Pays de Bray panorama during a misty morning, June 2009Just come back from a weekend jaunt to Massy in the Pays de Bray, Normandy, France to attend the opening event of the Labyrinth group exhibition where my piece Honey For The Mistress Of the Labyrinth is showing until the end of October 2009. It was a long voyage, ten hours each way and 900 miles in total but it was worth it. I've had work featured in international shows before: New York, Finland, Sweden: but I've never been able to travel to go see it. Normandy was close enough to give it a try, and happily my partner was willing to drive.
It was definitely worth it. Artmazia is situated in a beautiful part of France, and owned and run by Englishman Geoff Troll who made us both feel very welcome. Consisting of two large exhibition spaces and a four hectare plot of land, Artmazia is a sight to behold - there are sculptures of all kinds dotted around the gardens along with a maze a stone circle and a viewpoint. Some of the sculptures you have to properly hunt around for and are often situated in quite intimate spaces within the gardens.
Geoff seemed quite pleased to have some English artists present at the opening: here he is giving a short speech to welcome everyone to the vernissage (opening event) and to thank the artists for coming. He gave a special mention to my work, which he said reminded him of Aboriginal Art which was a thrill for me to hear - Geoff has a huge collection of Aboriginal Art and in a few spare moments he showed me some of the smaller pieces. Really beautiful, eye-opening stuff. As always in France, the event included a lot of food and drink, and I can definitely recommend both the local Neufchatel cheese and the Normandy cider!
Here's me grinning in front of my work. It was very fulfilling to see it, and it had been hung very well: I was a bit worried since 15 square-foot panels can't have been easy to hang, but they did a fine job.
In the morning, we went for another walk around the gardens and found the stone circle (my partner pictured). I also captured the misty Normandy morning in the panorama at the top of this post. Pictured above, too, is the cottage we stayed the night in (again on the Artmazia land) all wooden and beautifully rustic.
All in all, a fantastic trip and wish it could have been longer than a single weekend. If you're ever in Normandy or the Pays de Bray, Massy and Artmazia are definitely worth a visit and I'm hoping that either this autumn or next spring we'll be able to go back for a much longer stay...
It was definitely worth it. Artmazia is situated in a beautiful part of France, and owned and run by Englishman Geoff Troll who made us both feel very welcome. Consisting of two large exhibition spaces and a four hectare plot of land, Artmazia is a sight to behold - there are sculptures of all kinds dotted around the gardens along with a maze a stone circle and a viewpoint. Some of the sculptures you have to properly hunt around for and are often situated in quite intimate spaces within the gardens.
Geoff seemed quite pleased to have some English artists present at the opening: here he is giving a short speech to welcome everyone to the vernissage (opening event) and to thank the artists for coming. He gave a special mention to my work, which he said reminded him of Aboriginal Art which was a thrill for me to hear - Geoff has a huge collection of Aboriginal Art and in a few spare moments he showed me some of the smaller pieces. Really beautiful, eye-opening stuff. As always in France, the event included a lot of food and drink, and I can definitely recommend both the local Neufchatel cheese and the Normandy cider!
Here's me grinning in front of my work. It was very fulfilling to see it, and it had been hung very well: I was a bit worried since 15 square-foot panels can't have been easy to hang, but they did a fine job.
In the morning, we went for another walk around the gardens and found the stone circle (my partner pictured). I also captured the misty Normandy morning in the panorama at the top of this post. Pictured above, too, is the cottage we stayed the night in (again on the Artmazia land) all wooden and beautifully rustic.All in all, a fantastic trip and wish it could have been longer than a single weekend. If you're ever in Normandy or the Pays de Bray, Massy and Artmazia are definitely worth a visit and I'm hoping that either this autumn or next spring we'll be able to go back for a much longer stay...
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