What an amazing adventure. Weeks painting together in the earthly paradise of rural France, what the French call, "La France profond."
What are some of the lasting memories now that the dust has settled!
- The Beauty and Peace of the country side
- The newspaper interview in "La Montagne" Creuse edition of our trip .
French Newspaper
(La Montagne) Article - Tour de France 4
Jerie Artz’s Creuse Travels
At the beginning of May, nine American Artists chose to
make Saint-Sylvain-Montaigut their home. The fruit of a long friendship between
two artists, French and American.
Inspiration is found everywhere, from the hamlets, the Gartempe river, the limousines cows that come to say hello when an artist approaches the field, a village café, the incomparable cheeses in the grocery stores , and the distant valley of the Massive Central mountains. In her travel journal that she bought in Paris last week , Becky sketches the details that marked her days in France.
Friends for over forty years.
Originally from Illinois in the United States, the budding artist (Becky)
arrived in the Creuse region a few days
ago with several other artists.
All of them joined the “Artz Tour de France,” 4th
edition. To begin with , reflects Jerie
Artz, who organized these trips, as a result of her 40 year friendship with
French artiste, Nicole Lutz, who lives in the Creuse in a home she built along
with her husband. “ In 1976
I came to Albertville, France.” First to learn French along with her
husband (who is now a retired pastor) and then to Lille. “At the time I was painting porcelain and
read that a local community center was looking for artists for a weekend
exhibit . I said to myself ‘why not
try?’ explains the American artist who now paints watercolors.
From Indiana to
the Creuse Region
During a demonstration, she (Nicole) came to
see me Saturday afternoon and again Sunday morning. “I wanted to ask her
questions, I remember painting roses all night long to show her the next day in
the aisles of the exhibition, ” says the French artist . “ I
asked her if she gave classes .” “Because several other people had asked for
classes as well,” I said to myself, why
not?” The four weeks of classes offered
turned into five years.
The American couple had to return to the
United Sates, but Nicole and Jerie kept their friendship alive through
letters. There was no internet or email
during those days.
“You help us see our territory with your eyes”
So
when artist friends suggested to Jerie that she organize a trip to France, she
didn’t hesitate too much. “It was in 2010. I wrote to Nicole. I limited it to
10 artists (the number of beds in Nicoles guest house) the month of May, one
week in the Creuse at Masbonson, and one week in Paris.” Voila
the “Artz Tour de France” was born.
Five years later the trip was repeated, the “Artz Tour de France
2.” “It was almost the same program,
but switched to one week in Paris first
followed by one week in the Creuse to rest,”
the American laughed, who still
teaches watercolors. She taught
watercolors and porcelain painting at an art museum Indiana before recently
moving to New Hampshire.
In
2010 and 2015, the artists held exhibitions at the guest house of their work the created. This time the two friends are presenting an art exhibition here in St.
Silvain- Montaigut. “I distributed invitations in the mailboxes in the surrounding hamlets, “ said Nicole
with a smile, who specializes in
porcelain painting. In their previous exhibit
guest book, Jerie Artz remembers a comment, “You help us see our territory
through your eyes.”
From her chair, with her colored pencil in hand , Becky draws the valley landscape. “ What impresses me is all the shades of green.” With her husband, Larry, the couple are seasoned world travelers . Larry added a word picture (esquises). “What pleases me is the discovery of culture and how people live, at a random café Place Bonnyaud, for example, or an art exposition at the hamlet, Masbonson, a Saint Silvain-Montaigut.”
