Artz’s art journals take on a French flair

It wasn’t so long ago that travelers carried bulky cameras and endless rolls of film on their voyages. Novice photographers shot from every angle and in different light in hopes that, when the film was developed weeks after the trip was a mere memory, the moment had been captured for posterity. These days, technology allows us to instantly see our images and share them across the globe in real time. And while this instant gratification has its appeal, there is something to be said for slowing down, appreciating what we see before us and immersing ourselves in the moment.

Jerie Artz captures moments of her days with watercolors, often painting in small bound books. From meticulously detailed landscape paintings to hastily sketched still-life studies, Artz’s journals capture moments in time just as photos do.

“My art is a visual journal of my life,” she says. “As I mindfully process what speaks to my heart and soul, I try to capture the beauty and wonder in travel journals.”

Travel is a big part of Artz’s life. She and her husband met in college in Chicago where she was a voice major and he was in the pastor program. Marrying after graduation, they relocated to France so that he could start a church.

“Neither of us spoke the language,’ says Artz, “but when we got off the plane, we both took deep breaths and knew that was where we were meant to be.”

Studying French intensely for nine months, they then relocated to north of Paris where her husband eventually practiced his faith in his own church.

Artz had learned the art of porcelain painting years before and, while bringing up her family in France, she was invited to display her work at a crafts fair in her community.

“A woman stopped by and studied my painted teacups and plates,” she says. “She returned to my booth the next day to tell me that she had stayed up all night trying to learn the technique. She begged me to teach her.”

Several others inquired about lessons, as well, which prompted Artz to offer classes in her craft to the locals.

“I taught weekly lessons for several years,” she says. “And Nicole, the woman who first asked about lessons, grew to be a dear friend.”

After living in France for 14 years, Artz and her family were called back to the States to tend to family matters. Moving from France to California, then later to Michigan and Illinois, they eventually retired to Indiana. During this time, Artz’s porcelain painting transitioned to watercolor painting.

“There are a lot of similarities in the two techniques,” says Artz. “My mother, a watercolorist herself, encouraged me to try watercolors, which felt quite natural to me.”

Still making visits back to France, Artz stayed in contact with her friend Nicole. Nicole and her husband had restored a home and a guest house in a small hamlet in the country.

“Nicole repeatedly told me to bring my friends to stay at the guest house and paint the French countryside,” she says. “At the same time, friends at home in Indiana were urging me to organize a paint trip to France. I was getting pushed and pulled from both sides,” she laughs.

In 2010, the stars aligned when Artz connected with a travel agent who assisted her in putting together her first French painting excursion. A group of nine artists signed on to tour the countryside, visit Paris, shop for local groceries, cook, eat and paint, paint, paint. Artz encouraged each participant to create an art journal, as she and her husband introduced them to the beauty of the area. Each artist brought their own style to the journals, and subject matter varied from ornate Parisian storefronts to rustic landscapes, simple yet artful table settings, chickens, pigs, pots of flowers, ancient stone buildings and rose gardens. The group painted plein air as they sipped beverages in outdoor cafes, perched on riverbanks and visited the sights of Paris, creating precious memory books that portrayed in paint, words and sometimes items such as Metro tickets their individual perspectives on their experiences.

“Each day we would pack up our journals and art materials and tour around while we sketched and painted,” says Artz. “Then we would return to the guest house and sit around putting finishing touches on our work. My role was to instruct as we went along, but the feeling was less of teaching and more like painting among friends. They each painted whatever was in their hearts.”

Five years later, Artz returned to France with another enthusiastic group, and then again four years after that. Artists sometimes brought spouses along. During each excursion, the artists were invited to show their work to the community, sometimes by informally hanging paintings from an outdoor clothesline in a courtyard where visitors could wander and sip champagne, and eventually at a more formal gathering hosted by the mayor of the tiny hamlet, who graciously opened up his space to Artz and her group.

Artz was looking forward to returning to France recently with yet another group of artists.

“I am so looking forward to connecting with them and showing them the beauty of France,” she says. “We will all return with our journals full of whatever speaks to us,” she says.

“When I pick up one of my books and look at what I have chosen to paint each day, I can hear the roosters crowing or smell the food cooking or maybe catch the scent of a rose garden. I experience the joy of integrating my inner and outer life intuitively through painting.”

 

Patricia Bruno is a Methuen native, currently living in Haverhill. A writer and photographer, she is also the owner of The Winged Rabbit gift shop in downtown Haverhill.