OPENING NIGHT!!!

(& What Goes Into Making An Exhibition)

The day finally arrived to celebrate and share with the public all of the new work that I created for La Mémoire Et Le Lieu: Exposition De Peintures Sur Soie De René Shoemaker | Memory And Place: Exhibition Of Silk Paintings By René Shoemaker. Please enjoy having a look!

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Here I am with Harvey feeling the glow of sharing my work with my new community here in Felletin

The exhibition is up, it is awake, tourists and new friends and neighbors mingle and visit, and I'm even featured in the local newspaper! What an incredible experience. I honestly don't know how it could have been better. 

A lot was made of the relationship between dyeing, weaving, and textile design and my work during the opening. I find this especially intriguing due to the fact that Felletin is the center of textile weaving and custom dyeing (see my last post for more). What an inspiring place to live and work! And for my new community to discover these connections feels like such a gift, like I'm exactly where I need to be. And as promised, here are photos from the Vernissage* on June 21, 2017. Click on any image to see larger:

OPENING NIGHT IMAGES BY THE INCREDIBLE YVELINE LE GRAND:

* the word Vernissage is of a curious origin and it fascinated me, so I thought I'd share the definition: noun: vernissage; plural noun: vernissages - a private viewing of paintings before public exhibition.

An art opening in France was called a vernissage because it was the first viewing of a new body of work, and often the varnish (painted on top of completed oil paintings to protect them) was still wet. 'Vernis' means 'varnish' in French.

THE PROCESS OF MAKING AN EXHIBITION

There is so much that goes into an exhibition. This one in particular was perfect for the imagination, as I could not use the walls. Not only that, but the art needed to be moveable for meetings, weddings, parties... Tons of brainstorming ensued, and I landed on the perfect solution. With my husband Harvey's help, we created beautiful wooden screens to showcase my work. It was exactly right!

There is so much more... from choosing the pieces to paint from my daily explorations of Felletin to hunkering down in the studio for days on end, to arranging for the framing in French (NOT my native language!), to collaborating with my friend Eleanora Machado, who was a genius in designing the promotional materials like postcards and signage while on a flight to Brazil (her home country) from the US, to sending out press releases, to putting all of the framed work together to understand the story it wants me to tell... I'm sure I've forgotten others...

Please select any image below to enlarge and read more about the story of the installation process:

ALL WORK NOT YET SOLD IS BEING ADDED TO MY ONLINE SHOP! ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION!

I'M IN THE NEWSPAPER! IN FRENCH!

Aubusson --> Life in your city                                                                                              

Exhibition: René Shoemaker, an American artist, has fallen in love with Felletin & the Creuse, by Robert Guinot

Her painting connects memory and place

The expressions of René Shoemaker are not destined for tourist souvenirs. This American artist who paints on silk delivers a personal perception of Felletin, one that falls between poetry and naivety, with great accuracy of line and colors.

René Shoemaker, exhibiting for the first time in the Creuse, in the department where she has, with her husband, decided to live six months each year. The couple has acquired the good habit of lingering here during the good seasons of Felletin, where they now have many friends.  Last winter they bought a house, not in Felletin, but in a village of the commune of St. Maixant.

Since Tuesday, Rene Shoemaker proposes “Place and Memory,” at the City Hall in Felletin. The opening reception on Wednesday, allowed her to bring together other Americans, and of course English, who have adopted, as she has, the south of La Creuse.  (1)

The town of Felletin seen by an American

“In Felletin, I feel good and I return very often. But it is at St. Maixant that we have found the house of our dreams. Today, we are sharing time between La Creuse and the USA but we don’t exclude the possibility of finding a life here permanently. We visited the Creuse for the first time some years ago, on our way somewhere else; we immediately fell in love with the place. It is super.”

Rene Shoemaker was a librarian at the University of Georgia, USA. She began devoting more and more time to her painting. From the University of Georgia, she has a complete academic artistic training.

For a long time now, she found her own expression in a particular technique; she works essentially on silk. In Felletin, in the Marriage Hall, she displays her paintings on silk and also some silkscreen designs. She likes drawing, and she fills her sketchbooks with drawings as she walks around the town of Felletin. Her designs start from a point of reality and then let the imagination sail to capture the images of the real world; images that have a meaning, a depth, and here, a memory. A house, an architectural detail or a neighborhood can inspire her. It passes from the rapid sketch to a painting that tends towards non-representation. René Shoemaker Is trained in weaving, and is conscious of the fact that she is, in Aubusson and Felletin, living in the country of the basse lisse (low warp weaving loom), an area which has a tradition of weavers and dyers (2).

A unique, accurate and sensitive view

René Shoemaker has certainly been not only sensitive to the l’eglise du Moutier, but also to the roofs of the town. She has lingered in the rue des Fossés, and the rue de Beaumont (where the house of her friends has inspired her). She has been transformed the old service station…

Her representations sometimes approach abstraction, other times naivety.  All are formed by a characteristic trait affirmed by the assured strength of the drawing and by a limited chromatic range. She shares a unique view full of accuracy and sensitivity.

footnotes (1) + (2) are in translation ... coming soon

La mémoire et le lieu: Exposition de peintures sur soie de René Shoemaker

Memory and Place: Exhibition of Silk Paintings by René Shoemaker

My solo exhibition in Felletin, France, is nearing its installation completion... and then opening to the public! I'm beyond excited! As I write this, all of the finishing touches are happening. My husband Harvey has joined in on the fun, and is currently finishing the construction of some portable walls. It truly does take a village, and I'm so grateful for Harvey, my friend Eileen who has helped make it all happen, my new friend Eric (who also happens to be the grandson of the couple who opened Le Grand Café, which shows up often in my artwork. Small world! See the latest piece at the show and a detail below), and friends near and far who have offered their well wishes, expertise, and overall enthusiasm. 

The announcement (thanks, Eleanora!)

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The announcement in situ

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FRAMING ARTWORK IN FRANCE

I wanted to work with someone local to frame my new works, rather than schlep a bunch of framed pieces from the States, and I found a perfect collaborator in Thierry Roger. How incredible it is to work with someone so well even though we don't speak the same language! He prepares the mat board for me, which I then sew my silks onto. I return the finished works and he frames them beautifully. He also dyes wool for tapestry artisans, and is the last traditional dyer of yarn in Aubusson, so we are clearly a match made in heaven in our love of color.

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detail of a new work featuring Le Grand Café, opened by Eric's grandparents

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detail of the sewn mat board (click to enlarge)

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Here I offer you a sneak peek of what's to come on Wednesday:

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COMING UP

In the next several weeks I look forward to sharing exhibition images, a story about Les Michelines, an incredible silkscreen studio and atelier that I collaborated with (hi, Mélanie!), as well as a conversation between myself and curator/artist Hope Hilton on how my work has evolved in the last year, with a special focus on my move to France and working in a new studio. If you have any questions that you'd like to see answered, send them along or comment below and we will happily include them.

Merci! -René

Doorknobs, Tools + Latches

As I look around me, in this new old French house with its two timeworn barns, I find remnants of the people who lived here before me. The masons who shaped stones and built houses, sometimes traveling for days by foot to other locales to market their skills. The farmers who lived with and tended to their animals. The workers-of- the-land who created tools by hand, when necessity required their creation. 

The stories of these items are whispered in my ear, and visit me while I sleep.

There is so much history here, and I am living it.

And here is another one of the other great experiences of the days spent here: le coucher du soleil (the laying down on the sun). Isn't it extraordinary?

MORE GOOD NEWS:

My exhibit in Felletin, has been confirmed! The opening reception will be held on June 21, from 6-8 p.m., and the exhibit will be on display for three months, through August 18, 2017.
 

Place Courtaud, Felletin

Exposition de peintures sur soie d'endroit et de mémoire; 
                                    Paintings on Silk of Place and Memory
                                            by René Shoemaker

Mairie de Felletin
12, place Charles de Gaulle
23500 Felletin
France

IN ATHENS, GA & ONLINE:

Rooftops. Paris, 14th.

BMA @ Home, displays and offers my paintings on silk so that you may discover them while I am having this adventure in France. You can see the paintings, like the one above, at: 

BMA Designs
1662 South Lumpkin St.
Athens, Ga 30606 USA
+1.706.353.0770
www.bmadesigns.com