This space is something I have always dreamed of but never thought I merited….I get lost here, time disappears and I find myself hours later amid my ribbons and beads and more recently, covered in wood shavings and dust from sanding old wooden bobbins. Who would have thought that a Dremel 300 would replace my GHD straighteners as my go-to-gadget …. such is the change of moving from Dublin to Provence!
Portrait of my son, Louis by friend and incredible artist Michael Porten, who painted this for my birthday last July.
I came across this old ‘meuble de metier” in a local ‘depot vente’, it was 200 euro, which was quite a bit of money for us at the time but looking back is actually a steal when it came to light that this was a very old ‘quincaillerie’ (hardware department in english) meuble de metier from the famous French department store ‘Aux Dames de France’. Its previous owner had used it in his garage but I cleaned it and patched it up and its 55 drawers now house my ribbons and antique silks.
Here are two sneak shots of my ‘Heirloom frames’. I have been working on a few of these using various ribbons echantillons, some very old (early 1900s) and some more recent (80-90s). The story behind these frames is that my husbands family, the Faure family, started a tradition of commissioning a frame to be made up (by a cousin of my husbands grandparents) as engagement gifts for family members. Raphael and I received a frame in 2006 when we got engaged and it is one of my most treasured possessions.
Unfortunately the lady who used to make these frames is no longer well enough and so I decided to try my hand at making them myself with ribbons from our family archives. It is incredibly time-consuming as each antique letterpress tiroir is different and each ribbon is different (in terms of width and length) and it is a combination of finding the right size, colour and motif to make the collage work…which is my way of explaining (or excusing myself) why I have only finished four frames in 12 months and have at least 5 others that I’ve been playing around with for months…
This interesting article on refining your creative process from Rena Tom here challenged me to think about my own process and how I can make it more efficient … not so easy for a 6 months pregnant with toddler in tow creative lady but perhaps now more than ever I need to identify and put into action a framework for my creativity….
Matthew Frederick noted you should – “engage with patience, don’t imitate others, don’t do it all at once, and accept uncertainty.” From Rena Toms article.
Image from Rena Tom - you should subscribe to recieve her fantastic tips on strategy for creative business
I am hooked on this photography project by Jennifer Causey called The Makers, incredible creatives at work – don’t miss it!
….and salivating over Emilie Griottes gorgeous pantone desserts here
The soundtrack to my week has alternated between a beautiful playlist called Western Songbird (think Nick Drake, First Aid Kit, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, The Roche sisters, Johnny Cash, Gillian Welch and many more gems!)….. that a reader made for me and the ‘Feel it All Around’ playlist from Miss Moss here.
I would LOVE to spend a lazy long weekend in this village, Santo Stefano di Sessanio, 90-minute drive north east of Rome. Entrepreneur Daniele Kihlgren came across the village in 1999 and bit by bit, he bought up a few village houses and carefully restored them. He has created a unique and beautiful hotel spread across several houses in the village and he employs 15 locals, ensuring the community is thriving. I also love that he has chosen to use only textiles, furniture and artwork created by local artisans. This would be incredible to replicate in Lacoste if only! read more here
Finally, don’t miss this breathtaking short film by Cartier
As I mentioned in my post yesterday, we have been pretty busy the last few weeks and one big milestone was reached this week (albeit a bit prematurely by normal standards).
Louis had his first day at school last Monday, he is only 2 years 5 months but our village school was in serious danger of closing down as they could not fulfil their necessary quota for students. So the village banded together and a new mini ‘class’ for 2 1/2 year olds was formed. Louis has 5 classmates his own age and for the moment he goes from 9 am-12 noon.
When you look at the postcard photograph above, not much has changed since and the building is still as is, with the addition of a modern gravel footpath outside and a wheelchair access ramp. The only other change is that in earlier times the school was divided in two, the Ecole pour filles et l’Ecole pour Garcons. Now the classes are mixed and split between the ages.
You can’t imagine how excited I was for Louis to start school here in Lacoste, not only for purely selfish reasons i.e. that it would allow me to take the mornings off for the last three months of pregnancy. I also had widely romantic notions of what it would be like to take classes in this beautiful old building, with french children (speaking french… I know it sounds very dumb), eating a civilised three course lunch in the canteen.
Walking to the school in the morning sunshine, poor Papa looks sad here, and so he was to see his little boy go off to school, he is growing up too quickly!
I’ve been terrible at blogging the last few weeks…. amongst the many different excuses is a lovely one …. Etsy France asked me to contribute one of my cuffs for their press day at the end of March. So of course this sent the perfectionist in me into overdrive, I started polishing and re-varnishing the requested cuff and this led on to finishing some of the bobbin pieces I’ve been working on for ages and ages. And so, flash forward a few weeks and I have a few new pieces ready for the press day and up in my shop.
I just posted the package to the press team and I am still feeling the butterflies in my stomach (although the blossoming little baby girl might not be helping on that side!). I don’t think I’ve ever felt so insecure about my ‘work’, what will they think when they unwrap the packages? will they be disappointed? Will anyone notice them? Things are outside of my control now and I suppose that is what is unsettling me. God knows how artists do this, I am relatively new to this world and I am a wreck of nerves.
In my past (Pre-Provence) life, when I worked as a film publicist, I fed off the excitement of last-minute deadlines and I was able to manage incredible artists and talk about their work to press with confidence and conviction – when I am putting myself out there to be judged it is a different story all together….
So when a buyer writes a note of appreciate or one of my blogging heroes writes a post about my work (such as here), it is incredibly encouraging and I find myself sitting in front of the imposing work-table in my atelier buzzing with renewed confidence to finish pieces and dream up new confections.
You can read the lovely piece Corey wrote about Rubanesque on her blog, Tongue in Cheek here and thanks to this piece, so many truly wonderful women from all around the world have been in touch to share their stories and love of antique textiles.
One such note that literally made me beam all day was from Claire in San Francisco, she wrote that she had been following my blog and wanted to send me some music inspired by my blog and my creations….I just opened my letterbox and here was this incredible package from her. Everything from the envelope, to her gorgeous handwriting, her very special handmade cd sleeves and lovingly selected tunes… to the peanuts comic strip cut-out….my heart sang and even my 6 month pregnant waddle has a lightness to it!. We have never met but she created one of the most thoughtful and beautiful presents I have ever received. She had my music taste nailed and I’m still listening to her playlists. THANK YOU!!
I had to share some pictures of her creativity below
Adventures online have led me to discovering….. Tatty Devines brand new Frida inspired collection….I want it all Confetti System gorgeousness, I love checking out their new projects I’m grateful to Etsy France for introducing me to French stylist and author Emilie Griottes blog….a word of warning, it will induce serious salivation. Here is a sliver of [...]
Since I opened my etsy shop in November, I have had some incredible support from artists and creatives across the world and it NEVER fails to make me beam when someone chooses one of my creations for their treasuries (my husband always laughs when he catches me smiling inanely at the computer screen…) Just [...]
Our last truffle has been working overtime infusing fresh eggs in the fridge….unfortunately the heavy snow and cold of the last fortnight has ensured truffling ‘a la mouche’ is not an option so I have been hoarding this truffle for a special occasion. Oh and you thought I meant Valentines day….no in our house [...]
It is still snowing and we’re very much homebound so this week I’m catching up on a few way overdue tasks including redesigning my blog (and finishing the web design course that I took with Girls Guide to Web Design) This week I’ve been…. Listening to Miss Moss’s wonderful music mixes which inspire me no [...]
Two days ago our good friend and neighbour Gaby, dropped over unexpectedly with treasures in his pockets. He had taken advantage of the sunshine (very important when looking for truffles a la mouche) and had set about rummaging under his oak trees in search of truffles… and so we found ourselves the very lucky owners [...]
Portrait of my son, Louis by friend and incredible artist Michael Porten, who painted this for my birthday last July.
