A Francophile's Dream: My Artist Residency in Southern France
The air in Beaumont de Pertuis, France hummed with a different kind of energy, a creative current that pulled me in from the moment I arrived. My artist residency at La Maison de Beaumont wasn’t just a change of location; it was a sensory overload, a heart-swelling experience that left me forever changed. I'm excited to share the sights, sounds, and emotions that filled my weeks in this magical place.
My journey actually started in Scotland for my sister’s wedding in early October of 2024. Since I knew I would already be on that side of the world, I chose to start my artist residency shortly after. I made a quick stop in London and then Paris after Scotland with my sister and niece and then bid them adieu to finally start my art residency that I had been anticipating for almost a year. It ended up being everything I had imagined and then some.
I purposely didn’t plan any of my art projects in advance because I wanted all my inspiration to come from my environment. And to be honest, that gave me a little anxiety because I wasn’t sure if any inspiration would come, but wow was I wrong! As soon as I arrived, I felt exactly as if I were Belle walking through her little Provincial village, complete with the old ringing church bell and all the locals saying “Bonjour!” as I walked past them. As someone who is obsessed with French culture, I was in heaven.
I met several of my housemates as soon as I arrived, some were painters like me, but there was also a fashion designer and a quilter in the mix, all from different parts of the world. It was so refreshing to be surrounded by other creatives who are passionate about their craft, and I had five whole weeks to soak it all in. Except there was one problem, I didn’t have any art supplies! Aside from some paint brushes and a couple of canvases I bought in Paris, I had nothing. I ended up ordering a small oil painting kit from Amazon (I know, I know...I was desperate what can I say?) and a container of molding paste, but in the meantime, my fellow oil-painter in the residency offered me some of her supplies to hold me over. I got straight to work.
During my first week in the village, I did a lot of exploring on foot, especially since the weather was a perfect 70’s and sunny. At times it felt like I was still in SoCal. I walked through the vineyards, visited the village cemetery and churches and made friends with all the cats. I even met some of the locals and did my best to speak as much French as I could, since very few people there spoke English. I had been learning French for a few years prior to the residency, so I was able to hold my own and feel comfortable enough to make mistakes because the people were so kind and patient. During my walks, I noticed all of these beautiful empty snail shells, and if you’re familiar with any of my art or have read my past blogs about mixed media, you probably know where I’m going with this.
As I collected the shells, the idea for my first piece was starting to marinate in my mind. When I was in Paris, I bought a 16” diameter circular canvas and decided that would be the one to use. I remembered this photo I took of a fountain when I was walking down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and then knew exactly what I was going to create. I used the comedy drama face from the fountain as my subject and the snails became the hair, kind of like a clown wig. “La Comedienne” was born.
Piggy-backing on the snail concept, I already had ideas for my 2nd oil painting. One of the other canvases I had was an 8” diameter circle, so I decided that I would simply paint the snail shell itself. The shells are incredibly beautiful when you look at them closely, with all these varieties of stripes and brown/gold tones, so I wanted to highlight that beauty and paint a larger-than-life snail shell. Painting number two was appropriately named “L’escargot.”
My 3rd piece, much like “La Comedienne” was a hybrid of inspiration. When I was in London, my sister, niece and I had just enough time to visit the British Museum before our train to Paris. I saw this beautiful sculpture of Buddha and took a picture of it, having no idea that it would become the subject for one of my paintings. During one of my many walks through the village, I noticed all of these acorn caps on the ground, and being the squirrel that I am, started picking them up, wondering how I could incorporate them in my next painting. And then it dawned on me, they are the perfect size and shape to depict the texture of Buddha’s hair. I named this painting “Le Petit Prince” after the classic book written by French author Antoine de Saint Exupéry. I had read that book in high school French class and bought a copy for myself as a souvenir when I was in Paris. It was the perfect name for this mixed media artwork.
My 4th art project was a bit unconventional for me because I decided to do a landscape painting, something I haven’t really attempted since high school. One of the things that almost everyone associates with Provence are lavender fields. Unfortunately, I had missed lavender season, which is in the summertime, but I still saw the fields and could imagine how stunning it must be when everything is in full bloom. That inspired me to create my own surreal and stylized lavender landscape oil painting. I named this piece “The Veil,” for reasons that are quite personal to me. Someday I will go back to Provence to experience the splendor of all the colors and fragrances of the fields at their peak. I took pictures of all my paintings using different parts of the village as my backdrop, and for this piece, I was lucky enough to get a private tour of one of the village chapels and take pictures of this painting inside. The chapel is called Notre-Dame de Beauvoir and was built in 1079 with remnants of old frescos inside. I felt so honored to be able to photograph my art surrounded by such incredible history.
And let's not forget about those adorable village cats. I’m not exaggerating when I say I have at least 1000 cat pics on my phone after that trip. And because my interaction with the cats was such an impressionable part of my residency, I absolutely had to paint a few of them. I ended up choosing this little ginger cat and this other grey and white kitty that I met while I was working in the atelier. The photo I took of the ginger was perfect because it showed him standing between this railing that made him look like a tiny little tiger in a cage, and thus became the reference for “Le Tigre en Cage.”
The other cat (which I named Picattso), was my favorite of all the cats. She was so curious and would hang out with me while I was painting, looking at my palette and crawling around my workstation. She was always on the move, so it was hard to take photos of her, but I managed to get an action shot of her playing with a piece of crumpled paper on the floor. And this is where it all comes full circle. I decided to replace that piece of paper with something a little more interesting. If you guessed snail shell then bravo, you’ve been paying attention! “La coquette” (the flirt) became my final residency painting and it was the perfect ending to one of the most magical experiences I have ever had in my life.
There is obviously so much more I experienced during my five weeks at La Maison de Beaumont, but if I typed it all it would take 5 hours to read...this is the CliffsNotes version! If and when the opportunity presents itself, I would without a doubt go back for a round two art residency in that exact same place. If you’re interested in seeing more videos and photos of my experience, visit my Instagram account @shireenreneeart and check out “Art Residence” in the highlights section. And if you're curious about the residency program, visit their website here. Thank you for coming on this journey with me and I hope you’ll follow me on the next one!