Three Silkworms in France, June 2007

Left to right: Jacqueline Bradley [USA], Jean-Louis Mireault [Canada], Teena Hughes [Australia]

Hi, this is Teena, just back from a wonderful, colourful, marvellous three weeks in France, the highlight of which was meeting up with my buddies in a little village in the French mountainside.

I've been dreaming about going to the French silk painting festival in Chambon-sur-Lignon for many years, and last year I decided it was time to put my money where my mouth is. I contacted Jacqueline, and we've been emailing back and forth to see if we really could get our act together and make this trip happen.

We did it! We booked our flights, our accommodation, and the emails got shorter, faster and more urgent as our departure dates grew closer! My departure from Australia was Friday 8th June, 2007 - woohoo!

Ten days before I left Australia, I was so excited to hear from Jean-Louis to say he and his wife France would be meeting us at the Aubijoux silk festival! What luck!

I was heading to Paris for ten days first, to catch up with friends and to visit the faaabulous fabric stores around Montmartre where I'd spent many an idle day in past years surrounded by the most exquisite silks .... ahhhhhhhhhh. This visit was no exception, I popped into all my favourite stores and couldn't help but notice Sacre Coeur which hovered above me up a steep incline.

My journey from Paris to Chambon-sur-Lignon in the south was colourful - a 2 hour TGV [very fast train] to Lyon, then another slower train to Saint Etienne, and then an hilarious bus ride through the winding roads and gorgeous little villages on the way to my destination.

How lucky was I to be on board the bus with one of my tutors-to-be, Lydie Ottelart, famous in France for her silk painting [as are all the Tutors ['Professeurs'] who teach at Chambon-sur-Lignon].

I attended 4 different workshops over the next week, Jacquie attended 5, and Jean-Louis was the SPIN representative and gave wonderful presentations on his techniques and the art of silk painting.

Many conversations were had about SPIN, and the wonderful worldwide membership base, and how we could all work together to bring silk painting into the public eye. The opportunities and possibilities are endless - it's up to each of us to do our best to make this happen!.

The Classes were held in a big hall a few short kilometres from the town, in an area called La Costette. Accommodation was available here with a large canteen where meals were provided; if you needed to get into the village you could rent a car or ask for a ride.

Almost every workshop was for one day’s duration, from around 9am to 5pm, with a 2 hour break for lunch [what an excellent idea! and one I got used to VERY QUICKLY]. Some days I shared a picnic with Jacquie & her husband Bill, sitting at picnic tables with spectacular views and a wonderful meal of baguettes, delicious cheeses, cold meats and fresh fruits. Other days I returned to my gorgeous little hotel overlooking the river and had lunch in their restaurant. At night there were many places to eat and experience the local food, flavours and hospitality of the locals.

The Silk Painting Tutors & Techniques

Pierre Willocq - a truly funny man who taught freehand painting on silk with cold wax with remarkable results. Lydie Ottelart - silk artist specialising in “l’aquarelle sur soie” - watercolour on silk, using the 2007 theme of ballerinas and dancers.

Christian Sicaud’s technique uses precise control over colour and design of flowers; Gilles Fourgassie teaches several extremely interesting methods of painting without gutta for which he is famous; Daniel Andre has mastered the precision drawing of fowls, in particular French coq. Monique Faure designs fabric for top French textile manufacturers, using exquisite fabrics like silk, raw silk, organza, linen, cotton and wool. The classes were in French.

Where To Stay

Plenty of small hotels and other accommodation are available in Chambon-sur-Lignon and surrounding villages. The Tourist Office is extremely helpful - just tell them Teena from Australia sent you :-)

What’s next?

We shared our knowledge with the French Professeurs about the wonderful SPIN Silk Painting Festival, at the fabulous location of Santa Fe, New Mexico [so very different from this little French village in the mountains], and we hope that some - if not all - of them will come visit one day soon.

Overall I would highly recommend the International Silk Painting Festival in Chambon-sur-Lignon to one and all. If you don’t attend the workshops, there is still much to learn. Silk dye and paint manufacturers Marabu and Dupont have their own representatives giving free mini classes all day long, using different techniques. There is also an Exhibition, with the winners announced on the final evening before the end-of-Festival dinner party. The locals are warm and inviting, willing to try their English and were thrilled when anyone tried to speak French.

I enjoyed myself so much I’m going back next year! I have been invited to be one of the Tutors in June 2008, so there will now be classes in English, and I’m hoping to encourage the organisers to have course notes also available in English for the other tutors.

From Chambon-sur-Lignon to Lyon & Meeting Mr Procion!

After leaving the village and driving with my friends through the Loire Valley towards Lyon [100 kilometres away], we stopped at a chateau [castle] for a quick visit, and I had the most extraordinary meeting. I started chatting with an English couple who were also visiting the chateau, and they asked why I was visiting France. When I told them about the silk festival, the chap asked me if I’d ever heard of PROCION dyes. Well of course I said yes ... and then he went on to tell me that it was his father who invented Procion! Wow!! What a wonderful serendipitous meeting!

In Lyon I had a wonderful walking tour through the centuries-old buildings where the silk was manufactured, as long ago as 450 years. Lyon is the heart of the silk industry. I visited the Silk Museum, walked the paths where the silk workers carried the bolts of silk down the steep hills, through underground walkways. The sense of silk history was magical, and I look forward to returning to learn more.

My trip was a huge success, made all the more wonderful by being able to meet up with Californians Jacqueline and Bill, and Quebequois Jean-Louis and France Mireault. Merci, mes amis!!

Teena Hughes

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In June 2008, Teena will back in Paris leading the Abfab French Adventure for Silk Artists, following the same Itinerary - Silk in Paris, Silk Painting Festival in Chambon-sur-Lignon, and Silk History in Lyon. If anyone would like more information, please email Teena on:

Bonjour [at] A-Night-in-Paris-France [dot] com

or visit the info page:

http://www.a-night-in-paris.com/silk-painting-france.html