Past half ...

​It’s well past half way and we are starting to think about our open studios around the corner. Armelle, my Parisian friend is coming to stay to celebrate this opening with us and spend some time together, good good.  And the richness with the mix of artist’s here at the residency has continued. A side project of portraiture has started.  My vaulted ceiling studio on the top floor, three stories up in the old 16 Century Abbey here at Camac has a side small round space in the tower which was calling out for something more.  More than the dead pigeon on the window sill, so, I set aside my still life oil painting practice for moments here and there and with the old literary cards from the shared space below, I have been caught in time with these people creating some small portraits of them and me too.  Looking at them now there must be over 40 quick studies.  In a few, I think, where did that line come from? And I remind myself when in the process to just go with it, whatever comes – it is just a conversation.  From this dalliance also came a shared portraiture party one night.  After dinner when I started with a portrait of Augustine from Pakistan, who’s staying in the other residency up the road – (and as an aside, has work full of courage and power http://www.asianchristianart.org/feature_arfan_words.htm), only seconds passed when more caught the bug and Augustine was now sitting for three, and then the literary cards we passed up and down the table with the frenzy of each drawing each other.  Some laughs were had and in the mix, we saw our youth and age too.

And more sharing of work with presentations each night has continued.  To give you a little taste of another gem here, head to http://www.moonassi.com/ and you will meet some of Daehyun Kim’s poignant beings.  He’s from South Korea, treasured by the New York Times and works magic and awe with feelings. And of the people here, I have also been looking at some of the work of artists who have come before me to this place.  Both those who have come for an artist residency and those who were here before.  The jazz artists who once dwarfed these nooks and crannies, come to my ears, for in this place’s history it was once a humming radio studio too.  With the main house host to amazing musicians of the 60’s with French notables such as Duke Ellington and Johnny Hallyday.  
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Our open studio’s are on Friday 24 November from 6:30 to 8:30 at Camac, Marnay-sur-Seine.  Do come.…

​This project was assisted by a grant from Create NSW, an agency of the New South Wales Government and supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian State and Territory Governments. The program is administered by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA). This project was assisted by a subvention through the CAMAC – Ténot Fondation.