Falling in love with

painting in France & how my

French Art School came to be

 

Above; 'A Cafe in Nice' oil painting on canvas by Jacqueline Coates. Size 120cm x 90cm  $5850 created in 2020 inspired by France and also the French Impressionists love of colour and texture in the paint. See image below for a detail close up. Email enquiries to jaquelinecoates1@gmail.com

Is it the leafy boulevards, the romantic views of the Seine, cute cafes and the distinctive bridges that cross it, each with a story of their own?

Or is it the magnificent museums, the copper topped roofs of embellished townhouses, and the Impressionist paintings of Paris in the 1800's with their movement , delicious colour and texture that capture our imagination?

 

 

Perhaps it’s the bijou gardens and surprising green pockets with fountains overlooked by copper roofed townhouses? It is definitely the  colourful windows of the patisseries full of macarons in every colour  that also catch my eye.

I can’t be sure exactly which part of Paris caught my heart and tugged on it relentlessly till I agreed to make Paris and France a part of my life, but since my first visit to Paris and other parts of France at the age of 16 (to visit my sister Liz who married a Frenchman), France has been calling me. I know I am not alone in this unreasonable passion with a foreign place whose heart I am eager to know and may never know fully.

There are many of you I know  who also share in the love of France. 

 

 

Above; Painted from my balcony hotel room in Paris , 2018, & called 'Moon over Paris Rooftops' diptych acrylic on canvas. Currently hanging at French Art School. I love the idea of a painting sketch and not having to get too bogged down in details sometimes. It's lovely to quickly express the poetry of a place and capture something of the moment, Impressionist style. Starting and finishing a painting in a few hours is very enjoyable.

 

This painting below was made on the same evening and was the first of the paintings called 'Night falls on Paris'. I really enjoyed making these paintings and the time spent absorbing the colours and the atmosphere, and the shapes of the buildings.

Small paintings means you can work quickly without the need for a heap of equipment.

 

NEXT FRENCH ART SCHOOL DATES- JUNE 7-JUNE 18, 2022 

Visits to Paris at 19 and then at 27 added to the curiosity as I was reaching for the brushes and realising I would become a committed artist. I noticed the buckets of peonies and sunflowers in Saint Germain, I wandered the Louvre, discovered the parks and gardens including the Parc Monceau, and generally absorbed the wonderful city and its sculptures.

I’ve felt the same butterflies associated with falling in love as I feel in being in Paris and in France.

Those who are new to my Blooms art community may not know the story of how I created French Art School in 2016 with the invaluable help of a few friends and family to get started.

 

 

ABOVE; The beauty of having my  painting studio in France  for myself and my students is the space and access to all the art materials needed to create beautiful work, where we can truly explore the inspiring subject matter in the place of inspiration.

These stunning peonies were local to French Art School including from my garden. I painted them from life. Other students did awesome paintings too including roses. 'Peonies in my window, La Foret du Temple' 90 x 120cm oil on canvas $6850  Location of painting is in France.

It began with Patti Pearce, one of my wonderful students (below middle in a Paris Salon du The) who came to paint with me in my Barossa Oils Workshop 2015. Somehow, I learned she was a part owner of a house in the Limousin region of France, and I asked her a heap of questions. I realised my long held  desire to have a painting studio in France could become a reality.

 

 

WHY WOULD I NEED A PAINTING STUDIO IN FRANCE?

On previous trips travelling as an artist, it was always hard to find a space to paint whilst on holiday. Wet paintings on top of luggage, and packing up the paints and cramming them into my suitcase was not my ideal. It didn’t do the opportunity justice either. I needed a dedicated space where I could immerse fully and even leave the paintings to dry for long periods of time. I longed for a space where I could keep my oil paints, my acrylics, and not have a weight issue when packing my bags.

 

Above; Detail of a still life painting by Cezanne,. He sure knew how to make the groceries look amazing!  The Impressionists had a knack for celebrating natures abundance in their paintings. We do the same at French Art School with the stunning local French produce.

I’ve always had a love of Monet and Bonnard, Van Gogh and Manet, Gauguin, Cezanne, Caillebotte and many other Impressionist painters. Painting came to life with colour in the 19th century  thanks to these painters who ditched the dark brown paintings of religious, mythological, military  and moralistic subject matter for capturing the moments of real life.

I started looking online for a suitable space in France. When my sister Liz came back to Australia to visit, she showed me a website where I discovered a fabulous shuttered stone house of 1860’s vintage in a region called THE CREUSE. Monet had painted very nearby with his first series of paintings of the Creuse Valley and the confluence of the Creuse river. Having had a look at many other houses online I knew this one suited what I was after. And if it was good enough for Monsieur Monet....

 

Below; The floral processions starts with the blossoming lilacs each spring, the daffodils and the tulips. Nothing prepared me for the amazing abundance of flowers at La Foret du Temple. Second image; Floral montage by Anna Boxtel from flowers in the hamlet. 

 

There would be work to do on the villa, but it wasn’t an impossible amount of work.

The freestanding villa had once been an auberge, which is French for an Inn. It had good bones and large rooms downstairs including a spacious room called the ballroom, where musicians had once played. This would become the ballroom painting studio. In the reception room was a fireplace so big you could almost stand in it, providing plenty of space to have my students relaxing and dining. Upstairs were 5 bedrooms and two bathrooms.

 

 

Kelly from Brisbane enjoyed time out at French Art School. Here she is enjoying Aperitifs hour. Below, a lunch break in the garden en plein air with delicious tarts & salads prepared by the chef.

I was intrigued to learn the property was called  L’Hirondelle meaning the swallow. I would later discover that the swallows nested in the barns and came back every spring and summer. A catch phrase became... like the swallow, I will return in spring. After all that's when all the flowers are out! Very important as a floral artist.

My sister Liz was the first to see it. She was able to collect the keys at the time the sale went through, getting time off work to drive the 9 hours,  and visit the house in the hamlet of La Foret du Temple.

Although she was busy she guided me through the purchase process which gave me enormous peace of mind. So nice to have a big sister!

 

‘It’s fantastic! So much space!’ texted Liz. What a relief! I had after all, sent my entire nest egg hurtling into cyberspace for the purchase, with funds  pulled from every piggy bank I owned and my super fund. It was good to know the house hadn’t been a mistake! Would it all work out?

The one question you ask when you buy an old property in France is this; is the roof healthy? Luckily the roof was healthy.

 

 

There were moments when I hoped I had made the right decision. My kids were still in school in Adelaide and here I was on the other side of the planet playing house. Turns out my daughter Lily now lives and studies in Paris so I guess Paris & French Art School has had its influences.

A few months later I ran the first French Art School, which was a huge hit with everyone.

The next year I went out on a limb and added a second property in the village to French Art School. La Tonnellerie has a large apple orchard, and several beautiful barns. It too is a beautiful 1860’s stone villa of two storeys. Later, a farmhouse was added though this third purchase was in need of lots of love and renovation picked up for an absurd low sum because of the large amount of work it needed. It would only be suitable for myself or family to stay in. 

 

 

Although I started out with Australian chefs who travelled over for the tours and who did a great job, very soon, I found my beautiful French Chef, Jose, who is local to French Art School.

Each season I assembled the team, including gardeners and a house manager who was great with all things local, cleaners and a linen service and arranged the drivers and the places we would visit which could include chateaux, gardens, historic and cultural villages, the markets, monasteries, museums and more.

I have taught Blooms France, Blooms France Oils, French Art School from La Foret and ran tours to Nice and the Cote D’Azure following in the trail of the French Impressionists. I discovered that there had been a group of Impressionist painters in the area capturing the stunning landscape of the Creuse Valley, with many of these artists works hung in the Musee D'Orsay. 

Throughout the pandemic whilst travel was restricted, renovations continued at French Art School. Les Pivoines got the roof we waited three years for. It was a good thing we had to wait as I had to also save up for it! Then the man making the shutters with a list so long of people waiting for his carpentry, let us know it was finally to be my turn and my pale green shutters replaced the old rickety ones. What a wonderful difference it made.

Les Pivoines had been a school house, and at another time home to two families then to a farming family. It was amazing to see the photos of the shutters on the house and it’s new roof although I wasn’t there to see how good it looks in person.

 

 

The farm house I am gradually doing up. Les Pivoines houses helpers and family at French Art School. Hydrangeas from Les Pivoines which grow without any work from me!

 

 

During the pandemic La Tonnellerie also received an internal makeover with the addition a of a new bathroom dedicated to having a huge bath, oak flooring upstairs and down, separation of two rooms from the old floor plan upstairs, a linen cupboard built into the stairs, and updating some windows to cedar. Now of course, I am getting ready to revisit my big love, my French Art School and to share it with others. And I can’t wait to immerse and paint with the students.

If you are falling in love with painting in France, then why not join me June 7-18, 2022 starting in Paris?

There are still some places left for French Art School commencing  My chef Jose is back with us. The beautiful long walks through chestnut and oak studded pathways between fields of grain and watchful gentle eyed Limousin cows, await. The paints are ready in the Ballroom studio. I will be airing the houses in a week and preparing them for incoming students in just under a month!

The group meets in Paris then we travel together to La Foret du Temple and start our art immersion.

If you would love to join us, you can. We still have spaces and there is a maximum of 8 students. Here is the link;

 

A stunning floral carton which was the design that went under the tapestry for the weaver to follow. We visit stunning Aubusson and see an incredible collection.

 

I know I have had a spring in my step since booking my flights and bursting out of the restrictions of the Covid bubble. From Australia the flights in Qatar are still good. Previously I have students join me from Canada, the USA & New Zealand as well as Australia, Spain & Germany and the UK.

I hope you have enjoyed the story of my love affair with painting in France and how French Art School came about.

Here is what previous students have had to say;

Katherine has already been twice to French Art School and is coming back for a third time!

 

If you have any questions please email me at jacquelinecoates1@gmail.com

I am more than happy to help!

 

 

Love and paint brushes,

Jacqueline Coates

A Bientot! *( see you soon!)