fitting that we spend our first evening in Paris drifting dreamily upon the Seine river illuminated by her sparkling iconic monuments. As we glided serenely, a violinist strolled amongst our tables and a solicitous staff served course after delicious course, the the first of many feasts we were to luxuriate in over the week.  But alas, after several hours, our cruise ship on the Bateaux Mouche made it's final tour of the Seine and glided back to the docks at the Port de la Conference.  On shore, our taxis awaited and whisked us away on a daring race back to the apartments in the Petite Montrouge neighborhood where we would live our lives as Parisiennes over the ensuing week.  This wild ride was momentous in that our week in Paris would be anything but tame.  Let the adventure begin!

 

W-A-N-D-E-R-ing

The following day, as with the days that followed, we encountered cool mornings, warm sunny afternoons, and not a drop of rain. Un grande merci Paris!  We took the first of many daily rides from our neighborhood metro, line 4, Porte d'Orleans, to destinations throughout the city. On this particular day, it was the Abbesses station, one of the few remaining Hector Guimard art deco-style entries, and as we can attest to, one of the deepest in Paris at 36 meters (118 feet).

We explored two neighborhoods in the 18e, Les Abbesses quarter and Montmartre's Place du Tertre. Just outside the metro we arrived at Place des Abbesses, the neighborhood's nucleus.  There we discovered one of the many quaint merry-go-rounds of Paris. Worlds away from the maddening crowd, we strolled the winding cobbled streets and ultimately found our way to Tombees du Camion, literally translated means "fallen off the truck."  This pocket-sized shop was artfully styled and stocked with vintage ephemeral treasures. The clerk was delightful and we travelled on with petit reins for our visual journals (more on that later). Place du Tertre, by contrast to the authentic charm of les Abbesses, is a tourist mecca but none the less a lively area and worth a visit, though immediately after the brisk uphill jaunt I am not sure everyone would have agreed. 

 

After a morning of wandering and exploring, our reservation at Moulin de la Galette awaited us.  The Moulin de la Galette was the subject and title of several paintings by Van Gogh and Pissaro, but we were there because of the excellent reviews including one by Rick Steves.  Once again, we were not disappointed, the food and service earned high marks and we had a long relaxed déjeuner in true Paris form.

After our first day of exploring, we journeyed back to our apartments to incorporate new found materials into our Paris journals, a visual retelling of our journeys.  

Lana and Catherine during an artmaking session.

On Wednesday, we turned up the volume considerably trekking to the bustling 1e and 2e, into the thrumming heart of the city, to arrive at the highly anticipated Ultramod mercerie and haberdashery. Ultramod first opened its doors in 1890 and once inside this quaint boutique with its floor to ceiling wood drawers, and boxes filled with thousands of buttons and notions, there was a feeling that we had alighted in a place where time stood still.  In this oasis of quietude and calm, we spent a good bit of time exploring as others like us have done for more than 120 years.  We travelled on with passamenterie, ribbons and other tresors tucked into our bags.  Once on our way, and just as we were about to enter into the Passage Choiseul, we looked back to find Lana, who had entered a vintage clothing shop, with her face and arm thrust through the open door waving a spectacular patterned skirt. This is but one of many priceless memories of our adventure and one worthy of memorializing (I just wish I had caught it on film!).

 

Steve and Lana just outside Ultramod

Incidentally, the Passage Choiseul is a pedestrian corridor comparable to an indoor shopping mall. After navigating the passage, we exited into the chaos of the city, zig zagging through a maze of hectic avenues and narrow but heavily trafficked corridors en route to Aux Crus de Bourgogne off of the trendy market street Rue Montorgueil, where we had reservations for lunch.  

Aux Crux de Bourgogne was a rare find.  I confess to being an information junkie and dove headlong into locating the best restaurants in the neighborhoods we were to visit.  However, when it came to reviews it was at times confusing due to the many conflicting impressions. In this instance, however, the reviews were unequivocally excellent in terms of food and service.  While there is no specific "Parisian" cuisine per se, Paris offers the best of regional French cooking as well as influences from the blended cultures of the people of the city.  The fare offered at Aux Crux de Bourgogne orginates, as the name implies, from the Burgundy region. The specialty of the house is of course bouef bourgogne, but our group of ten ordered a multitude of other dishes, all of them outstanding.  

After the harried walk through the city, we once again found ourselves in a quiet haven. The setting, a private dining room on the second floor had been made ready for our party with a starched white tablecloth, white china, and glistening glassware. Though we may have prompted an initial head scratch from our waiter, he was an amiable man and worked hard to meet all of our needs, including some vegetarian requests, and the food was luscious. This is where I had my first citron pressé introduced to our group by Lana.  Lana ordered one and, intrigued, several of us followed suit.  Order this drink anywhere in France and you will be served a glass with ice and the fresh squeezed juice of one or more lemons, along with a bottle of cool water, and sugar.  Basically, the ingredients of fresh lemonade, but served with so much more flare.  I found it very refreshing and a great palette cleanser with which to begin a meal.

After lunch we visited Stohrer on Rue Montrogueil.  One of the venerable patisserie's of Paris. Nicolas Stohrer was the royal patissier to Louis XV and when he left the court in 1730 he took his recipes with him and established this patisserie. Two revered house recipes are Stohrer's puits d'amour and baba au rhum. There was also an article posted out front lauding the eclairs, so quite naturally I had to sample all these delicacies!  

Next stop was Le Droguerie, France's largest chain of craft boutiques.  But, Le Droguerie is quite unlike anything you would find here in the US.  It was yet another small scale boutique stocked floor to ceiling with old fashioned wood drawers, and shelves filled with jars and jars of buttons, beads and other trims. I wish I knew more about the history, as the shop we visited in Paris had an old world feel to it. Here we found elements well suited to embellishing our developing Bonjour Madame characters. This shop reminded me of Tinsel Trading in NYC in both style and offerings, except for the tiny Eiffel Tour charms which I was delighted to discover there.  I had been wondering about the name of this boutique, Le Droguerie, literally translated, the drug store, until I discovered that droguerie could also be translated as bead, but either way you translate it, it spells obsession! 

After a visit to Le Drogerie, it was back to the apartment to rest and attend to our evolving journals.  We had the remainder of the day and the first half of the following day to completely immerse ourselves!

Chateau Versailles

Entry to Gardens behind Chateau

Fountains

Grand Trianon

The French Garden

While we spent the first half of the day in the apartment, the remainder of our time was dedicated to attend the fashion show, or should I say exhibit, at Chateau Versailles, Le XVIII au gout du Jour, The 18th Century Back in Fashion, exploring the Grand Trianon (where the exhibit was held), the Petit Trianon and the private domain of Marie Antoinette.  I have posted my two favorite fashions from the exhibit but if you would like to see more, French Vogue has posted photos from the show on their web site.

by Vivienne Westwood

by Alexander McQueen

 This fashion exhibit exemplified the fascination that I myself and others hold on 18th century fashion, and especially the Louis XVIth period, fashion a la Marie Antoinette.  The extravagance, the exquisitely embellished and accessorized ensembles, and the voluminous hairstyles have captivated the fashionista in me since the Marie Antoinette movie.  For this exhibit haute couture designers adapted a modern reading on 18th century fashion, some of the silhouettes were almost literal while others deconstructed and expanded on them.  It was breathtaking to say the least to be there and close enough to appreciate the details.  There was one pink confection, "Vive la Cocotte" by Vivienne Westwood, that was spellbinding. The workmanship was exquisite and the fabrics and embellishments were so delicate and beautiful I could have spent the day admiring them, but I was not the only one enchanted. This was the last week of the exhibit and there was a monumental turnout though I wish that I had passed through the exhibit at least one more time.  I just could not get enough.  

A few years ago I organized an artist collaborative, La Theatre Troupe. It was the same year that I introduced the Queen of Tarts collection, an homage to Marie Antoinette.  It was such a pleasure to have the opportunity to have a member of that group along with me on this adventure. Sara Hanlon, accompanied by her multi-talented daughter Kimberly.  And, to meet another member of le troupe, Pat Rogerson, the following day at Musee D'Orsay, I was over the moon!  And how apropos to have the opportunity to spend the day in Marie Antoinette's private realm and to visit the La Petit Theatre de la Rein with the Hanlons. This mother and daughter seemed more like sisters, and obviously shared a special bond. Very best luck to you two ladies in your new roles as business partners! 

Postcard depicting Marie Antoinette's private theatre

The threate as we found it

Marie Antoinette's theatre is a jewel box.  I visited it first with my husband who seemed just as excited as I was to be there.  And it would have been so easy to miss this treasure, had it not been for all the expert direction I had been given by Pat Rogerson. I wonder just how many people do miss it.  You need to approach through the French garden, and in a nondescript building on the right, viola, you will find the entrance to this delicate ornate chamber, though actually entering is prohibited.  You will find a cool quiet corridor where you can stand and meditate, however.  After our visit to the theatre, we walked a meandering path on the periphery of the gardens to arrive at the petit hameau and the vast many buildings that were part of Marie's fantastical world.  A place where she went to play shepardess and imagine a simpler life.  It was truly beautiful and I am so grateful for the time we were able to spend there together.  

 

We later walked back into town and had a delicious dinner at Golden Bengal Restaurant Indien, that was spotted by Sara earlier in the day along the main route from the train station.  The menu was a bit of a challenge, with so many exotic offerings and all of them described in French.  However, the Hanlons are connoisseurs of Indian cuisine and offered helful suggestions.  I also adopted a routine when ordering from French menus, that is to focus on the price fix menu, which was usually a lesser expensive combination of options than the a la carte menu and affords the opportunity to experiment.  All of those experiments worked out well as they did on this evening from the kufi to the coffee! 

While we visited Marie Antoinette's private domain, the other members of the group returned to the antiques shop we had discovered earlier on our walk from the Versaille Chantiers train station to the chateau.  You can find it on the left side of the street on the main route through town on your way to Chateau Versailles.  One of the things I remember best about it, is the radiant light coming through the class ceiling. There were some exceptional pieces of furniture to be had, including an old shop cabinet, s well as inexpensive paintings and lots and lots of books, and at quite good prices.  This was yet another one of those moments where we might have been time travelling, as this antiques shop was pricing things much lower than expected on highly sought after items, including an ancient 20x15" ledger book for less than 30 Euro!

 

Musee d'Orsay

On Friday we visited the Musee d'Orsay.  It was an another sparkling day in the city of light, and we were able to enjoy it sans the heat and noise. The light that illuminates this space is but one of the many reasons that d'Orsay is my favorite museum in Paris. We spent a couple of hours perusing the art galleries before rendezvousing with friends Pat Rogerson, Susan Wilken, Sharon Bruner, and the other members of their group who were also visiting Paris.  We dined at the beautiful Restaurant de Musee d'Orsay, one of the grand Belle Epoque salons of the former hotel that adjoined the train station that is now the Musee d'Orsay. It lived up to its reputation in every way.  Architecturally stunning in every detail, perfect service and delicious food.  We had a long Parisian style lunch, chatted amiably, and took a few photos before parting.  A perfect meeting place.  Thank you ladies for taking time to meet with us. We will always have Paris!

Sennelier

Not far from the Musee d'Orsay is Sennelier, and how could we not take a just a little more time to visit this iconic purveyor of art materials on the Quai Voltaire founded in 1867?  Along the way, we discovered street artist Zamir Mati.  At first I thought he was selling photocopies, which is something we see quite a lot here in the US.  He explained that they were all original paintings rendered in watercolor and ink. On his ipad, Zamir shared with us the full range of projects he has been involved with from children's book illustration and postage stamp illustration, to an extensive collection of paintings and drawings.  He showed us his web site but unfortunately it is not up and running at the time I am journaling.  I hope all is well.  Our chance encounter with this gentle man and talented artist, was yet another of the special moments we shared in Paris. 

 

Marche aux Puces de Porte de Vanves

Finally, Saturday arrived and we took the tram just a couple of stops to the Marche aux Puces de Porte de Vanves.  Flea markets are pretty much hit and miss whether you find yourself at your local flea or at the puces in Paris.  And, it takes a patient practiced eye.  In Paris, you might also be a tiny bit intimidated, as I was at first. Items were not marked, obligating one to request prices and some of the replies seemed very high by US standards.  So, it might have been a miss day for me had I not encountered a booth that was so beautifully conceived.  Baskets held an assortment of ephemeral paper items such as tags, papers and labels, as well as Victorian scraps, all priced and affordable. There were also some handcrafted items, vintage rubber stamps, small tins and boxes.  We parted with words we heard throughout our visit, merci au revoir. From there I discovered a woman with a large collection of French Victorian scraps. The illustrators and scraps were new to me, and whimsical and alluring in a typically French style. Her prices were as would be expected and she was a sweetheart.  She was enthusiastically trying to tell me something in French that was beyond my personal lexicon, but her warmth and friendliness were unmistakable. I went home with a dear collection.  My last stop was at the end of a long row of sellers, where I discovered a woman offering vintage initial ribbon and my own personal initials, something I will treasure.  In my studio back home I have a large old fashioned ribbon cabinet.  I love ribbon, and have painstakingly arranged my collection by color. And, over the years have collected a lot of this vintage white initial ribbon with it's red trim bearing others initials, so it feelt magical to finally find just one box with my personal initials in a beautiful flourished font!  

Salad Nicoise at our neighborhood cafe after the flea

Au Revoir! 

Catherine sharing her journal.

Lana sharing her journal!

Sara (above) and Kimberly (below) sharing their journals!

Teresa sharing her journal!

Saturday evening we sat and shared our journals, the work we did, the small treasures that we collected and included, and their histories.  In the kitchen Chef Phillipe prepared our evening meal, the final meal this group of bon vivants would share together, with a lot of help from my husband Dale. We had so many courses it is difficult to remember them all, though I do remember that it started with champagne and an amuse-bouche, and from there we moved to the dining room where our first course was a luscious green salad, accompanied by a wine personally selected by Phillipe to compliment the flavour notes of the salad. I had requested champignons (mushrooms) be included in our menu as it was mushroom season and they would be fresh and delicious (and they were)!  We were served roti de veau aux champignons and gratin dauphinois for our main course, accompanied by organically grown fresh carrots and two types of green beans, and more carefully selected wines. The main course was followed by a cheese course of no less than five cheeses, and Phillipe described the cheeses and which wines to pair with them.  The cheese course was followed by dessert, a tarte tatin (an upside down apple tart)!  This was a bountiful feast, expertly prepared, who could ask for more?

Chef Phillipe is a lovely man and a fantastic chef, but he could not have carried this off without the help of my husband Dale.  Dale was to have been seated at the table the entire evening enjoying the meal along with all us, but he saw the need and rose to the occasion as he did throughout the week.  I love you Dale!  Thank you for all you did to make this week comfortable for our guests. And, I know that Phillipe will be eternally grateful for all you did! 

 

In the morning after our guests travelled safely on to their next destination, Dale and I spent a relaxed day together. We metro-ed over to the Eiffel Tower, where we discovered a quaint little cafe on a narrow corridor removed from the pandemonium that surround this iconic monument.  We languished over our meal for a good long time and celebrated the moments we shared over the past week and the many more that would follow in the French Riviera the following week.  And, we toasted the magical city that is Paris and her quiet and reserved people who generously took time from their daily lives to lend a hand in friendship to this lively group at many points in our journey.  Merci au revoir! 

 

Stay tuned for views of my art journal, and part deux of our France Travelogue: La Côte d'Azur"

Paris Dreams

As I sit here at my desk, I am already thousands of miles away.  I am dreaming of Paris, where I will soon be travelling with a group of artists and friends. We have a lovely week planned for ourselves. A week to embrace la joie de vivre. A week to wander, to explore and also to create. We will will not be taking the typical visitors path. We will live in left bank apartments in a quiet residential neighborhood and each night as we slumber scents from the local boulangerie will waft through our bedroom windows. For breakfast each morning we will slather warm baguettes with butter and honey, and sip cafe au lait.  Our daily wanderings will begin on the Metro and on the avenues where our lives will intersect with the people of Paris. We will peruse the market streets in search of ingredients for our evening meals, and enjoy lunches at local cafes where we will feast on luscious cheeses, pates, crepes and other sumptuous regional dishes. And for dessert we may even nibble on a macaron or two from a patisserie.  At the end of our daily explorations we will voyage back to our Paris pied-e-terre to relax, reflect and journal the journey. That's an essential element, I think, to capture la joie de vivre.  Joie de vivre is all about embracing and savouring all the moments of our lives and adopting a less harried pace. It's something we might aspire to do more of, especially at home. 

So now that the plotting and planning has been done, all that is left is to do is slow down, be in the moment, and open our hearts to Paris.  

Au revoir for now.  I promise to tell you all about Paris when I return.  Until then you can read more about our plans on the Bonjour Madame site.  

Colorado Springs Travelogue: Summer 2011

 
 

Happy Summer everyone!  I am so happy to be back, back from the dark place that I found myself in earlier this year after pushing too hard.  Dark, because being tired has a way of dimming everything that usually brightens my life. A dear old friend once sent me a card reminding me that I was not a human doing, but a human being. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves to slow down and savour the moments. Like many of you, my spirit thrives on the beauty and peace of the natural world and too much time indoors, at my desk or even in my studio, will eventually take its toll.  Thank goodness it's summer and life's pace slows to allow opportunities to get outdoors and enjoy. I wish I could learn to do this during all four seasons.

Dale had a conference in Colorado Springs a few weeks ago and invited me along.  While he stayed busy with meetings most of the time, we managed to work in a few outings including a trail ride in Pike National Forest. Every time we visit Colorado Springs I find myself doing things that are way outside my comfort zone. The truck ride up to the stables on the old Stage Coach road was the most breathtaking and vertigo-inducing part of the day. The trail ride itself was actually pretty tame, but there were times when the trail narrowed and my horse and I found ourselves perched thousands of feet above the ground below. When assigned our horses for the ride, they brought this large old boy named Thor for my husband, and I was sure glad that one was not for me. Then out sacheted Ladybug, and now wouldn't you think that a horse named Ladybug would be mild mannered, but she was not having a good day and seemed to be spooked by just about every little thing, including Thor who was behind us. She would put her ears down and buck if Thor got a little too close for her comfort, or she would try to run me off trail everytime she saw an unfamiliar rock. It made for an interesting ride. 

I grew up in south Florida, at the tip of the pennisula in one of the last cities on the mainland at barely six feet above sea level, and driving up a small hill can get my heart racing.  So the day my husband arranged a visit to see the Seven Falls, I knew I was in trouble when everyone in our group was wearing shorts and hiking boots, and I had on capri pants and ballet flats, with a leather bag slung over one shoulder. When the guide asked me if I could walk a half mile to the falls, it sounded like a challenge to me and there was no way I was backing down. I led the group on a brisk half-mile walk uphill to the entrance of the falls.  Why on earth she was concerned about anyone walking that half mile of parking lot I have no idea, because the several hundred steps that we needed to climb straight up the side of the mountain alongside the falls, would seem to have been the "stumbling point."  We all stopped and looked at one another and laughed at this.  We could see the falls just fine from below but we had several hours on our hands and trails to hike above the falls.  So I put one little ballet flat in front of the other and up I climbed.

Colorado Springs is beautiful, to put it simply, and the climate was a good 10 degrees cooler with absolutely no humidity.  It was heavenly and a much needed reprieve from the heat here in HOTlanta!  

This particular conference that my husband attends takes place at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs every few years so this was our fourth visit. (The Women's US Open golf tournament is taking place there right now and there have been some great views of this beautiful locale on television over the last two weeks.) I have had the opportunity to do a lot of exploring in the past, I have been to most of the local sites, museums and shops and this time I decided to simply stay on site as much as possible and explore the tennis and other offerings. There are four one-hour tennis clinics every morning of the week.  I started my days with two hours of tennis, and had the pleasure of meeting other guests from all over the world as well as some locals. The pros are top notch and I came home with lots of notes and things to work on. You may recall, when our youngest son went off to Georgia Tech three years ago, my husband and I were really depressed, our home felt so lifeless.  But we rediscovered our love for tennis and we play every evening for a couple of hours. We have made quite a few new friends, and it is great to get outdoors, and it keeps us active and fit!

And even though we were in the mountains and not on the beach where I thought I really wanted to be, there were a few mermaid sitings!  One evening we enjoyed a casual dinner poolside while mermaids and other whimsical creatures entertained us:

And speaking of mermaids, there were some other mermaids on the grounds. This beautiful statute was positioned in the garden just outside the entry to the pool.

Of course, I have been more alert to mermaids this year since I introduced my She Sells Seashells collection in January, and even made a point to see the new Pirates of the Carribean movie, On Stranger Tides, a few weeks ago just to get a look at the mermaids.  They were a bit vampirish but this fourth sequel was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. On the recommendation of a CC devotee, I also recently watched Republic of Love, where there was an undercurrent of mermaid mythology.  And best of all, a few days after we arrived back home from Colorado Springs, three little mermaids from Florida paid us a visit.  That would be our darling nieces Alexa, Ashely and Hannah.  We spent hours of time in my studio happily stamping, coloring and glittering mermaids.  My studio is still luminescent from all the glitter.

Here we are playing mermaids in the pool before our glittering studio session!

Sorry these are a little fuzzy, but they are the only ones I have and I had to include them.  We had so much fun!

Happy Summer everyone. Wishing you all a little mermaid magic to brighten your days.  

Bonjour Mesdames!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot believe it is June already.   For the last month or so I have been enjoying some down time. I accomplished a lot last year, developed a new collection of stamps (She Sells Sea Shells), a new line of dies (Studio Assistants), developed a new class for my workshop at Assemblage Studio last fall, wrote an article for Somerset Studio, and developed a workshop, Bonjour Madame, that I am teaching in Paris this fall. Oh, and the Paris workshop necessitated the development of a whole new web site.  And, those are just the highlights. Is it any wonder that I was a little tired come spring? Then my computer retired unexpectedly and needed to be replaced, and I decided it was time to make the switch from PC to Mac, and that necessitated updating all my outdated software. S-t-r-e-s-s-f-u-l!  I guess you could say I hit a rough patch.  But, never under estimate the value of good old fashioned sleep and little down time, and viola . . . happy summer everyone!  I feel like my old self again.  My husband and I have a nice trip to Colorado Springs planned for later this summer, and then we are off to Paris in the fall.  With the fog of exhaustion lifted, life is looking pretty good again.

With the Paris workshop just a few months away, it is getting pretty much my full attention right now and I am starting to build up a bit of excitement!!  I just discovered this fantastic video on YouTube of a Bateaux Mouches night cruise on the Seine, which is how we are spending our first night in Paris. I wanted us to spend our first night having a relaxed dinner somewhere with a great view, and it doesn't get any better than this! There are ten in our group, which is the perfect size (I think).  It's a lovely group of artisans and friends. Living and journaling in the intimate setting of a Paris apartment, I feel very fortunate to have such a nice group to share it with. Merci beaucoup for sharing in and supporting the dream of a Paris workshop. I am also looking forward to meeting another group of artisans while in Paris, actually a spin off from the Bonjour Madame waiting list, will be joining us one afternoon for art and lunch at the Musee D'Orsay for lunch one afternoon.  

For those of you who could not join me in Paris, I wanted to share this find.  Actually, I didn't find it but received from a friend the gift of Art Girl's Guide to Paris, a lovely little self-published tome with lots of useful tips, inspiration and photos by Carmi Cimicata. She also has a blog with loads of photos from her visits to Paris.

Well that's it for now.  It feels good to be back at it and feeling inspired to post to my blog.  

 

Fashionista Mermaids

Spring Greetings everyone!

 

For those of you looking for art workshops utilizing your Character Constructions stamps, you won't want to miss Laura Haviland's fabulous Fashionista Mermaid class at the Mixed Minded event in Kitchener, Ontario the last week of May.  Be sure to drop by Laura's Blog,

 http://www.creativewhispers7.blogspot.com/

for further details and some great photos of the her Fashionista Mermaid!  I will be donating some gifts from my She Sells Seashells collection to class participants!  

If you have any questions, you can reach Laura at:  littlesparklesblue@yahoo.ca  

   

Cirque du Swan by Nancy Gene Armstrong

She Sells Seashells by the Seashore

 

After a bustling year and holiday season, I am so happy to finally sit at my desk and reflect on 2010 and make plans for 2011.   Last year at this time, I introduced Mannequin Cafe, a collection that took form as I dreamed of a Paris workshop, followed up with Studio Assistant custom dies in the fall, and had some very fine adventures in between, including a treasure hunt at the puces of Mt. Dora with Barbara Smith.  My life thus far has been quite an adventure and I am supremely fortunate and grateful to all of you for your continued friendship and support.

This year I borrowed a sweet title from a tongue twister I loved as a child, She Sells Seashells by the Seashore, which also happens to be the name of one of my favorite shell shops on Sanibel Island.  I grew up along the Florida shore in a coastal community and it has influenced my life in countless ways.  As children, my sisters and I were fascinated with mermaids, particularly the Weeki Wachee mermaids. During the summer of 1970, while I was visiting my grandparents, my little sister Laura sent me a Giant Post Card from Weeki Wachee, addressed to the wrong street and zip code, but somehow it not only managed to find me, but I still have it!  (In her post card note, she apologized for being too busy to write sooner -- were we always so busy?) Along with that postcard I also received a Florida Pictorial booklet from Weeki Wachee featuring an entire cast of beautiful mermaids.  I am surprised there is anything left of this booklet as we studied it endlessly, imitating the mermaid underwater poses in our backyard wading pool. Bringing this new collection to life has been a lot of fun and a little like being in the splash pool with my sisters on one of our mermaid adventures!

Adopting the She Sells Seashells title for my collection has had me wondering about the origins of the tongue twister.  As luck would have it, I received a call from a kindred spirit this morning, Maliene Wajer.  We met in Balitmore, Maryland a few summers ago during a weekend workshop at The Queen's Ink.  Maliene discovered my new ad for She Sells Seashells and called to tell me about a book by Tracy Chavalier (Girl With the Pear Earring), entitled Remarkable Creatures.  I had actually read this book a couple of years ago and was reminded by Maliene that the story of remarkable creatures is based on the life of Mary Anning, a fossil hunter who lived in Lyme Regis, on the coast of England.  The She Sells tongue twister is believed to have been written about Mary.  So, for those of you joining me on mermaid adventures this year, I highly recommend this book.  

To get your mermaid adventure underway, slip into your favorite scallop shell bra top, pick a tail from the book of mermaid couture, and relax for a little longer.  You have made it this far (merci), so please sit down and enjoy this slide show compliments of one of my very best friends and mermaid artist extraordinaire, Nancy Gene Armstrong: