The Sculptors Come to Grambois!

Cher Ami,

Knowing how you love art and relish unusual experiences, I want to tell you about how we spent our Friday evening here in Provence!  Grambois has recently begun hosting an annual event for local artists: Sculpture en Balade (www.sculpture-balade.com).

Opening night was a fun gathering of locals, visitors, artists, and friends in the park below the village. Among the fruit trees and in the shadow of the pigeonnier, the jazz band played while we strolled through the exhibits, local rose wine in hand.

We spoke with Bernard Geoffroy about the art of sculpting something wonderful from the stump of a dead tree, leaving it precisely where it had grown with roots still in the earth. We swooned with delight at the ceramic sculptures fashioned by Celine Faure and the fabulous work of other artists.

 

We laughed along with Henri Felix and his many followers when his mechanical garden statues performed jaw-dropping stunts.

So many more wonderful pieces and such delightful variety! Will you meet us in the park next year?   One last look at evening's end... 

Curious Spaces for Artisans of the Luberon

Mon cher ami,

I thought of you on Sunday when I visited an art exhibition of wood, iron, glass, and inks in the hills of Provence! Given your appreciation for all things “sculpture”, you would likely have enjoyed every minute. 

The village of Banon has an old church at the top of its walled pedestrian village, L'Eglise Haute. A bit of research tells me that the church was deconsecrated in 1911 because the villagers refused to climb the hill for services. But in the 1960s an effort began to re-purpose the church and it now serves as a fabulous exhibition space for local artists and musicians.

I have gone there over the years, as I love the peaceful village in which it sits and the cool interior on a hot summer’s day. This weekend I was delighted to find a new exhibit: "Haute en Lumiere" with the two artists in residence to serve as guides for me—one even spoke wonderful English and understood my passable French. 

Two artists have collaborated on a number of the pieces: Ulla Lutz created metal frames which Isabelle Martin filled with wood sculptures. In other pieces, it was the reverse—the wood artist began the process with sculptures and then turned to the metal artist to create a frame of some kind around it. The results were stunning, as you can see!

 In still other pieces, creative portraits in ink had been pressed between glass panels and then framed in welded iron. Our friend Harris especially liked these.

The artistry of the staging added to the exhibition; using the alcoves, pedestals, and altar spaces to highlight some pieces, while others stood center stage in the apse.  

The high ceilings gave the perfect position for hanging chandeliers of beveled glass and worked iron.

I especially liked this lamp with its shell-like wood sculptures, set at curious angles to reflect and shadow the light. 

If you decide to come for a visit, let me know and I will make time for us to go the Banon church together. And while we are in the village we can visit the bookstore, Le Bleuet!

A bientot, J

The French Have Always Had Style!

Ma Chere Amie,

I know how you love, love, love anything about fashions and fabrics, so of course I thought of you the day I visited the "History of Dresses" exhibit here in Provence.

Imagine going into the cellars of an old chateau in the South of France; stone hallways with low ceilings and small rooms tucked under stairways.  


 Now imagine walking into one of those little rooms and finding dozens of fabulous French silk dresses from the 18th and 19th centuries!! That is where I was yesterday with my niece, Makenna. 

 The dresses are part of a summer exhibition called “Histoire de Robes; Histoire de Mode” (History of Dresses; History of Style) at the museum of the Chateau in La Tour d’Aigues.  Imagine-a mere four miles from my home! I wish you were here to see it with me.

 
The dresses are simply gorgeous, each and every one. They are made of silks, brocades, cottons, or taffetas and each is displayed on a tiny-waist mannequin, of course. Some of the cutest are for little girls. Some have exquisite hats and handbags made to match. 

The museum offers a guide sheet to explain each dress: the date, the style period, the town or region where it was worn. Then it offers a wonderful description of each piece: the fabrics, the origin of the fabrics, the designs, the embellishments, and, in some cases, the construction process. Amazing.  

One of the oldest is a stylish dress from Avignon, 1810-1815. Here is how it is described in the program (the French version is so pretty that I am sending it along, but I have also translated it into English for you.)

Robe en taffetas vert et manches ballon (attaches dans le dos par coulisses au col et a la taille). Echarpe de mode en soie brochee de Spitalfields. Caleche en taffetas vert et armature en carton.  Reticule en taffetas creme brode et passementerie. Mitaines en fil de soie.

Green taffeta dress with balloon sleeves (ties in the back at the neck and waist). The stylish scarf is of silk brocade from Spitalfields.  The hat is of green taffeta over a cardboard frame. The drawstring handbag is of cream taffeta with embroidery and trimmings. The gloves are made of silk thread.

Let me know if you are coming to visit Provence this summer—the dresses will be here through September 29. We can go together!

Look at all that cheese!

Bonjour my dear friend!

I am really looking forward to your visit with me this summer.  Do you remember that the last time you were here we bought so much cheese? Well, I have been scouring the local villages for new and different cheeses for you to try and I wanted to send you this note with appetizing photos to whet your appetite.

Just up the road from our village there is a guy who raises goats and makes “fromage de chevre” goat cheese. The first time I bought his cheese he was at the Sunday morning market at St Martin de la Brasque.  Then I noticed a new display of his cheeses at the vegetable store in our village, Potager de Lily. My favorite is “affine”, not too dry. We can get it plain or with a topping of pepper, garlic, or herbs.

At the Tuesday market in La Tour d'Aigues, I have made friends with the couple who sells cheese there. They sell in other village markets nearby on other days too. They have everything from creamy Camemberts, to Tommes from the Alps, to wonderfully sharp veined bleus. 

You'll love this idea: a friend, who speaks no French, handed her a 20 Euro bill one day and asked her to create a sampling platter of her favorite cheeses. She agreed with delight and we had a delicious picnic lunch, complete with baguette, olives, and a little red wine!

Want a more traditional venue for buying your cheeses? The local grocery store has an aisle, a full aisle, of cheeses!  Big wheels, small buttons, some encased in rinds, others wrapped in grape leaves. They will cut and wrap any that you choose.

 

Whatever your gourmet heart desires, we can find it nearby in the villages south of the Luberon! Come visit soon and until then, Bon Appetit!

Love, J