A while back I showed you Anne’s atelier. Well, just across the garden is another magnificent atelier. And inside you’ll find thousands of pastels…
and a lovely teapot…
and Anne’s husband, Michel Devrient…
Monsieur Michel is a husband, father, grandfather, farmer, writer, gracious adviser on the first draft of a book about some Canadian woman’s arse and a well-known successful artist. He’s currently working on this amazing piece…
This is intricate and complicated stuff.
He begins with a black and white skeleton, then he applies successive layers of pastels in complex patterns and arrays of colour to create large works that seem to play with light, giving an effect reminiscent of stained glass. It takes an inordinate amount of vision and skill and time to get this right.
And taking time to get things right is just what we discussed that day in his studio. He told me that one of the best things about the level of focus required for his work is that “it tames the time.” He feels that life doesn’t race past him here, instead he is in and of the moment and time beomes his ally. Michel has many brilliant thoughts and ideas and this one about time is one of my favourites so far.
Of course I’m impressed by Michel’s many talents, his uncommon kindness and his wonderfully pleasant nature (plus he cooks and thinks wine prices should never hit double digits, my kind of guy) but he has a story that will impress anyone who’s been drawn here by the idea of living a chosen life. See, Michel got this running off to France thing right, long before I ever had a hand in it.
Michel comes from a fine Swiss family and, like many of his peers, he began his adult life in law school, an expected path for such a respectable young gentleman. He told me he was standing around after graduation listening to his classmates discuss their brilliant futures. Suddenly he realized that if he wasn’t careful he was going to end up being a lawyer. Excellent career option unless you’re a lawyer who wants to be an artist. Panic set in and he took off. Inspired by happy childhood memories of France, he and Anne settled in Burgundy and the rest is history.
How I wish I’d had an ounce of his clarity and certainty back in my spring chicken days. Somehow he knew. He was brave enough to do what had to be done, to walk away from certainty in order to ensure his path toward happiness. There’s an art to crafting the life you want and he’s a master.
Suddenly he realized that if he wasn’t careful he was going to end up being a lawyer.
For this alone, I would admire him. But for living in the moment of his art? Yeah.
Beautiful.
“There’s an art to crafting the life you want.” And great courage to go against all those telling you to take the safest path.
My mother always said, “Better late than never.” Leaving a life already well along its course takes a lot of courage too Bobbi!!
Early or late to the party, it’s all good!
As an immigrant who made the move to Canada, alone, when I was very young, it seems to me that any time is the time to uproot. Right now, semi-retired, I can’t make a long term move, with family considerations and responsibilities (and a husband who hates to travel!) so I simply make the best of the short-term opportunities. I enjoy the challenge of careful planning for short visits. With a beautiful, newly acquired apartment in my (native) Edinburgh, I’m about to put it on an apartment exchange website, so that I can get to Europe more frequently without hotel costs. I can’t wait!
All the best from Burlington ON, a really nice place! Has a great waterfront!
Edinburgh! It is my dream to camp out in Edinburgh for the month of January (I love Scotland in the Winter). Make sure to give us a link as soon as you are up and running!
Thank you Bobbi for this wonderful temporary escape from working on my heinous Annual Report….hateful piece of work really …identifying “gaps in service” etc. What a fabulous profile and stunning pictures. Would love to see something that colorful and glorious hanging on my wall….reminds me that we are all tiles in the great mosiac of life.
Cheers
Beautiful work and wonderful story :)
Look at that front door! Are those other people’s signatures or is it a sort of permanent blackboard for his own musings? Beautiful! You are in the epicenter of creativity. Thank you for sharing it with us.
I once dated a chef who longed to go to law school, and he finally did it in his late 30s. And also, I once dated a lawyer who longed to be a chef, but we broke up before he made the move, if he ever did. Just goes to show you how easy it is to get on the wrong track, how hard it is to jump off. And how impossible it seems to know where you belong in the world, especially at a young age.
Life is strange.
Dear Bobbi.
Lucky guy, this Michel, to know somebody like you, who says such nice things about him. According to you, he seems to be quiet a nice person. Being also an artist, I wish I would be like him. But nobody is perfect. For a moment, I thought of asking you to introduce me to him. But after some thinking, I’d be scared he would be disapointed . Well, anyhow, thank you Bobbi for your nice way of embellishing the reality.
And bravo to “Rusty” for the way he manages to capture what most people are unable to see.
Love to you both.
Michel
Lovely work. I really believe in living the dream, whether it’s professional golf or tiger wrestling. Bobbi you are in the thick of it!
Thank you for sharing this lovely story; am transfixed by such beautiful colour and love the deatil of how it was created. I really enjoy following your journey.. great inspiration. Thank you