max weaves

I recently came across these pictures of my son Max weaving his first and only tapestry.  I especially love the first picture - those feet!  It must be 8 or 9 years ago. He wove with the abandon and confidence of all the children I've ever shown how to weave and ended up with a perfectly Eiffel Tower shaped tapestry!

You can see the Kate Derum exhibition catalogue here. Jilly Edwards got a special mention. Congratulations!

les jardins suspendus de Marqueyssac

For several years now I've been wanting to visit the topiary gardens at Marqueyssac. A friend sent me Anna Pavord's column in the Guardian where she spoke of them and I filed the cutting away in my 'must do' notebook. Well we don't get out much! Partly because we live in a very nice place and are busy and partly because I have a real aversion to sitting in a car for more than an hour if it's not absolutely necessary. Last week however, before the holidays ended, I donned the hat of shame and we took to the road in the Mog.

What a brilliant day it was! The gardens are mad and quite spectacular. There is the very ordered, clipped, formal part near the house but there are also acres of woods with follies and views, cascades and  pools. You can walk for about 4 miles in all and we did. Just lovely. There is also a tearoom - a rare thing in this part of the world. The French just don't get that if you're going to look at art or visit a garden you also need to eat cake...!

The house itself has the most beautiful lauze roof. It is undergoing restoration and the knitting together of the new and old is amazingly skilled. It costs a fortune so I guess they're doing it as and when money is available but in the meantime finish it nicely rather than tarpaulining the roof.  The whole thing weighs 300 tonnes.

tapestry workshop

Some photos from the tapestry workshop I ran in July. There were seven students, some of whom have some experience of weaving and some who were completely new to it. Four francophones and 3 anglophones which was a bit taxing for me but we managed!  We had two intense days of setting up  warps, learning to mix colours, weaving different colours side by side and making shapes. The more experienced weavers experimented with texture and weaving on a finer scale than before. Everyone got a lot done and left happy on the Sunday evening.  We picnicked under the plane trees on the village square each day and the village goat made an appearance now and then just to add a bit of local colour!

Ian Warburton

                                         photo Claude Petit



Warb has a show of recent paintings at the tour de Montsalès until the 21st of August. Opening hours are 3 - 7pm every day. Entry is free.

Anybody wishing to support the work of the gallery could become a friend (adhérant) for 18€ per annum.  All the money for running the tower has to be raised from private and corporate donors as well as fundraising events such as the tapestry weekend held in July, sales of catalogues and refreshments in the tour, the annual quine etc.

Our main expense is our gardienne Corinne who is at the tour Monday to Friday to greet visitors.  Everything else - design and distribution of publicity material -  posters, catalogues, cards, the hanging of shows, website design and maintenance,  meeting artists and planning the programme, gardiennage of the tour at the weekend etc. is all done by a handful of volunteers.

Any help gratefully received!

weaving weekend

This tapestry was a nice surprise in my inbox this week. I taught Naomi to weave when she was about 13 or 14 and although life has taken her in other directions she still finds the time and inclination to make tapestries now and then.

This summer I will be teaching a beginners tapestry weekend in Montsalès.  If there is enough take up it will be at the Salles des Fêtes and if there's only a few of us we'll probably do it at my studio. The dates are 20 and 21 July from 9.30 - 12.30 and 2 till 6pm. (This is France, there has to be a long lunch break!) The cost is 200€ with all the proceeds going to the Tour. You can find a list of other workshops on offer here.

univers d'artistes

ceramics by jean-pierre chollet

painting by jean-pierre gilly

carved wooden reliefs by Kathryn O'Kell

ceramics by sylviane perret

painting by jean-pierre gilly

I managed to take a few photos before my camera battery gave out. Will go back and try again.

univers d'artistes

Univers d'Artistes is an exhibition of the work of seven artists at Galerie la Tour Montsalès until the 28th of May.

There are three ceramicists (Jean-Pierre Chollet, Sylviane Perret and Patrice Teulières) two wood carvers (Jean-François Delorme and Kathryn O'Kell), one painter (Jean-Pierre Gilly) and me!
Alongside their own work each artist is showing objects from their homes or workshops which have particular emotional significance for them.  There are stones, fossils, birds nests and tools as well as some works by other artists and makers, each accompanied by a short text.  I'll post some photos of the show just as soon as I take them but in the meantime if you should be in the area, do drop by!

carved wood panel above by Jean-François Delorme