February
This month, I believe I have finally managed to bounce back, to shift gears following my residency at the Palais des Paris in the summer of '25, and to link up with the ideas I had started working on before leaving for Japan. In early May and June 2025, before my residency, I finally took the time to look through and study the “treatise on landscape and figure” by the French cubist painter, art theorist, and teacher André Lhote.
When I were a student and a recent graduate, I were often asked if I were related to André Lhote... or to the archaeologist Henri Lhote, or even to the former director of the Maison de la Culture in Amiens, Jean-Marie Lhôte.
Well, none of them!
However, looking at this “treatise on landscape and figure” where, at the end of the book (a little dated), there are a few reproductions, two paintings particularly interested me. The first is The Gasworks, 1937, by André Lhote, for the drawings of clouds/smoke, and the second is Animated Landscape, 1921, by Fernand Léger, for the clouds, hills, and rounded trees contrasting with the very geometric shapes of the houses.
Ce mois-ci, je crois avoir réussi enfin à faire le bon rebond, la bonne bascule après ma résidence au Palais des paris l'été '25, et le lien avec les pistes initiées avant de partir au Japon. En effet, en mai-juin 2025, ce temps pré-résidence, a été le moment pour enfin regarder et feuilleter le "traité du paysage et de la figure" du peintre cubiste, théoricien de l'art et enseignant français, André Lhote.
Quand j'étais étudiante et jeune diplômée, on me demandait souvent si j'étais de la famille d'André Lhote... ou alors de celle de l'archéologue Henri Lhote et sinon de l'ancien directeur de la Maison de la Culture d'Amiens, Jean-Marie Lhôte.
et bien aucun !
Toutefois, en regardant ce "traité du paysage et de la figure" où, en fin d'ouvrage (un peu daté) se trouvent quelques reproductions, dont deux toiles m'ont particulièrement intéressées. La 1ere est l'usine à gaz, 1937 d'André Lhote pour les dessins des nuages/fumée et le second est Paysage animé, 1921 de Fernand Léger pour les nuages, les collines et arbres arrondis en contraste avec les formes très géométriques des maisons.
January 2026
I never quite know what to say about life in the studio. I go there on days when I don't have classes, and I simply continue working on the drawing I'm doing.
In December, I tidied up the studio and packed the drawings into boxes while repairs were carried out after water damage. When I returned from Thailand, I took advantage of the repairs to smooth out the walls, repaint, and reorganize the studio. And it was when I returned from Marrakech that I finally resumed drawing.
Je ne sais jamais très bien quoi raconter de la vie d’atelier. J’y vais les jours où je ne donne pas cours, et je poursuis simplement le dessin en cours.
En décembre, j’ai rangé l’atelier, mis les dessins en cartons, le temps des travaux après un dégât des eaux. De retour de Thaïlande, j’ai profité de ces réparations pour re-lisser les murs, repeindre et réorganiser l’atelier. Et c’est au retour de Marrakech que j’ai enfin repris le dessin.
December
It was a time to disconnect and reconnect with my close friend David Meignan, who has photographed my work for many years. David had been traveling by bike from France to Japan, and I had promised to meet him somewhere along the way. We finally met in Thailand, where we spent two splendid weeks together.
November
Back in the studio, I try to build on the pieces I did in Japan. It's not always easy to pick up where I left off, continue and/or go elsewhere... and yet, interesting things emerge.
October
working intensively on this new website - made by my talented graphic design colleague and friend Panni Demeter - I've been photographing works in progress and older ones
September
back in Paris
August
last week in Takasaki, Japan
ready for the show
August
5th week
in Takasaki, Japan
getting ready for the studio opening
August
4th week
in Takasaki, Japan
work in progress...
July
2nd week of residency at the Palais des paris, in Takasaki, Japan
working on...
July
1st week of residency at the Palais des paris, in Takasaki, Japan
working on...
June
on the studio walls...
May
People often ask me if I'm related to the painter and theorist André Lhote, which is not the case. One day, I found a copy of “Treatises on Landscape and Figure". Flipping through the volume, I was drawn to the clouds in the black-and-white reproduction of his 1937 painting, "The Gasworks".
On me demande parfois, si j'ai un lien de parenté avec le peintre et théoricien André Lhote, ce qui n'est pas le cas. Un jour, j'ai trouvé une copie de "Traités du paysage et de la figure". En feuilletant ce livre, j'ai été attiré par les nuages dae la reproduction en noir et blanc de son tableau de 1937 L'Usine à gaz.