Artist as Traveler, Part 3
The beautiful back side of the Basilica of Sainte Madeleine in Vézelay.
Our last field trip of the workshop took us to Vézelay. It was a quiet Monday morning when we arrived and we shared the site with very few others. Something about the Place in front of the cathedral filled me with a sense of awesomeness as I entered it this time. Called the Eternal Hill, I was struck by its dramatic history, its endurance through the ages, its marvelous beauty, and its symbolism as a center of peace in the world. As Holly put it, much better than I could, “it was just divine.” Being there for a few hours had a very healing affect.
Rats gnawing at the base of the Basilica "to bring us from the divine back down to earth." Photo by Holly Krueger.
After visiting the Basilica we had a nice picnic on the walls overlooking the valley of the river Cure.
Beautiful view over the valley. Photo by Chris Spry.
It was a lovely day and we sat in the sun while we ate lunch, enjoying the left overs from our communal dinner party of the night before.
Zack and Gail on a bench in Vézelay. Photo by Holly Krueger.
On our way back home to the atelier we drove past our favorite views to enjoy the beautiful countryside around the area. Rick drove half the crew and Chris (or Tobi) the other. I had arranged for Nelly to be my second driver but she became ill just before the workshop began and so did not come. I was so grateful that Chris and Tobi were willing to step in. Many people don’t enjoy driving in foreign countries, but luckily those two generously came forward and just happened to have rented a car for the journey they were planning to take south after leaving our place.
Our faithful chauffeur. Photo by Valerie Fahey.
I never tire of the Morvan Valley surrounding Vézelay, the site of our honeymoon back in 1996. This place captured our hearts many years ago, and it has not yet let them go.
Vauban Bridge.
I had wanted to include a dinner at our favorite restaurant in Sémur as a final treat, but unfortunately it was closed. We decided instead to reserve in Tonnerre at l’Abbaye, which we had heard good things about. It is a very lovely location, in the hills above the city. The dinner was reasonable, although nothing as good as the one I had imagined.
Knives out. Photo by Gail Rieke.
This report of our time together in the workshop has gone on for weeks now, but the workshop itself passed very quickly. Even though we did quite a lot of galavanting, we also seemed to have accomplished quite a lot in the workshop itself. Tobi, who really knew where she was going with her work, created several very charming little books. The final one she made was full of colorful collages, made from painted papers she had brought with her. Everything she did had a richness and charm to it.
Tobi with her final projects.
Holly made some very beautiful envelopes, some leaf prints and started on a book to mount her photographs and/or cyanotypes from the trip, to be finished at home. Being a professional paper conservator, Holly understands and respects paper. Each thing she did seemed to me to be done with easy perfection. She is also a wealth of knowledge about glues and photographic techniques.
Holly and her projects.
Valerie made a kind of Madonna which was begun by doing a rubbing of our Kwan Yin, the Chinese mother of mercy in our garden. Somehow I didn’t get a photo of this but it was inspired by an experience she had in Lyon, where she was before coming here. This piece is in process and this figure has a special significance for her. Meanwhile she made some cyanotypes and had a lot of fun playing around with those. She made some envelopes and filled in pages of her journal.
Valerie's stash of projects, many still in process.
Chis was very focused on his journal box. He collected many objects to fill it up. It turned out very well. I think it was an excellent idea and his execution was wonderful as well. It had that architectural aspect which comes naturally to him. I learned a lot watching him work.
At the bottom of his box Chis has a space for his 3D items which were collected from here and there.
As for myself, I created some evelopes and got some ideas for a book form which I did not finish.
A start at a book inspired by our summer garden.
Gail calls herself an “assemblage” artist. She really is an expert at arranging things, juxtapostioning various bits and creating a visual scene.
Gail's bundles.
It has now been several weeks since the workshop finished. I have still not entirely completed the project I began when everyone was here, but I am working on it slowly and enjoying the process. As always with Gail, I am left with a happy energy to propel me forwards in my creative practice.
I thank everyone who participated. It was a wonderful week together.