Coming or going?

It feels a bit like a hurricane has passed over La Rivière since my last post, leaving me quite breathless. I'm not quite sure whether I'm coming or going.

photo from here

In any case, in a couple of hours I'm definitely GOING - taking off to Wales again for another retreat where I'm hoping to find myself before I return to France!

In the mean time, I thought I would give you a bit of an update as to the multitude of things that have been going on in since August 22, including, but not limited to a little splashing around with paint ;-)

First of all there was Beaker's 50th birthday bash to prepare. Yours truly being responsible for catering and decoration. My new studio was requistioned as an emergency food storage unit so I gathered the troops and we spent a couple of days cooking up a storm.

(click on the photos to enlarge them)

The boys looked after turning the house inside out … Literally!

Wine, champagne, food… Talk about the fall of Rome! 

But I'll spare you the boring details :)

What next? 1) Chickpea's 12th birthday sleepover and more cooking/no sleep. 2) A pitiful start to the school homeschooling year that has been put back to my return. The messies are shaking in their boots of course. 3) Trying not to waste the truckloads kilos of tomatoes wonderfully kind friends have been giving me by cooking up relish, sauces and ratatouille…

4) A touch of calligraphy to calm my frazzled nerves…

… with a little colour to brighten up the impending autumn

It's now 8:24 am and I've been sitting here since 7am. 

If I don't shower I'll  never make it to the airport by 10am.

The chutney is still cooking on the hob.

There's no time left for me to make anything else, not even conversation.

Much love and see you after the 17th

I'll be a year older by then, 

and hopefully graced with enough wisdom to start doing less!!

Paris Je T'aime… But Ca M'énerve!

I can't believe I got back from Paris nearly a week ago .There's something about that city that still pulses inside me even 16 years after I first landed.Truthfully, when I'm there in August ...ie: the weather's balmy, 

there are no traffic jams, 

(Champs Elysées, one Friday night in August)
there is almost no doggie doodoo in the streets and we can grab a park anywhere, even on la rue Royale for a quick afternoon tea at my favourite salon de thé

and the service staff are all friendly and smiling!   When I re-discover the artists at la Place du Tertre 

in Montmartre

and the Tour Eiffel sparkles above, waving her magic wand like a benevolent good fairy over her subjects

I am once again filled with wonder and nostalgia for Paris the magnificent city of lights.
But then I remember the gruesome reality of carrying tonnes of (take your pick) food shopping/suitcases, sleeping children up long flights of stairs several times per week (seriously, they used to call me the bag lady and not for my Louis Vuitton!!!), turning for hours to find a parking spot in front of the apartment at 3am or 3pm for that matter (HORROR after finally getting back from holidays and having to lug a whole family and car full of STUFF without waking the building), Beaker always missing the first part of any opera or theatre production because he'd only allowed 1h30 to do the 15k trip into La Bastille from the outskirts and not 2h and WORST OF ALL - constantly forbidding the messies to run in the grass because of all the dog poop.
Funnily enough, those memories don't seem quite so bad now. I could almost move back there… Almost...Helmut Fritz however (below) has a new take on what annoys him about Paris and we giggled away singing this song all the way up there and back ( a mere 7 hour drive each way). It's in French, and quintessentially Parisian, but you might be able to find a translation…It appears that you'll also have to click on the link to see it on You Tube.



As Helmut says, "How annoying all those people who queue outside Ladurée just for some macarons….(I remember saying that to Beaker early on in our marriage, 'I am so NOT queueing outside in the cold just to eat a BISCUIT!!' one winter's evening. But I did, and although they only made the fabulous 'DIVA' from Banyuls and spices that year to my knowledge, I never regretted it!)

Helmut - they really ARE good!"

However, my friends, I still prefer my haven in the south-west countryside. Besides - I bought the Ladurée cookbook (in English) so I no longer have to salivate every time I think of Paris any more ;-)

You can get the recipe book too - from HERE

Looking forward to catching up with you all next week. 

Off to bed for me!

 I have a 6.00am bike ride to compensate for all the sugar ;-)

Much love

PS. you can click on my facebook page for more Paris colour

Love and Do What You Will (while I'm in Paris)

It's nearly 1.30am and if I was a sensible girl, I would already be well in bed catching a few zeds before the alarm goes off at 6am. Sensible, however, is a word that's been banished from my vocabulary due to its palid shade and boring, flat heeled, black shoes. 

Tomorrow is a mission of LOVE - and we all know that LOVE overrides practical sensibility by a long shot. LOVE prevails. LOVE lifts us up where we belong . Oh Goodness, stop me before I start singing the Moulin Rouge soundtrack and wake the newly arrived messmonsters, would you be so kind?

Paris is reputed to be the city of Lurrrrrrrrrrve n'est ce pas? I've decided to whip up there on a whim and verify that for myself for a week. Ok - not really on a whim… but definitely  on a mission of love. Chickpea has landed on the home shores of Paris at last and is waiting, safely and patiently (Even a little too patiently for my liking: MUM DON'T COME TOMORROW PLEASE BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO GALLERIES LAFAYETTE!!) at her best friend's place for the remaining messmonsters and excited parents to drive up and drag her home kicking and screaming reclaim her.

It's a seven hour drive… which will get us there just in time for afternoon tea at Dalloyau and a wander round Boulogne Billancourt where we used to live. There's a great Lebanese restaurant there which is handy so I don't have to plan dinner! Excellent, that's tomorrow's food taken care of ;-)

Then it's four days jam packed with Angelina's on the rue de Rivoli (for the bona fide best hot chocolate in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD), Berthillon Ice Cream on l'Ile St Louis for the bona fide BEST mango sorbet and chocolate ice cream in the WHOLE UNIVERSE. Honestly, if chocolate grew on trees - that's what it would taste like! And KOBA for the best Japanese meal outside of Japan or Australia in the rue Michodière.  You may be wondering why I am going to Paris and not thinking of escargot or cuisses de grenouille...

Dash the frogslegs. I shall heed St Augustin's words once again and indeed do - or in this case EAT - what I will.  May I suggest you have a wonderful time doing the same :)

Should I reassure you that we are planning to do things other than eating? Like visiting the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Jardin des Plantes for the paleontology department -blame that on Pokemon and his dinosaur craze, Notre Dame... We may even take a ride on the Bateau Mouche and OH GOD! NOT. eat the food!

I've an extra little secret to share with you. Funnily enough, every time I go on holidays 'back home,' coincidence would have it that another Aussie blogger happens to be holidaying in the same place. On Saturday I should be lucky enough to meet up with Julie from Being Ruby in Versailles. where we will see the Grandes Eaux Nocturnes (you can find out more about what it is if you click on the Versailles link). Sigh...  Fitting! The paper that inspired this phrase in Roman Capitals is an old ledger dating from 1715. I must look more closely to see if it isn't the deed to a magnificent chateau! ;-)

Au revoir and see you in a week all chubby cheeked and eyes a sparkle with the late putty recipe. Gloups :( sorry - you'd rather I go to Paris wouldn't you? ) 

Finding the key (right under your nose)

Hi possums,

After a brief stint of doing nothing for oh, all of five minutes, I got the impulse to get busy again. There's a definite magnetic pull towards my studio when the messmonsters are engaged in their own frenzied activity hundreds of kilometres away from the house. I guess I can legitimately count my meditation time as delightfully doing nothing (or just 'Being' - as you so eloquently put it Pooch).

My studio however, actively draws me in. When I open the door, I enter another world. An exciting world so full to overflowing with possibilities I feel I may never come out. It's a little like Alice falling falling falling down that rabbit hole. I could drown in possibility. The music goes on LOUD - will it be Reggae or Rock? Country (Can't hide it - my father used to sing country on stage and I still have a fondness for the lilting tones that take me back to my childhood) or Classical? And then I become lost in a shroud of melody that takes on a silence of its own. Time stands still.

I'm not sure you needed to know all of that but I had to share :) Thanks for listening. I still have to pinch myself everyday that I have this space. I even nearly bowled poor Skippy (ie: my landlord) over in a public display of blubbering teary gratitude for allowing me to redesign his garage. Luckily for us both I held myself in check and regained my composure just in time offering a pointedly shiny-eyed, meaningful look  instead. You see, he wants me to dismantle my atelier if when I ever leave this little haven in the Toulouse countryside. Yet he keeps 'just passing by' with some feigned interest in what I've been taking my brush to.  Secretly, between you and me… I think he likes his new garage ;-)

So do you remember this? The airplane of my imagination?

With a little pfiffing and pfaffing, the tweak of a brush, some sunshine and great music, it's transformed into this… I thought I'd show it to you anyway. It's the same text, in both French and English, as this one and the same 'curvy Roman' hand.

I've found my key. It's having my own space. Previously I've always had to find it inside myself. Now I have an outside that equals the inside and the joy is palpable. Hope you like what comes of it :)

Now tell me,

What's the key to your happiness??

Ange

P.S. Lime putty recipe - sans photos tomorrow. Really! MAC still resolutely refuses to hand them over :( and I can't spend any more time trying to dig them back out. A promise is a promise after all and I'm already late getting it to you so you can rush out and change your interior design immediately as I'm sure you've been dying to do ;-)

Do you know how to do nothing?

"... Seeing cannot take place until you pause. Real creativity cannot occur as long as the creative impulse is constantly sublimated into habitual activity. At this late stage of conditioning, doing nothing alone can allow transformation to happen. Yet doing nothing must be based on clarity of vision. Knowing how to pause, not just outwardly, but throughout your being is a consummate art of living. Knowing really how to pause is the action of intelligence itself."

- G. Bluestone via Whisky River

(made by Jill Zaheer lucky MOI!!)

I am alone once again for 5 days. (IF you don't count the 2 piranas on legs guinea pigs I'm baby sitting, the baby hare I've been nursing for 4 weeks, nearly weaned and can release hopefully before the messmonsters get back, our two cats and Cinbad my crazy border collie). 

And here I am, a self confessed list maker, all set to go with my habitual list of things to do: clean the house, wash anything and everything I can get my hands on, make the house look pretty for when everyone comes back (and allow myself the illusion that it will stay that way when they do), go for a two hour bike ride, meditate, practice my guitar, fix my lapis lazuli mala … Sing loudly while painting to my heart's content. Voilà for day one! I'll spare you day two etc ;-)

(Just one of the pieces made by the talented Jill Zaheer for me during LaWendula's Paper swap)

The first part of the list brings me moral satisfaction. Like I've earned my time alone. I deserve it and can justify it. The second part - starting with the bike ride - is just for me. But it's still not doing NOTHING, is it?

Can you do nothing? 

I'd love to find out...

I find it really hard. Although last night I did, after everyone left in a flurry of actitivity.  I just sat, in the silence, watching the sun set over the trees, casting a golden light on the leaves and the prairie east of the house. It felt decadent. Like I shouldn't. It was naughty. Just sitting there. Watching. Breathing. And doing nothing. 

Who was it that said 'Nothing comes from doing Nothing?'  Shakespeare? I've decided to put it to the test? At least for an hour. I'm not sure I could do 'nothing' for much longer without getting darn fidgety, not to mention overcome with guilt! Let's see what I can come up with… What will I dare to find?

(Photo from my inspiration wall: Wise Words chosen by Gigi: to Dare, to Find. A fish hook made entirely of driftwood from a Hokitika artist in New Zealand.)

Doing nothing with clarity of vision: the action of intelligence itself. 

The idea is growing on me.

Update: dry your tears Pierrot

Thanks for your emails and comments. It looks like British Airways has come to the rescue and we will indeed make it over to the ditch to London. Direct from Toulouse to boot :) Strikers thwarted!

Did you notice the blue background behind Pierrot and Columbine? It's a medium sized door I'm working on. Stormy blue. Sort of fits this summer strike theme…

And here are some paper shells I've been making as my calligraphy dries. 

I'm imagining them as a wafty mobile floating in the summer breeze 

as it passes through my studio.

Don't forget to drop by The Altered Page to check out Seth's Style File.

I'm featured in there today along with some other fabulously interesting artists.

Have a great Sunday. 

I'm off to the airport :)

Mon ami Pierrot being Utterly British: Keeping a stiff upper lip!

If you have been paying attention my dearest Possums, or dropped by recently, you would be aware that I had planned to write a post this weekend. Yesterday in fact (one day late is better than one month as is my wont of late, n'est-ce pas? ;)

It was going to be upbeat. Racy. Dare I say witty even. First of all I was going to give you the secret recipe for the lime putty (ever had a witty lime putty recipe thrown at you?).

Unfortunately, the photos I took for the post have ALL disappeared, and are currently being held hostage by my computer. I know they are in there, because I can see the thumbnails… But each time I try to retreive one in full, there is a big blank space where the photo should be. "Ha!" said I. "Hah!" again. "This is but a minor setback; a childish game of hide and seek." So I gave my Mac that 'we are not amused' look I usually reserve for my messmonsters at crucial moments, took 3 deep breaths and raced up to the next door neighbour's to wench Libellule off the poney she should have put to sleep long before it got dark. That was at 10pm.

And THAT was when the bombshell dropped… You see, tomorrow, while Seth posts his Style File in which I am a rather chuffed participant this week, I was meant to be taking Chickpea to a long awaited horse-riding camp in England. We were to get up at the proverbial sparrow's and fly from Toulouse to London via Paris. Lunch in London then we would part ways - moi back home to Toulouse via Paris, and chickpea on to the riding centre with her very best friend whom she's not seen for a year. All thanks to Beaker's accumulated air miles with Air France.

Ever had a little message on your phone: "Flight Cancelled?" Sigh. Tears. Exasperation. Powerlessness. Anger and Frustration Dammit!!!!! It's summer… and strike time again. Eh OUI mes amis, Air France, French rail and French ferries - they make a sport of it every holiday season.

It only seems like yesterday that I raced over to Avignon (a mere 4 ½ hours away) to pick up my darling friend Kim who, wide eyed an innocent, had never until then even imagined the dark and dastardly alter ego lurking behind France's exquisite Ladurée macarons… You can read about that adventure here.  Ah BUGGER! London's just that little bit further than Avignon…

So what do I do? Drown my sorrows in champagne like Pierrot? Jump head first into the champagne bucket like Colombine? How fortunate that I keep a champagne bucket handy in my studio for special moments… and those of excruciating self-pity.

  Oh it's alright. I'll get over it. And Beaker has valiantly forged off in the direction of the airport as I type away to you and rant like a madwoman while slowly downing a pot of liquid caramel au sel de Guérande that friends just brought me back from Brittany. Maybe next time I should ask them to bring back two on their next holidays so I can keep it next to the champagne bucket for … occasions such as these ;-)

I hear a car… Quick! Beaker's back - ALREADY??Hide the empty caramel pot!!!

Stay tuned!

Will Ange fly her beloved Chickpea to London, whipping in for a Ladurée stop en route?

Will Chickpea be devastated, 

forced to spend a week riding in the French countryside?

(Mmm, there could be worse options out there for a young rider. Let's downplay the self pity bit afterall)

Are any of you free in London tomorrow in case I only make it half way 

and they cancel my flight back to Toulouse????

Answers on Monday!

Crossing fingers AND toes!! ;-)

Ange

PS. Pierrot et Colombine, are weary of my company. 'The champagne bucket is always empty,' they say, and they thirst for adventure. Colombine is aghast that I still haven't mastered the art of haute couture and longs for beautiful gowns of brocade and lace, in accordance with her French heritage. Accordingly, we came to a common understanding that they should both go into my Etsy shop which will be reopening this week. I would be much obliged if one of you could give them a good home in the fine manner they were previously accustomed to. 

Listen to your heart: a blast from the past inspired by the Altered Page

While I whip you up a lime putty recipe and finish off my next piece that I PROMISED I'd blog about tomorrow, Seth at the Altered Page came up with an offer that was too good to refuse: Dig up some buried treasure in the form of a favourite blog post from the past.  The post below is one of my personal favourites. Why? Because one year on, I'm still thrilled that I went ahead and followed my heart. Although it's not about art. It could just as well be. Life is art - is it not?


It's my own personal reminder to listen to my heart over and over and over again. 

Hope you do too, for never was there a truer voice :) 

Much love and see you tomorrow

WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010

People mistakenly assume...

... that their thinking is done by their head; 
it is actually done by the heart 
which first dictates the conclusion, 
then commands the head to provide 
the reasoning that will defend it."

- Anthony de Mello 

via Whisky River (Thanks again to this most inspirational blog)

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(Photo: Reflections. Taken for the C&C photo assignment that I forgot to post ...Ahem!)

The above quote pretty well sums up where I'm at in the proverbial a nutshell at the moment. You see there has finally been an uprising here at La Rivière. You may remember this post where I poured my heart out about the sadness of the French school system, and my ensuing désarroi...

Eh bien CA Y EST! In spite of my 'head's' better judgement and worries about how in goodness name I'm going to manage it all, let alone succeed in everything, I finally bit the bullet and formally announced my intentiondetermination to homeschool the messmonsters (in light of having no better formal schooling option in a vicinity of 150 kilometres). Yup! All 3 of them.  As from September 2010. THIS YEAR! 

Did I mention that I am STILL going to 'launch' my new idea in a couple of weeks and go all the way through with it as well?  While still painting, reopening my wee shop and organising a couple of exhibitions? Am I intending to find time to eat or sleep? Hmmm - Not sure if the last two options will be feasible ;-)

Let's just say that, in a burst of pure FOLIE, Heart quarters overthrew Headquarters, is now staging a full on seige, and will continue to hold out until Headquarters caves in and comes up with the goods on 'how to pull it all off seamlessly and without a hitch.' 

So when Jamie Ridler asked today in her 'Wishcasting Wednesday,' "What rules do you wish to make or break?" I had to respond with this:

This is the first time in my life when I'm actually sort of 'breaking rules.' Up till my early 20s (well, late teens maybe) I was always a terrible goody two shoes, afraid of 'not being liked' and admonished if I did 'wrong.' France has been good for me in that way. This is a country where EVERYBODY bends or shatters the rules. NO ONE obeys rules here. Except for the school one that says 'thou child shall remain inside these school buildings from 9-5.30 when s/he will be released to go home to study for another hour at least.'

You may not find that shocking. I was a grade A student, finished my degree, was Student President and in the School Debating Team, musicals etc etc etc..... AND I DO!

So I'm BREAKING this one.   

Now I'm going to take a big deep breath and say, "It's been nice knowing you. I'm never going to find enough time to blog again." 

NoN! NON! 
That's not what I want to say at all!!

I want to say...

...THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT YOU'VE SHOWN ME because your comments and shared concerns have been very influential in helping me make my decision.  


In the end though - it's just my messmonsters that seem sooooooo worth it!! 


Looking forward to catching up with you later in the week to share my 'other breath-taking news' and introduce you to two very inspirational women bloggers...


Bisous
xx

Playing around with a curvy Roman

Sigh - sort of. Playing around with a Curvy Roman hand that is - 'La Cursive Romaine.' I'm still only just getting the hang of it but have been enjoying it's soft rise and fall, similar to the gentle swell of the tide.

You see, when the family goes away (hijacking the camera in their wake - hence yet another long absence from yours truly)  I tuck myself away in my atelier with a text that inspires, a thermos of yogi tea and the unlimited reaches of my imagination. Of course, I am violently brought back to reality when my brushes refuse to trace the perfect lines I see so clearly in my mind. With a little coaxing, some uninterrupted concentration, ornery persistence gentle patience and the soft strains of the Brides of Christ soundtrack filling the atmosphere, somehow it all frees up enough to be a satisfactory first draft.

You can overcome all your negative feelings if you realise that they have no other power over you than that which you allow them to have. The day that you understand this truth, you will be FREE. Louise L Hay

I'm not sure that these are the EXACT words Louise Hay actually said - I couldn't find the English original on the Internet - Louise being a very prolific purveyor of wisdom. So I've translated it back out of French into the closest I could get.

I can tell you - It's done me an awful lot of good mulling over this one in all its various forms over the last few days. Doesn't it just bring ya home to the truth! Any of you have those days when you feel like you just don't cut it? Don't make the measure? Will never get there? Personally, this happens to me every now and again so I thank the person I've been working on this for. The universe is in alignment :)

(Never let it be said that I'm not patient enough to watch paint dry)

Now I'm playing around with the same text with a sort of more modern look. It's not finished by any stretch of the imagination. Still far too much white - and no graphic stability. However, it's an adventure that I'm feeling FREEEEEEEEEE to delve into, with willful abandon. Anyway, for the moment I thought it resembled a plane and it really tickled my fancy to imagine myself flying around the realms of my own imagination, so I just HAD to share it with you ;-)

I'll try not to spend so long locked up away from you again next time. I need to finish this piece this week so PROMISE to post the finished result before FRIDAY. Wow - that'll be two blog posts in a week instead of 1 per month!! Don't go thanking me now… y' hear! You're all worth it. Every single little bit :)

Righto - off to make a few visits and catch up on what you've been up to over the last 4 weeks.  Love to you allllllllll…

PS - I'm preparing a special post for those who wanted the recipe to reproduce the lime putty walls in my atelier. It too will be out this week :)

PPS. I had promised a lighting tutorial - but for the life of me I can't get the pieces I need to make the lights I have envisaged. The best laid plans huh… I'm going to have to find the bits because the summer is half way through and I won't have enough light to work in the dark autumn evenings. Fingers crossed I stumble across what I need in a brocante somewhere.