This is a picture of Me, Luik, and Joey Lasalle in Luik’s living room.
His studio is below us. Luik is very talented. He takes furniture
and cuts out pieces of them, like a puzzle and then fills that void in
with a different puzzle piece from a different piece of furniture.
Amazing!
Here are all the people that really made this happen! On either side
of me is Jean-Marie and Ghislaine, the owners of Arthe Galerie in
Gaujac. They were so welcoming and accommodating as we set up for the show. This gallery is their passion and I think they were thrilled to have a foreigner set up shop there for a while! And on the far right
is Ken Jourdan! Without him NONE of this would have happened!!!! He was by my side throughout the entire trip mainly because he was my interpreter! He also hosted me and my entourage at his ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS Bed and Breakfast just down the street!
The “Rhone Retreat” is deserving of it’s own post on my blog and I will get to it soon. A huge “Merci” goes out to Ken for all his leg work, all the advertising of the show, and all the translating! He even cooked all of the yummy treats for the opening and selected the wine from the local vineyard (right across the street!) Thank you Ken. YOU made all of this happen. I just had to show up with art!
And, this is my US based Dream Team. Left to Right is Cameron Drake, Me, and Joey Lasalle. These two guys made this whole trip stress free! Joey is an interior designer for Lovelace Interiors in Miramar Beach FL. He headed the installation of the entire show. He placed all the art in the different rooms of the Galerie. He worked with a local florist and selected beautiful flower arrangements for the
opening night. He set the mood with candles, lighting, and beautiful
glass orbs that set a wonderful stage for my art. And Cam did all the
little stuff in between! He helped with any little thing that came
up…he served drinks, he played with my kids, he took tons of
pictures, he found me a pen…just having him there to do ANYTHING
(and he did it all HAPPILY!) was the biggest stress reducer of all!
Thank you gentlemen! I hope we can take this show to other towns in
France and beyond!
And this is what brought me serenity and peace! Pictured left to
right is Marsha, my stepmom, Kai and Rain, my seven year old twins!
They were with me on this trip and having them along with me meant
knowing that they were all ok and that is huge in my book! This is a
great picture of them in the gorgeous garden outside the back door of
the gallery. Best of all, it was only a 20 second walk to our cottage
so, when the evening got late, they could walk back and chill out for
a while. Marsha got to see lot of France on this trip, try out the
language she studied in school, and spend some quality time with her
grandkids! And, my kids got to experience life in another country and
they LOVED it!!!