From a Fabric Museum Outside Paris to a Graveyard in Ireland
From the desk of the artist Alana Clohessy, in a small corner of Paris, on the Left Bank of the Seine.
Sunday, 27th October 2024. 16°C and Cloudy.
Tea in my cup: Twinings English Breakfast tea, milk no sugar.
Halloween is almost upon us and I am beginning the final week of my residency. I will share with you two pieces that I have worked on this past week.
The first is an embroidery piece from my Toile de Jouy series. The prompt was Zodiac and since I am a Capricorn, I felt it was perfect. I have titled it “Ladies Night”.
My Toile de Jouy series is a collection of hand embroidered pieces based on Toile de Jouy fabrics bringing the French countryside and references to European mythology to life, giving a modern twist to a classic aesthetic. You can view the full series here.
This embroidery collection was chosen by BAHC Advisory, the official European partner for Hangzhou Culture and Creative Industry Expo (HCIE), to represent European culture at their “European Impression” exhibit in HCIE Hangzhou China, Dec 2022. Another one of the pieces from this collection, “On the Prowl”, has been on exhibit in Ireland since earlier this year.
Like old film photography that was modernised by painting colour by hand, I embroider today’s colours onto a monochrome ancient scene. This individual piece is slightly different in that the background is bright pink, all the others up to this point were dark grey.
Each piece is hand embroidered onto fabric that was originally drawn and designed by Jean Baptiste Huet and printed in the Oberkampf factory in the town of Jouy-en-Josas in the suburbs of Paris in 1799. You can still visit the factory, which is now a museum. It is an enjoyable day trip and can be reached by train in just over an hour from Paris city centre, if you ever want to visit.
I visited in late May 2023 and the weather was perfect. I had the museum and gardens to myself except for the odd small lizard basking themselves in the hot, spring sun in the garden. You can buy Toile de Jouy fabric along with other Toile de Jouy inspired homewares at the museum. It is an idyllic escape from the hectic city during the busy Spring and Summer months. It is easy to forget how quickly one can reach the countryside outside of Paris.
Printed, or Toile du Jouy fabric as it is now known, originated in Ireland in the 1750s when copper plate printing was invented by Francis Nixon. However it was not until German born Oberkampf opened a factory in Jouy-en-Josas in 1760 and with the introduction of copper plate printing in the factory in the 1770’s, that the printed fabric gained popularity across France and eventually Europe. Oberkampf’s factory was one of the first major producers of this printed fabric and because of this, the fabric became known worldwide as Toile de Jouy - the cloth of Jouy.
The threads that I used to embroider each piece in this collection are ecologically manufactured Retors du Nord cotton and historical Fil au Chinois metallic thread by Ets Toulemonde, one of the last remaining French thread manufacturers, sourced directly from the Retors du Nord creator Maison Sajou, one of the oldest haberdasheries in Paris.
Embroidering on printed fabric is an art that has been done for centuries.
The second piece I will share with you is a continuation of the “Nobody Knows How to Use the Ouija Board” - the graphite piece in my sketchbook that has been with me and grown, since my first Mabs Drawlloween in 2018 (if you would like to read more, I chat about it in last week’s letter here). The prompt was Goth Moth. I feel the piece is finally starting to come together.
As we all know, our environment has a way of slowly seeping into our thoughts and ideas. I have started to notice it in my work. I have lived in Paris for a few years and now, I have two moths drinking wine at a cafe table over candlelight and I have another piece that I am working on, sitting beside me on my desk, of two characters laughing and smoking. I did not consciously think this is what they would be doing, it just happened as I drew the piece. Paris life.
I will not get to talk to you before Halloween. It is one of my favourite times of year. Stories about the veil thinning and the dead walking among us have always intrigued me. Growing up ghost stories were always told, some sworn to be first hand accounts. Will we ever know?
I happened to be in Ireland on a visit back from Vancouver a few years ago and a trip with my mother to Lismore in Ireland, coincided with Halloween. My mother was working, so I wandered off on my own into the small, picturesque village with its medieval castle, gardens and cathedral. It was a damp, misty day.
The village of Lismore has a rich history, from an abbey in the 7th century to a workhouse that was situated there during the Famine. A Famine graveyard still remains. Strangely, there is not a bad vibe in Lismore, unlike other places that have witnessed great sorrow. There is something about the place that I can’t put my finger on. Something mystical. I would recommend you visit, you will be pleasantly surprised.
I will leave you with a poem that I wrote during my visit, while sitting in the graveyard on the 31st October, 2017 (the Famine graveyard was just over the wall from the graveyard I was in).
A Ramble Through the Graveyard (Lismore, Ireland 2017) Did I walk across your grave under the box tree? Old stone and needles, crisp October air. If I wait will you take my hand and dance under the Samhain moonlight? No interments since 1962 yet cut flowers still lie upon the earth. Who remembers you when you are gone and old things are no longer wanted? To the memory of Amy Brown 14th of February 1855 and Mary, Wife of John Orr. Wood smoke scents the sky. Blankets of grey swaddle the sun. I had forgotten the smell of nettles on a damp autumn evening. Fallen hawthorn berries a bright spot upon the graves. Sap sharp in my lungs, a lone cluster of midges hover under the branches and bay for my blood, an indication of the temperate calm. Trees have an energy, a force that draws me in. I am not the only one to bleed when cut. An angel stands vigil her hands forever lost. Who stole your touch from this world? Mushrooms crowd the carpeted floor, I have not seen their gills in years, I kicked them merrily as a child. People are burned where I live now. Real estate trumps the grave. Alána Clohessy
If you get dressed up for Hallwoeen, please send me some photos. I love to see everyone’s costumes. Have a good Halloween and All Souls, wherever you may be.
Au revoir - until we meet again,
Alana x