The sunflowers are in high bloom the last couple weeks and will be so for another few weeks. This area is sunflower growing country and are harvested for the oil and seeds. It’s astonishing to see fields and fields and fields of that indescribable yellow against a bright blue sky.
This past week has been a joy with my last workshop of the summer. A big MERCI to Rai, Carole, Karen, Jacky, Ros, Susi, Billie, Sandy, and Abby. You were a gift to me with your generous spirits, inspirational work and sharing of your life stories.
We saw the Tour de France come thru the village on Saturday, went to a wonderful flea marlet and walked right into the fields to take up close and personal pictures of these beautiful flowers.
Hope you’ll come join me next summer in France!
Merci to the wonderful, adventurous. talented, inspiring group of women who just departed Durfort after a fun week of art-making and sharing our stories with each other. You all were just the best- Eleanor, Rebecca, Carolyn, Margaret, Bobbie, Rosemary and Heidi. Thanks for making the week so special for me.
Today I’ll take a group to Soreze. It is a medieval village just two minutes from here full of lovely houses with overflowing window box gardens and a huge old school (called the Abbaye Ecole) which is now the cultural hub of the village, offering many concerts and gatherings.
Soreze has many “deteriorating surfaces” which are inspiration for collage and polymer clay techniques. Peeling paint doors and shutters, patina-ed door knockers. Everywhere you turn there is something for the eye and the creative juices.
We’re off to Albi today for an afternoon of inspiration. The Cathedrale is a sight to behold, more fortress-like than church-like, but splendiferous inside.
There is no surface left unpainted. The ceiling is an intricately designed fresco of gorgeous blue and gold, the walls are painted frescoes of very contemporary looking graphic patterns and the carved stonework is a marvel.
In addition, the Toulouse Lautrec Museum is close by, along with a riverboat ride, pedestrian-only old town and my favorite chocolate shop-Yves Thuries!
Departure day is always a bit sad around here at la Cascade. We’re a family for a week and besides sharing many joyful adventures, we get to know each other quite well. Thanks to you all, Beverlee, Emily, Suzi, Patti, Berti, Lori, Sandy and Paula for making the week so special. Four ladies are still here (we all went to Carcassonne today) and some have gone on to enjoy Paris.
The week was filled with art making- wonderful books, jewelry and figures- and inspiring field trips. We had two good flea markets and a trip to Albi. Also several of the ladies took a silk painting class from Ann and made gorgeous scarves. In between the field trips and studio work we become part of the village life here.
I wonder if you can guess what these are? They are the devices that hold the shutters open on the windows on our street. Tiny little figures of women.
My new workshop arrives on Monday- can’t wait!
I’m waiting with excitement here in Durfort, the arrival of my first workshop tomorrow and wish them all Bon Voyage. I’ll be meeting everyone at the airport in Toulouse and then we’ll settle in at La Cascade for a week of art-making, great food, field trips for inspiration, meeting with local artists and loads of fun.
Here’s a recent fabric collage I made inspired by short vignettes I am writing about adventures in France.
Check back in a few days for posts about what we are doing this workshop week and join me next year- I have a couple spots still open in one of the workshops in summer 2011.
There are two special places here in our village of Durfort where you can meet friends old and new, catch up on local events and happenings and just generally have a great time.
Le Cyrano, the village cafe, is a great place to sit and have a cafe au lait, watch the village life unfold, sketch, journal. There is also ice cream, wine by the glass and bottle, light meals, lots of local info and artists postcards of the village and other delights. The cafe stays open til midnite on Thursdays to provide refreshment for the evening boules players who come from all over to play in the town square. Boules, Bocci ball, Petanque- are all the same name for a game of rolling a large ball towards smaller balls to get your ball as close as possible or something like that! Even if you don’t understand the fine rules of the game it’s fun to watch men and women continue this hundreds of years old tradition.
The other heart of the village is the art studio of Ann Mason and Peter Welsford. They are both artists from the UK who live here six months a year. Peter does beautiful pen and ink drawings, water colors, pastels and paintings and also has a drop-in drawing class every week. Ann is an accomplished silk artist who makes beautiful scarves and wall pieces and also has a weekly drop in silk paining class. These two are the heart of the village, always ready to help, offer a translation, guidance and give many joyful Aperos (cocktail party) in their studio. It’s conventiently located just across from La Cascade!
Those of you who are joining me here in France in a short time or next year workshops (I still have a couple spots left for summer 2011) will have the pleasure of meeting Ann and Peter and enjoying the cafe too!
Every year, most villages in our region have their annual flea market. On any given Sunday in the spring, summer and fall you can find two to three to go to within a 45 min radius. It’s become my Sunday ritual while in France.
The vide greniers(translates as Empty the Attic) are a lovely way to discover charming villages and of course the main reason- to pick up amazing antiques and treasures from 10 cents on up.
Last weekend our village of Durfort had their vide grenier. Over 7000 people attended despite not the best weather. But there were treasures galore. I picked up a beautiful glass water pitcher in the shape of grapes ( 1E), a black and white vase from Turkey(1E), old linens (1E each), fashion magazines from the 1920’s (10 cents each), a set of four handpainted coasters (50cents)- the list goes on and on and on. I probably have never spent more than 20E total on a Sunday and what we consider beautiful antique treasures have most likely been sitting in someone’s attic or drawers for decades!
I’m looking forward to sharing the vide greniers with my first workshop that arrives in less than 2 weeks. 
This is a picture from the flea market at Lautrec- a village about 30 minutes from here. I’ll be going there soon!
If you’d like to join me in France in 2011, please email me dayledoroshow@hotmail.com – I am offering an early bird discount!
Our village Durfort hs been making copperware for hundreds of years. Many of the beautifully renovated homes were once copper studios. At the front of our village are several shops selling copper made here and elsewhere along with leather makers, glass artist, a basketmaker and a craft co-op of local artists. About 30 seconds from the workshop house is a wonderful copper museum with beautiful old copper pots- a great place to sketch and paint. There is one remaining copper studio and one can visit and see the copperware still being made.
Along with copper our village is know for great tasting water and on the weekends many cars pull up with jugs to fill up for the week at the town fountain.
I’ve been continuing to sketch everyday along with hosting the watercolor class that just left today. The plump copperware shapes are lovely to draw and the copper color is my inspiration for a new colorway I’ll mix for some polymer clay work. Orange is a great mixing color- try it!
Arrived in the charming village of Durfort late on Monday and have been settling in, pulling weeds and nettles and planting lovely flowers on the terrace and front window boxes to welcome the first workshop. Yesterday Barbara Roth’s watercolor class arrived and I’ll be their host for the next two weeks.
Today will be the first Saturday market for us in nearby Revel- named one of the 100 most beautiful markets in France- a well-deserved title – they have had alot of time to perfect the market- it has been going on since the 14C!
I start off each morning with a little creative exercise in “looking and seeing” by doing a line drawing of something in the house here at La Cascade. Here’s one of my drawings and a picture of the market too.
If the fates, the sputtering volcano and the British Airways strike allows, I’ll be leaving for France in a few days. I’ll be at the beautiful La Cascade, Gwen Gibson’s artist retreat in southern France. After “hosting” water colorist Barbara Roth’s two workshops, I’ll be teaching my workshops and sharing this beautiful art-filled area with the adventurous ladies who will join me there. It promises to be a time of art-making, great field trips, good food and new friendships.
I’m looking forward to sharing with you what we do and see and how it translates into inspiration for art-making. So please check in once a week starting May 28th to follow me on this journey
A bientot (see you soon) right here!
