The International Artists & Writers Residence
Chateaux D'Orquevaux
Champagne-Ardenne, France.
May 16 - 29, 2024
Chateaux D'Orquevaux
Champagne-Ardenne, France.
May 16 - 29, 2024
 Photo credit: Chateau d'Orquevaux
I've just returned from the International Artists and Writers Residency at the amazing Chateau D'Orquevaux in Champagne-Artdenne, France. What an exquisite and inspiring time!!
From a visual perspective, the Chateau is magical, and it's no surprise that it has won accolades for its beauty. The original Chateau D'Orquevaux was built in the early 1700's in the style of Louis XV. Today it stands in the style of Napoleon III in the manner of a royal hunting lodge. The Chateau has been privately owned by the Attias family since 2002, who host the International Artists and Writers Residence as well as operate the Diderot art gallery (Named after Denis Diderot, a master blacksmith and politician during the 1700's and the son of the Chateau's owner Abel Carillon de Vandeul). Ziggy Attias, Châtelain since 2016 is an artist, designer, entrepreneur, and award-winning filmmaker. Along with Beulah van Rensburg, he is co-director of the residency program of Chateau d’Orquevaux. Beulah is also a practicing artist and uses her vast experience working with artists for over 20 years to conduct studio visits with the artists at the residency which includes discussing career, direction and to offer critiques. Prior to joining The Chateau team, Beulah was the founder of Van Rensburg Galleries in Hong Kong and Australia. |
Photo credit: Chateau d'Orquevaux
Hosts, and fellow Artists,
Ziggy Attias and Beulah van Rensburg 
Photo credit: Chateau d'Orquevaux
Our fabulous french chefs,
Remi and Marie Gingembre |
During the residency, our studios ranged from the converted stables to the gatehouse at one of the entries to the Chateau. The Open Studio includes loft-like spaces with breathtaking views of the lawn and forests from the second and third flower. I also had the opportunity to share the beautiful main floor studio with my studio mate, Elise Mills. Part of the day included presentations by the photographers there in Residence including outstanding drone digital photography, murals, jewelry making, drawing, Plein Aire, figuritive, abstract and more. And yes, each day concluded with local wine and champagne (for which the region is world-renowned), along with cheeses and charcuterie and a view of the swans below on the Chateau's lake! Many thanks to our fabulous chefs Remy and Marie Gingembre for all of the amazing food we enjoyed!
Inspired by the truly international flavor of the residency, as well as the gorgeous environment of the Chateau and surrounding Champagne-Ardenne region, I worked on two large-scale abstract acrylic paintings:
In Honor of the French Olympics 2024 and
View from the Studio - Chateau D'Orequevaux
In Honor of the French Olympics 2024 and
View from the Studio - Chateau D'Orequevaux
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Packaged and shipped expertly from France by Ziggy and Beluah, I will put the finishing touches on my work over the next few weeks.
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With much gratefulness to Ziggy, Beulah, staff and all my fellow artists, designers, photographers - who made the International Residence at Chateau D'Orquevaux such an extraordinary experience! I know that the connections I made thee will last a lifetime and will continue to inspire my creative process in ways I am only beginning to discover.
Click here: www.chateauorquevaux.com
and learn more about this once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Click here: www.chateauorquevaux.com
and learn more about this once-in-a-lifetime experience!
RUC Rural Residency for Contemporary Art
Val Camonica, Italy - 2019 & 2022
RUC is an international artist residency, welcoming artists, musicians and writers from all over the world. RUC is situated on an estate of 8 hectares
(around 20 acres) on the hills, ringed by higher mountains, with a wide meadow and wooded area, a vegetable garden, several fruit trees, and vineyards that produce very refined wines with innovative methods. On this property there are three country houses creating a tiny rural community, and two villas where artists are hosted, the headquarters Villa Amati, and the Casetta, an ancient rural mansion restored with comfort and charm.
RUC supports multicultural dialogue and interdisciplinary exchange between international artists and local traditions in a rural dimension that offers artistic time in solitude and exchanges between peers. Sited in a remote location, RUC’s isolated beauty is the ideal environment for intellectual work and creates optimal conditions for concentration and creativity, international exchange, friendship, and mutual understanding. RUC believes that experiencing the ancestral magic of rural life in the Alps may enhance inspiration and support creativity through reconnecting artists to the natural world and to their genuine self.
In this context, experiencing the UNESCO site of Valcamonica Rock Engravings is a central part of the experience for artists spending time at RUC. This ancient artistic way of expression shows its powerful and ancestral magic through the reflection of its primordial archetypes in the work of contemporary artists. The large concentration of signs suggest the special nature of this area. In fact, this landscape offers a great diversity of intertwined, overlapping forms such as plains, terraces, woods, water, diverse vegetation, and in this context ancient stones create a pictorial Fig. II imagery that already belonged to the prehistoric man.
This ‘pictorial’ environment, is also a communicative one due to the strong dialogue between the mountains and its villages, and among the hermits who lived here. The rock engravings are inserted in this system of imagery and communication, an uncontaminated, pure diary of sensations and needs, whose symbols on the rocks suggest the close relationship between man and environment. RUC is immersed in this complex and serves as a link between various protagonists: visual artists, writers, art historians, archaeologists, friends, landlords, artisans, and peasants who have been living and cultivating the land here over the years. ~ RUC Rural Residency in Contemporary Art
Click here to see my gallery of RUC-inspired paintings
(around 20 acres) on the hills, ringed by higher mountains, with a wide meadow and wooded area, a vegetable garden, several fruit trees, and vineyards that produce very refined wines with innovative methods. On this property there are three country houses creating a tiny rural community, and two villas where artists are hosted, the headquarters Villa Amati, and the Casetta, an ancient rural mansion restored with comfort and charm.
RUC supports multicultural dialogue and interdisciplinary exchange between international artists and local traditions in a rural dimension that offers artistic time in solitude and exchanges between peers. Sited in a remote location, RUC’s isolated beauty is the ideal environment for intellectual work and creates optimal conditions for concentration and creativity, international exchange, friendship, and mutual understanding. RUC believes that experiencing the ancestral magic of rural life in the Alps may enhance inspiration and support creativity through reconnecting artists to the natural world and to their genuine self.
In this context, experiencing the UNESCO site of Valcamonica Rock Engravings is a central part of the experience for artists spending time at RUC. This ancient artistic way of expression shows its powerful and ancestral magic through the reflection of its primordial archetypes in the work of contemporary artists. The large concentration of signs suggest the special nature of this area. In fact, this landscape offers a great diversity of intertwined, overlapping forms such as plains, terraces, woods, water, diverse vegetation, and in this context ancient stones create a pictorial Fig. II imagery that already belonged to the prehistoric man.
This ‘pictorial’ environment, is also a communicative one due to the strong dialogue between the mountains and its villages, and among the hermits who lived here. The rock engravings are inserted in this system of imagery and communication, an uncontaminated, pure diary of sensations and needs, whose symbols on the rocks suggest the close relationship between man and environment. RUC is immersed in this complex and serves as a link between various protagonists: visual artists, writers, art historians, archaeologists, friends, landlords, artisans, and peasants who have been living and cultivating the land here over the years. ~ RUC Rural Residency in Contemporary Art
Click here to see my gallery of RUC-inspired paintings
Photographs from my experiences at RUC
2022
2019
