Showing posts with label Daniel Bilodeau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daniel Bilodeau. Show all posts
Our Giverny Hamlet
August 13-26, eight Academy students lived and worked at the Terra Foundation for American Art-Europe in Giverny, France as part of a two-week Artist in Residence Program. Daniel Bilodeau (MFA 2013), Adam Carnes (MFA 2013), Ivy Hickam
(MFA
2013), Jacob Hicks (MFA 2012), Gaetanne Lavoie (MFA 2013), Robert Plater
(MFA 2013), Amanda Scuglia (MFA 2013) and Valentina Stanislavskaia (MFA
2013) will continue to share their experiences here.
Tuesday, August 14:
Today I rode up a hill with a borrowed mountain bike to the edge of a farm field. I could see little houses and valleys below. On my way I met two horses, one black, one white. Irritated by flies in their eyes they kept nodding their heads at me. I patted their warm brows. A young French girl, who must have stepped out of a painting, walked over to me calling out the horses' names. She was rosy cheeked and wore a dress the color of the sky. I spoke to her in my broken French and she patiently waited to understand. When I said "Je suis Américain," she smiled. She lives in a house down the way. I wished I could paint her. I said "À tout à l'heure" and hopped back on my bike.
An attempt at a landscape was made farther on up the hill. A sweaty brow and spilt water decided when it was done. I had fussed with it too much and the lights were muddied. But with renewed excitement for watercolor and landscape, I decided I would try again the next day for I'm out of practice in plein air and I knew that's how the day's painting would go.
After first week's crit, leaving Le Hameau
The studio area the Terra Foundation gave us for the two weeks is called
"Le Hameau." The studios are said to have a lot of soul. They are rich
in history; Lilla Cabot Perry, Frederick Carl Frieseke, Mary Wheeler,
and Richard Miller all painted here.
"Lady in a garden," Frederick Carl Frieseke
The
interior of my studio is always cool inside because of its thick walls.
It has an old fireplace and touches of paint from previous residents.
I've contributed gesso marks to the floor and a large branch from a
berry bush cut and left by the gardener. The gardens hiding to the
right of the building are a little wild; not too perfectly kept and
lovingly overgrown.
Blog post originally posted in Ivy's Blog (post: "Giverny" and "The Hamlet")
Impression, Soleil Levant
August 13-26, eight Academy students lived and worked at the Terra Foundation for American Art-Europe in Giverny, France as part of a two-week Artist in Residence Program. Daniel Bilodeau (MFA 2013), Adam Carnes (MFA 2013), Ivy Hickam
(MFA
2013), Jacob Hicks (MFA 2012), Gaetanne Lavoie (MFA 2013), Robert Plater
(MFA 2013), Amanda Scuglia (MFA 2013) and Valentina Stanislavskaia (MFA
2013) will continue to share their experiences here.
Over the course of two weeks I was lucky
enough to join a group of gifted artists led by Professor Jean-Pierre Roy, Daniel Bilodeau (MFA
2013), Adam Carnes (MFA 2013), Ivy Hickam (MFA 2013), Jacob Hicks (MFA 2012),
Gaetanne Lavoie (MFA 2013), Robert Plater (MFA 2013), Amanda Scuglia (MFA 2013)
and Valentina Stanislavskaia (MFA 2013), on a
residency in Giverny, France, the residence of revolutionary seer, Claude
Monet.
Monet was wholly indebted to
phenomenological truth, more than he was indebted to pre-conceived standards of
art affixed to institutionalization. He was never to give himself over to
the ways in which he was taught to see-though he was clearly taught, from an
early age, the precedence of French academic art. History is opened when
placed in the hands of someone willing first to learn, and then to seek change.
Initially to him, I assume, it
must have seemed ludicrous to speak the visual language of established artistic
tradition and call it mimetic truth-- as it seems ludicrous for any member of
contemporary life to refer to a Cimabue painting as the realistic mirror of the
human eye to the exterior world.
Traditions are born. They
swell, grow roots, share excitements, age, and then must be upended, just as
the dilapidated building, whose structure was once perfect, must be demolished
and rebuilt. To upend institutional thought is to teach us our thoughts
want and will always focus on progression. We are taught ideas as if they
are unchangeable, but to triumph is to change.
So Monet goes outside, to a
garden, and decides to paint the arc of time by way of color and
movement. He dabs in the changing light against a white linen the optical
equivalencies of water, weeping willow, chapel, haystack, human--knowing those
containing lines of structure are the lies of his mind wanting to create
demarcations and separations. What he comprehends is the melt of
visual unity.
He calls a work Impressionist
Sunrise, and his critics poke fun and name his friends and followers
“Impressionists.” The sonorous bell of the word rings, and the way
western society sees again moves. A new cathedral of thought slowly
builds awaiting its fall.
It is necessary to love the modes of thought
that shape us, that come before, and to thank them. It is our duty to
shape new modes of thought.
A Place of Beauty
On August 13, eight Academy students arrived at the Terra Foundation for American Art-Europe in Giverny, France to begin a two-week Artist in Residence Program. Daniel Bilodeau (MFA 2013), Adam Carnes (MFA 2013), Ivy Hickam (MFA
2013), Jacob Hicks (MFA 2012), Gaetanne Lavoie (MFA 2013), Robert Plater (MFA 2013), Amanda Scuglia (MFA 2013) and Valentina Stanislavskaia (MFA 2013) will share their experiences here
throughout their residency.
Giverny is a place of beauty. Replete with trees and
flowers, filled with fresh air, the lifestyle in this small French village is
at once both simple and sophisticated.
On the day of our arrival we were met at the train station
in the neighboring town of Vernon by Miranda, our hostess and facilitator.
Taking us into Giverny, she introduced us to the area and took us on a tour of
the grounds. We chose rooms to live in, studios to work in, and bicycles with
which to explore. Miranda has been truly kind and helpful to us. As a group we
walked, visited Monet's outdoor grave, and ate our first residency meals.
 |
| Monet's gravesite |
When I woke up yesterday I just lay there for a while listening
to the birds sing. Eventually, there came the charming and unexpected bbbaaaaaa
sound of a sheep bleating. It is kept nearby with emu and ostriches. We began
the day with a trip to the Impressionist Museum right here in town. We had a
nice guide who had a strong accent and a good command of English, but had
probably never addressed a group of people for a long time in the language
before. Her voice would begin to shake with nervousness, and we would seek to
ease her with approving looks of interest and comprehension. The collection was
great and unexpected. Afterwards, we moved our bicycles then went into Vernon
by van to satisfy outstanding needs for supplies and personal snacks and wine.
We had a lot of fun with french words, the radio, and potato chips in unfamiliar
flavors such as roast chicken with thyme, cheeseburger and kebab.
Today we went to Monet's house and garden first thing. Monet's
extensive collection of Japanese woodblock prints was superb, and the garden
beautiful. Best for sure is the large lily pond surrounded by so many beautiful
trees and flowers; featuring two little bridges. I remained in this area for a
long time, as it grew more enchanting as I stayed longer. I made two little
drawings. As tourists passed me, they commented in a variety of the world's
languages and about fifteen different parties took my picture, which was funny.
We are well taken care of here. The food has been excellent. In
the morning there are various breads and cheeses and jams and fruit and of
course, Nutella. For lunch we all meet at 12:30 in the museum cafeteria where
we have a variety of fresh options including a new plat du jour and desert du
jour each day. Chicken, pork, fish,french sauces, big salads. It is delicious
fare, and comes with beer or wine or orangina, etc. and a desert from a long
list of temptations including chocolate lava cake and numerous flavors of
amazing ice cream. Add to it espresso or cafe creme, and it is a satisfying but
lengthy operation; taking nearly two hours each day. The dinner is equally
good, delivered by a chef to our fridge and only requiring that we set the
table and heat it up in the oven.
Everything in this picturesque village is very attractive, well
attended by tourists, and well kept. I'm looking forward to biking around and
exploring the natural outskirts some more. My studio space has an old European
personality and opens into a beautifully manicured group of apple trees. I
share it with Jacob, and we will be spending a lot of time in there.
There is a great sense of
appreciation amongst the group, and we all look forward to the nourishment,
creation, and building of fond memories promised by an experience such as this.
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