Irina

We hosted Russian writer Irina Pivovarova in April and had such a wonderful time getting to know Irina. Many thanks to her for sharing so much laughter and so many great stories. Here is a brief interview with Irina at the end of her residency:

Where do you come from? I come from Moscow, Russia where I live and work.

What do you do professionally? I’m a scriptwriter and I work both for TV and Cinema.

Why did you decide to do a writing retreat? What project brought you to Bordeneuve?

I’m a mother of two adorable daughters of 2 and 7 years old who are at the same time my biggest inspirations and the reason that I couldn’t concentrate on the project that I wanted bring to life. I tell them bedtime stories and then I thought that I probably could connect the stories and write a book for my children. And perhaps for other children too. So I needed a quiet and calm place to work and to do not think about anything else but the story. Away from it all – my daily routine, my work, etc.

What was the experience at Bordeneuve like?

It was even better than I imagined. The place was designed for a person like me – I could wander in the forest thinking about fairies and ogres, sit and write by the crackling fire, and draw on a long wooden table where I could put all my stuff. That was all I cared about. The rest of it was taken care of. The food was amazing, the respect of my silence and concentration was almost sacred. I wrote  like mad because I couldn’t let down the whole idea of this supreme writer’s paradise. Really I couldn’t think of  BETTER conditions for a writer than at Bordeneuve. I guess I could describe my time there as the one of the happiest and most fruitful in my life.

What advice do you have for others considering going on a retreat? What makes a writing retreat successful and satisfying?

I guess you should bring your own ideas and your strong will to succeed. The rest is all there. You have all that is necessary for concentration and inspiration here. It this house, in those beautiful fields and mountains, in the magical chorus of the birds.

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Anna Caione, artist in residence

Australian artist Anna Caione is delightfully complex. Her work reflects her own contradictions, her restlessness, her transplanted roots, her ease with city life and her yearning for a simpler existence, outside the city. Her work is delicate and loving, almost ephemeral and in some ways unsettling.  An endless fairy’s web of red string loops over and around heavy, wooden beams, creating an alarming juxtaposition of weight and color. Bound tightly beside that is my piano stool, transformed into a gagged package, the black piano stark against abstract bits of red. A crazy quilt of incidental pieces of fabric, jute and cardboard inadvertently suggest an inverted American flag. The lightly textured collage works hung beneath the quilt document her long-ranging travels and her complex web of heritage and loyalties.

String installation

Anna was confronted very quickly with the realities of the remote countryside when she began her residency this month. She adapted happily to the seclusion and found unexpected freedom in working with limitations. “This experience resulted in a body of work based on spontaneity, limitation and the found object. I had no car, no artshop and no familiar terrain.”  Anticipating this while packing in Australia, she allowed herself only a small palette of colours and materials, relying on what she could find in nature and in boxes of my odds and ends.  “Small works are visual diaries about travel, borders, globalization, movement, limitations and connections. The works are authentic in that they include found objects such as tickets, dockets and receipts that are then incorporated into abstract compositions.’

During her residency, she was feeling inspired by Kandinsky, by process art, the abstract expressionists and Arte Povera.  Anna ventured off into the fields around the house for several hours a day to draw tiny landscapes in ink. During her second week she ventured off into the forest and gathered slim branches. Over the course of several days, she assembled them to become awkward dance partners, tipped with bright primary colors and loose pieces of string.

Garden Sculptures

Anna was born to Italian parents who immigrated to Australia in the 1950’s. She holds several degrees in art from schools in both Australia and Italy. She met her husband Roberto, an architect from the Piedmonte, while pursuing studies in Turin. They currently live in Melboune with their 6-year old daughter. Anna is represented by the Catherine Asquith gallery and teaches design theory at tertiary level. Her works belong in private and public collections in Australia, Italy, Holland and Ireland.

Collage by Anna Caione

Here are a few photos from Anna’s residency. On Friday the 19th, we hosted a small vernissage to show off her works to a handful of friends. It was a lovely evening. We so enjoyed Anna’s company and thoughtfulness. Hopefully we’ll  see her again soon!

The Bound Stool

Artist’s worktable

Collage

Garden dancers

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Rebecca Stebbins, Painter

I knew Rebecca and I were going to get along when I saw the Gloria Swanson quote on her website

“All creative people should be required to leave California for three months every year.”

Having grown up in the Bay Area, I understand the prudence of that statement. One can get a sort of tunnel vision living there. Rebecca is the inverse: raised in the midwest, she transplanted herself to southern California for love many years ago.  As an adult, she started painting and developed (as so many do) a love affair with the light and the landscape of our beautiful state. But she hasn’t forgotton that it is not the only place in the world and that people live to a different rhythm elsewhere. And thus, as a passionate painter of landscapes, she travels.

Rebecca is typical of the people we attract in that she has a very full life outside of her art. Family, garden, pets and a teaching job all make demands on her time and so she dedicates a few weeks every summer to travelling in landscapes that speak to her and painting them. This is a woman who lives very deeply in the moment. At Bordeneuve she painted in the morning, practiced yoga indoors, away from the intense noon sun and carried on painting in the afternoons.   She then relaxed in the setting sun with us over a glass of rosé and a light meal. Rainy days had us rummaging through cupboards for interesting bottles and food for still-lifes and on sunny days we set out in the car looking for beautiful places to paint (of which we have no shortage…!). She writes “I can’t stay enough about how much I gained from my stay there. Not only was my painting experience wonderfully productive, the retreat itself was so beneficial for my wellbeing…I loved being in that space, and the simplicity and slower pace helped contribute to my peace of mind.”

Rebecca exhibits regularly around Santa Barbara, CA and has graciously allowed me to share a few paintings with you – these are a few of my favourites:

A view of the Pyrenees

Study in blue and orange

Bordeneuve

Hollyhocks

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This week we’ve welcomed Catherine Cameron and Erich Kruse Nielsen to Bordeneuve. Catherine and Erich are both Norweigan by birth but live in Glasgow where they pursue careers in art photography, music and film.

On Friday, 17 August Catherine and Erich will be presenting their collaborative work:

                    Come with me –
–She dances alone

Everyone is invited for an auberge espagnole prior to the film (19h30) and weather permitting, we’ll screen a family-oriented movie afterwards so we can all enjoy the starry skies together!

Stay tuned for precise info on parking and all those niggly details – feel free to bring your summer guests too! Feel free to contact me directly noelle@bordeneuveretreat.com with any questions.

Catherine Cameron is  a Norwegian living in Glasgow, Scotland. Cameron has practiced art photography the last ten years, and since 2006 she has had numerous solo exhibitions worldwide. Some of the collections that hold her works are The Museum of Fine Art Houston, USA, Chris Rauschenberg Collection, USA,  and Centro Internazionale di Fotografia Scavi Scaligeri, Verona, Italy. Currently she is attending Glasgow School of Art finishing her BFA (Hons).

Erich Kruse Nielsen  is also Norwegian and lives in Glasgow, Scotland. Kruse Nielsen trained in music, theatre, film and scriptwriting at Barratt Due Institute of Music, University of Bergen, Stockholm University and Bergh School of Communication before he entered a career as a business developper – a career he pursued for almost 25 years. The last three years he has challenged his original training and is now writing music, plays and films in addition to being a voice actor for audio books.

Catherine Cameron, Photographer

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Elin at work on the balcony

Tell us a little about your background in music…
I started with the piano at the age of nine and I studied the piano for a long time. After I finished high school I studied music education at the Reykjavík College of Music and graduated with a Diploma in Music Education in 1987. Two years later I started my studies in theory and composition at the same school and I graduated with a Diploma in Composition in 1993.
Postgarduate stuies took me to Netherlands where I studied composition for two years at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague. Since I finished my studies I’ve been active as a composer and a music teacher in my hometown Selfoss.

Where do you draw inspiration from for your pieces?
It is different. I don’t wait for inspiration. But I’ve always been inspired by nature and the sounds of nature. I read also a lot of poetry and it often gives me a good start for my compositions. Studying music written by others is also important for me. But sometimes I just start to work on a piece and that can also be inspiring because one note calls for an other note etc. But maybe the most inspiring thing for my compositions is a good coffee! I can’t start working without it.

What brought you to Bordeneuve? What did you hope to accomplish?
It was the birdsong on your website! I’ve been in residency in big cities like Paris and Berlin. My life at home is quite busy so this time I wanted to be where there is quiet. Therefore I chose to stay at Bordeneuve. I wanted to observe nature and try to record some sounds in nature. But at the same time I needed peace to start to write a new piece, and I’ve been working on that piece since I came. It is a piece for alto flute, viola and piano.

You’ve been listening a lot to birdsong and observing bees and butterflies – how do you translate that into music?

I’ve been trying to translate it into sounds and I hope to do more of it. What I’ve found out is that there is never a quiet moment here. So John Cage’s words “there is no such thing as silence” are so true. Those layers of sounds in nature are also interesting and the morning chorus of the birds is a kind of a crescendo and a decrescendo. My main quiestion at the moment is: When do the birds go to bed? Because they seem to be singing all day long until late in the evening.

The butterflies and the bees are also interesting. The butterflies never seem to be still… So my guess that is their “flutter” will end somehow in my music.

Do you have a favourite instrument to write for?
Some people would think it is the flute because I’ve written a lot for the flute. But it is the violoncello. It is so colorful. But in a way all instruments are my favorite instruments because I like to explore their diffrent sounds. For me composing has a lot to do with exploring.

What makes a composition successful from your point of view?
It is a very hard question because this is also a matter of taste. I like compositions that are original in a way. I’m not really a fan of composers that follow certain kind of a school. I once heard a composer say “do what ever you want, but do it well” and if I hear a composition were I can feel that the composer has devoted him- or herself fully to the work then I think it is a successful composition. Time will decide what lives of the music that is written now a days.

What has your Bordeneuve experience been like?
It has been as I hoped; a quiet place where I’ve been able to start a new piece and dream about other unwritten pieces.

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Warm up in the garden

The whole week of the flute workshop I kept thinking about this silly joke I once heard: How many flutists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Answer: 10, 1 to put it in and 9 to say they could have done it better.

Thankfully, the 9 flutists attending the Fall In Love With Your Flute Again workshop last week were not of that mold in any way.We were very impressed with the attentive listening, the compliments, the thoughtful remarks and the total absence of competitiveness during the week.It was a lovely group of people.

Deirdre McArdle Manning

Each day began with a yoga session, led by our terrific instructor, Jane Saune. Our original plan to practice outside was foiled by soggy weather so we met in the salon of the Chateau early each morning. She led us through a mixture of poses, meditations and breathing exercises which helped set a calm, even tone for each day. A brisk walk down the hillside to Bordeneuve followed by breakfast helped everyone wake up and then either Deirdre or Nora Lee led a morning warm-up session.

The students then dispersed to practice or have a lesson or to sit and have some quiet time. Everyone got a chance to play with Deiran, our super accompanist who showed incredible endurance and stamina in the face of having to play the Dutilleux, Sancan and Poulenc over and over again!  Each day ended with an informal class or chamber music session, dinner and then a sleepy walk up the hill to go to bed.

On Wednesday we held a masterclass with over 15 flutists in attendance and everyone got a turn to play a bit and receive commentary from Deirdre and Nora Lee.

Masterclass Participants

Saturday we took everyone to market in St Girons and had lunch and a wander in the medieval town of St. Lizier. It was a very satisfying week for everyone  – so many ideas were shared and alliances formed. Thanks to everyone who made this workshop such a pleasure and success.

Rehearsal

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The room in anticipation

The recital we planned with Lisa and Nabi was one of those strange events in life where you have no idea what to expect but you just take the plunge.  I woke up in the night a few days prior to the recital thinking that I should be worried, I should have doubts, but in truth, I felt very calm, even confident that it was going to be terrific. And it was.

I had mixed feelings as I stood up to welcome the group of 40 people who arrived to hear the music. Part of me wanted to give an elaborate speech thanking everyone for their support and help to get this project off the ground. Part of me wanted to tell them about our wonderful week in Lisa’s company. Most of me wanted to hide behind the piano as I hate public speaking, especially if I have to do it in French! But the moment felt very special and I realized that it wasn’t about the building, the renovation, the cool lights in the kitchen that Karl made, the great polenta pizza that Lisa and I improvised, or the wanderings around the chateau we did earlier in the week.. it was about the music. And the audience felt very receptive and open. So I said as few words as possible and got out of the way to let Lisa and Nabi speak for themselves.

There is little point in trying to capture a moment like that in words, The music spoke and we listened. The room carried its weight in our collective memories and was somehow lightened by so much beautiful

Lisa and Nabi

energy flowing through it. That space was made for music and it touched me very profoundly to have it once again used as such.

(Lisa, in a moment of self-doubt, signaled me over in middle of the concert and asked if the audience had had enough. I think, had she stopped, she would have been mobbed by angry fans, desperate for more.  Thankfully, she carried on and honestly, she could have carried on all night and everyone would have stayed.)

Afterwards…

The party afterwards, was great and did, as parties do, carried on much too late …but the hangover Sunday morning was worth it.

Nabi and his family

All gone!

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Lisa at the 2009 Ediburgh Festival

It’s been a huge pleasure to have the company of Lisa Lanza, a Washington-based pianist, this past week.

Over many late-night meals she has told us about her careers in medical records, as a café owner, and as a bookkeeper; about her vegetable garden, her cats, her husband’s business, her large Italian family… and at first we kept wondered “but isn’t she a pianist…” Then Lisa finally mentionned that “in her spare time” she accompanies opera and musical theatre companies,  singers, soloists as well as a few choirs; not to mention  that she herself appears regularly as a soloist in recitals, charity events and with her regional orchestra…and our collective jaws dropped.

This truly gifted and lovely woman has been gracing our woods with Chopin, Liszt and Brahms. She plays Debussy for the blackbirds who (rather marvelously) sing back. Her studies have brought her to France, as well as England (with Paul Roberts at the Guildhall School of Music) and to Portugal (with Maria Joao Pires) and her playing reflects her openness to cultural influences. She leaps at the opportunity to make a Brahms phrase more French and doesn’t hesitate to plunge into a tango or try her hand at playing the accordeon or the marimba. She embodies the musical personality: well-rounded, perceptive and very open minded.

So it with the utmost pleasure that we present a recital this weekend, with Lisa taking us through her current repertoire. She will also accompany Nabi Cabestany, a young Catalan cellist who recently moved to our area, in the Brahms e minor Cello Sonata as well as music by Debussy, Liszt and Granados.

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The park in full flower

The golden orioles, hoopoos and black woodpeckers have arrived so spring is fully (and finally!) underway. AMICS is hosting a group of artists as varied, colorful and fascinating as our resident birds this year. We have several exciting events planned for you this summer, starting with a concert on the 12th of May, featuring artist-in-residence, Lisa Lanza. A welcome blog about Lisa and her history as a pianist (as well a a gorgeous recording of her playing Lizst’s  St. Francis Walking on the Waves will be posted once she arrives next week. Lisa is teaming up with Nabi Cabestany, a Catalan cellist who has recently moved to the region to play the Brahms e minor Cello Sonata. Full details of the recital will be published in the days to come.

June brings us a dynamic group of flutists who will be immersing themselves in the music of Dutilleux, Sancan and Poulenc with teachers Deirdre McArdle-Manning and Nora Lee Garcia. On Friday June 8th, a masterclass will be opened to the public and everyone is invited to bring a platter to share and to stay to listen to an evening concert. Other guests in June and July include Icelandic composer Elin Gunnlaugsdottir and Californian landscape painter, Rebecca Stebbins. August hails the arrival of photographer/auteur Catherine Cameron – more details about her and Rebecca’s presentations as we get closer to the date.

Karl and I are so happy to welcome this group and share new experiences with them – we hope you’ll come and share with us!

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