INSPIRATIONS FROM FRANCE ~ Summer 2024

Avignon is in the Provence region of France, just north of Marseilles. This walled city was built in the 13th century as a safe home for the Popes of Rome. This bustling and vibrant historic town is a brilliant mix of the ancient and the modern. It is filled with artists, musicians, and international visitors who walk the winding chapel and cafe lined streets, open air plaza’s and quirky and classy shops.

Each street (Rue) is named not for a person, but for the people who worked there. So Rue de la Peyrolerie is where the coppersmiths worked and Rue des Fourbisseurs is the street of the animal furriers. But perhaps my most favorite street was Rue du Vieux Sextier (Street of the old sexy people) - hahaha, I took a picture on that corner! In France, everyone is celebrated!

My Vallauris residency begins tomorrow, this week was to decompress, get my feet wet, and feel French culture all around me. With more than 45,000 steps in my phone, I loved Avignon’s intimacy, and surprise. Her cobbled streets and narrow pathways feel like my own inner world, the recesses of my creativity that will soon be revealed as I move deeper and explore my own surprises. Vallauris, here I come!