Welcome back to Chez Nous.
Good news - as the renovation of my atelier d’art is progressing slowly but steadily, I have managed to reclaim my number one metier, painting. And for once I am not talking about painting walls, but painting as in fine art and illustration. Although the emphasis of this blog has been on the renovation and restoration of our house here in Mazamet, I feel it is time to come clean about my artistic endeavours also, as I am currently embarking on a painting project about Chez Nous and more widely, the region I am lucky to live in.
Getting back on my vocation full time has been
both weird and wonderful after focussing on other projects for nearly six
months. On top of that, the last time I
set out to paint a coherent body of work to be exhibited together was for my
degree show, back in Edinburgh College of Art in the Auld Reekie in 2014! To best
explain what I plan to establish by painting a series of pieces about my own
dwelling, I better start from the beginning… of what my art is all about in the
first place:
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Some of my earlier paintings from 2006 to 2010 |
Some people see themselves as artists primarily, but I have always
been a painter. Working towards perfecting my trade through
mastering different materials, repeated sketching or meticulous base-work such
as priming my own canvasses is very important to me. It has been a long road to find out what my
preferred subjects are, from early works inspired by art nouveau and surrealism
to brash portraits of objects commanding to be gazed at, but at this point of
my career I am most inspired by different materials and patterns, iconic brands
and cherished things. Acknowledging the
weight of the history of art so far, as well as the significance of colour in
two dimensional art, I still want my pieces to be playful. The concept of nostalgia, too, plays a huge part
in my way of painting things and wanting to inspire the viewer to start paying
attention to the beauty found in everyday: how we dress ourselves, the products
we consume, advertisement, signage, décor…
I firmly believe most things around us deserve a second look and by
elevating mundane subjects into art by painting them in larger than life scale
on canvas, is my way of doing so.
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Some of my most recent, pattern based pieces |
But leaving my artists manifesto aside, by
choosing to paint my house, my home,
and exhibit the pieces for all the world to see, is my way of documenting what
is here and paying tribute to the people who built this lovely house as their
home over a century ago. This house is a
treasure chest of ideas for a pattern-obsessed painter and a history buff: The wallpapers alone would keep me busy for
years in the studio, not to mention the intricate tilework and the plaster
details with their hidden symbols. And
there are many homes just like mine on this street alone, some occupied, but
many waiting for a fool of a renovator to take them on and love them
again.
Mazamet used to be one of the richest regional
towns in France with more gold stored in its banks than in the branches of
Paris. The textile, leather and
pelt-industries created a steady stream of wealth making it possible for merchants
of all classes, including the cheesemongers who set up shop in Chez Nous, to build beautiful houses,
using the most fashionable materials and decorating them stylishly following the
latest trends. It looked like the economic
growth was never ending; even the wars did not stop the production in the
Montagne Noire - if anything the war effort meant more business for the local
mills producing textiles and gear for the military. But come 1970’s and the rules of commerce had
changed: The local producers could no
longer keep up with the competition once the cheap imports started flooding in
from Asia, China in particular. Today
hardly anything is left from the glory days of the industrial dominance of this
region, except the hollow shells of the factories scattered along the waterways
tricking down from the mountain.
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Old postcards of Mazamet showing the town centre, processing of pelts - a key industry for the region and one of the now abandoned factories. |
With no work and mounting social problems, people
that grew up here were forced to look for their fortunes elsewhere, leaving homes
built by their ancestors behind. These properties
soon lost their value and small townhouses as well as the grand villas of the factory
owners were left to decay. Investment
and with it, new residents, are returning to Mazamet, though, have been for
some time now. The agreeable climate
together with affordable properties and its authentic small town-feel makes
this a popular spot for the English expats.
I have hear Tarn, our department, being describes as the best value for
money in the whole of France by friends who invest in property here. Due to spectacularly cheap rents for
businesses, manufacturing and commerce are making a comeback too. Just the other week I read about somebody
setting up an artisanal sake distillery nearby and the town centre is been
re-fitted as we speak to attract more shopkeepers and restaurateurs. Our mayor has a real interest in encouraging
all kinds of businesses and under his schemes especially young entrepreneurs
have had a change to start-up businesses in Mazamet.
Not quite the renaissance of the Montagne Noire
just yet, but things are improving. People’s
attitudes towards historic homes on the other hand, not so much. We have been able to buy and re-claim so many
materials such as tiles so easily because there seems to be very little
interest in preserving the old. From
every one person I know who is interested in respectful renovation of their old
house, there seems to be dozens who would rather skip the painstaking
restoration process and cover everything with plasterboard and laminate. Their home and their rules, of course, but
surely there is no harm in giving the old another change?
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Small watercolour and pencil sketches inspired by the patterns of our wonderful encaustic cement tiles |
By choosing to paint my tiles, the weather
beaten front door of ours or 60’s floral wallpaper is not to say this is art – it is to encourage the viewer,
you, to look again after something has been elevated
into art. What people take from my
work is of course subjective, but if it inspires at least one person to start looking
for the beauty of the everyday in their own lives, job well jobbed.
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Tile sketches in blush pink, carmine and burgundy |
Art does not need to be this monster that only
lurks in museums, knobby galleries and hipster bars – it is all around us,
where we choose to see beauty.
Painting is my way to engage with the world
around me. It is a way to document my
life and my feelings, but also a way to make a living, thus curated for an
audience. My work at its most truthful
lies somewhere between these parameters.
By creating art inspired by my own home I am turning something very private
into something professional, but in a way, this is what I am already doing by
writing this blog. These little
watercolours illustrating my thoughts in this post will serve as a template to
start working on canvas – canvasses that may one day be hung in somebody else’s
home. The idea of that is both thought provoking
as well as bizarre.
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My front door. |
Once the day comes to exhibit my creations out
in the big wide world, I will naturally be starting local. During my time here I have noticed it is
often those that are the closest that can truly be the blindest when it comes
to valuing our surroundings. And as it
is everywhere else, it often takes an appreciative stranger to convince the
locals that it’s not all just doom and gloom here. Mazamet really deserves to be loved again and
through my work, I want to be the one carrying her torch.
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