I'm here! I made it, and now all I need to do is try not to get lost or murdered. One of the afore mentioned being inevitable in a foreign land.
8 months ago, I was sitting at my desk at work trying to refocus my attention on a budget when the very rare "Congratulations!" email popped up. (Those of you that are artists know just how rare this is...) My throat hitched and I realized this residency I had applied for in France- FRANCE- had accepted my application. The breathlessness of that moment is something I will not easily forget. Would I be able to afford it? What would my husband think? What made them say yes? A million questions all in an instant.
Fast forward those 8 months and a few flights later, I am here, at Chateau Orquevaux in Orquevaux, France. Everywhere you look is a picture, the only sounds are birds and rushing water and the Chateau overlooks a reservoir of the cleanest water imaginable with a valley behind it. It couldn't be more of a fairytale if you picked up Grimm. I could feel my blood pressure dropping from the last few weeks of transitioning jobs and installing work in Milwaukee. Suddenly, I was in a magical place where my sole requirements are to eat, sleep and paint. Eat. Sleep. Paint. What on earth had I done in this life to make such a thing possible?
Ziggy Attias is the owner and mastermind of this residency. The Chateau was passed onto him through family and in the last few years he has poured his heart and soul into this place and you can feel it. Every room is being lovingly restored, every piece of furniture and every item suits the place. It seems to return to its old glory with each passing day that I spend here. The first floor is decadent but doesn't place guilt upon putting feet on the furniture. The second floor has bedrooms and bathrooms with huge windows and gorgeous light. The third floor is unfinished and in it present state creates studios that are unapologetic in their ability to record past artists processes. The entire building seems to radiate create energy and restoration.
My studio is in the stables below the Chateau. It is quiet, a little dirty and filled with history. Eventually, all the studios will be in that stables from what I have come to understand- and it is easy to see why. With access to a large outdoor space it makes ventilation easy, tall ceilings and a wide floor place allow for work to move and shift as the creative process takes over. This sanctuary gives artists the chance to grow, take risks and meditate on their process. It is easy to see this happening. With 12 other artists here, these two weeks become this master workshop of frenzied mediation. Each of us trying to work hard and yet soak in every moment and slow down. Dinners are exquisite, every meal knits us tighter as family- indeed that is what we are for these two weeks- and it becomes apparent that it is not just uninterrupted time to make art here that restores; its the food, culture, and energy of this place.
Chateau Orquevaux is the lesson/class that no university can provide. There is a freedom to make here that allows risks to seem less risky. In place where no one knows you, but you are surrounded by like minded makers, the artist gets to thrive. Denis Diderot is rumored to have walked the hallowed grounds of Chateau Orguevaux, extending the legacy of this place into the worlds of Rousseau and the legends of the art history canon. It is easy to picture Diderot writing these words, as they also sum my own own Oquevaux experience.
8 months ago, I was sitting at my desk at work trying to refocus my attention on a budget when the very rare "Congratulations!" email popped up. (Those of you that are artists know just how rare this is...) My throat hitched and I realized this residency I had applied for in France- FRANCE- had accepted my application. The breathlessness of that moment is something I will not easily forget. Would I be able to afford it? What would my husband think? What made them say yes? A million questions all in an instant.
Fast forward those 8 months and a few flights later, I am here, at Chateau Orquevaux in Orquevaux, France. Everywhere you look is a picture, the only sounds are birds and rushing water and the Chateau overlooks a reservoir of the cleanest water imaginable with a valley behind it. It couldn't be more of a fairytale if you picked up Grimm. I could feel my blood pressure dropping from the last few weeks of transitioning jobs and installing work in Milwaukee. Suddenly, I was in a magical place where my sole requirements are to eat, sleep and paint. Eat. Sleep. Paint. What on earth had I done in this life to make such a thing possible?
Ziggy Attias is the owner and mastermind of this residency. The Chateau was passed onto him through family and in the last few years he has poured his heart and soul into this place and you can feel it. Every room is being lovingly restored, every piece of furniture and every item suits the place. It seems to return to its old glory with each passing day that I spend here. The first floor is decadent but doesn't place guilt upon putting feet on the furniture. The second floor has bedrooms and bathrooms with huge windows and gorgeous light. The third floor is unfinished and in it present state creates studios that are unapologetic in their ability to record past artists processes. The entire building seems to radiate create energy and restoration.
My studio is in the stables below the Chateau. It is quiet, a little dirty and filled with history. Eventually, all the studios will be in that stables from what I have come to understand- and it is easy to see why. With access to a large outdoor space it makes ventilation easy, tall ceilings and a wide floor place allow for work to move and shift as the creative process takes over. This sanctuary gives artists the chance to grow, take risks and meditate on their process. It is easy to see this happening. With 12 other artists here, these two weeks become this master workshop of frenzied mediation. Each of us trying to work hard and yet soak in every moment and slow down. Dinners are exquisite, every meal knits us tighter as family- indeed that is what we are for these two weeks- and it becomes apparent that it is not just uninterrupted time to make art here that restores; its the food, culture, and energy of this place.
Chateau Orquevaux is the lesson/class that no university can provide. There is a freedom to make here that allows risks to seem less risky. In place where no one knows you, but you are surrounded by like minded makers, the artist gets to thrive. Denis Diderot is rumored to have walked the hallowed grounds of Chateau Orguevaux, extending the legacy of this place into the worlds of Rousseau and the legends of the art history canon. It is easy to picture Diderot writing these words, as they also sum my own own Oquevaux experience.
...what you grind on your palette is not this color or that... but the very substance of things. You dip your brush in air and light and spread them on your canvas. (Denis Diderot)
- appeal made to artists...First of all move me, surprise me, rend my heart; make me tremble, weep, shudder; outrage me; delight my eyes afterwards if you can. (Denis Diderot)
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