L’hiver
Quelle vue ! (What a view!)
The view from my studio window at Chateau d’Orquevaux
Quelle vue (What a view) !
Even now I cannot believe this was the view from my studio window at Chateau d’Orquevaux in France. Turns out I suffered from extreme beauty! Can you believe it? And yes it’s a real thing. With so much beauty around, the French are accustomed to its symptoms but for this visiting Australian, I didn’t even know this was a real thing.
How did I get my diagnosis? From a young Parisian lady visiting the chateau one weekend. She had asked me how I was finding my residency and as we got a chatting in Franglish (a blend of French and English), I explained that it was just so beautiful here that my body was rejecting what my eyes were seeing. As I explained my symptoms of how my brain was telling me it was all fake - it had to be a blue screen, dizziness, unable to concentrate…sounding absolutely crazy, the smile on this lady’s face got bigger and bigger. Yep, she has to be thinking I’m crazy too but she said, “Oui ! C’est le syndrome de Stendhal”….QUOI !
Turns out I was surrounded by so much beauty that I experienced Stendal Syndrome or as it’s also know, the Florence Syndrome, named after 19th-century French author from his time in Florence, Italy. As unsettling as the symptoms were, it is a thing of beauty to be around so much beauty that your brain simply cannot handle it. I would hate to say, “I wish you to experience this for yourself one day”, given how you might faint and all, but it’s simply overwhelming - in all the wonderful ways.
Watching the snow fall at Chateau d’Orquevaux.
On the topic of beautiful and bizarre, let me introduce you to a French winter expression to say it is freezing cold. You may hear it on your travels in the future or you may just like to give it a go and use it this winter if you are feeling a little French.
“Il fait un froid de canard”
[eel fay un fwar der can-are]
which literally translates to “it makes a cold of duck” or more simply, “it is duck cold”. Steeped in tradition, this comes from a very old hunting expression but today, it’s just a cute and classic French idiom. Maybe in the next newsletter, I should share a little clip of me saying a French expression but to be honest, I had a French teacher tell me I had horses hair on my tongue (another classic French idiom) so it maybe best that I leave it to the native speakers and the college of YouTube!
The Icy Veils - Lutruwita/Tasmania - Digital photography
It’s quite natural that as winter comes around, hibernation habits quick in but as a professional artist, I have seen my art practice shift between the seasons too. My autumn chia tea in the studio becomes a winter decadent hot chocolate, it takes me longer to start in the morning and I become a bit of a night owl but most importantly, I start to write a lot more and do less visual art.
Last winter, I wrote and worked on my Advocacy Gallery and it was a big project that was also quite raw as I relived the visceral sensations of intense nerve pain that travelled through my body at the different stages of my rehabilitation journey. If you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, I would encourage you to check it out but go gently.
I am most proud of my work on the ‘Faces of Chronic Pain’ as it not only captures the complexity of chronic pain but I also plan to use these images and words in a book soon to help people understand and for those that are in it, feel seen.
The writing project I am drawn to this winter is exploring grief. Prompted by an upcoming writing competition on the subject, the parts of my identity that have been hurt and lost after a car accident that changed my life now crave to be heard through my pen.
It will be a piece that talks about grieving the loss of your old life and how it has become almost taboo in a way to make space for a human and an uncomfortably healing natural process. Too quick we are to put a positive spin on life’s hardships or losing a part of ourselves and what I found out the hard way with my pain treatment and journey is what I thought was resilience and moving on was just me storing all that trauma up to be dealt with on another day. Already this project is pouring out so I can’t wait to cocoon, write and see what comes.
For me, autumn is a season of letting go and winter is a time to reflect. This winter, there is particularly a lot to reflect on - not just because a lot has happened but I’ve also had two winters in a row. I have lived the life spectrum to its fullest! There have been extreme highs and lows and what I am finding as I am getting older is accepting that the best and worst things in life can happen at the exact same time…even the same day…even before getting a morning cuppa. So here are some pictures as I reflect on winter number one - the good and the challenging.
My Winter Projects
The next three months for me can be summed up in two words: art and travel.
In a couple of days, I will flying to London to participate in the artists events with the other lucky artists that were selected for the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition.
It kicks off with ‘Varnishing Day’ where the selected artists and only them (no plus 1 allowed sorry) are invited to view the exhibition before it opens to the public. It’s a day of networking, social engagements, press, nibbles, traditions and celebration. It is called Varnishing Day because back when it started in 1769, the selected artists were invited to come back to the gallery to have time to varnish their works before the exhibition opened.
I can’t wait to get back to London and celebrate this big moment in my art career - this is my first artwork to be hung in a major institution! I can’t believe it.
Once I get home, I will then be:
making my way up to Queensland to drop off my exhibition piece for the Doyles Art Award and attend the Opening and Awards Night. Cross your fingers for me.
heading to Taree to attend the ‘Naked Nude’ exhibition where I hope one of my advocacy artworks will be hanging.
attending my 3rd consecutive annual artist residency at Lighthouse Arts in Newcastle. As the name suggests, I will be working from the grounds of a lighthouse. It’s amazing, and then finally
making my way south as winter comes to a close to arrive in Tasmania for the start of spring. I can’t wait to share what I will be getting up to down there in the next newsletter. Exciting times ahead!
Me having some cheeky fun in the Valley of the Giants, Tasmania - my happy place.
Up for a winter challenge?
Are you feeling inspired yourself after reading about all this art and travel? Then why not join me in July for a free creative daily challenge and practice hosted by Craft + Design Canberra. It’s free, open to anyone and everyone (no skills required), any age, from anywhere in the world and you can do whatever you want! How good is that!
For the whole month of July, Craft + Design will be sending a daily email with a daily word prompt around the theme of rewilding - “a call to return to untamed creativity, embrace imperfection, and connect with the raw, natural forces that shape both art and life.”
I am so excited by this community building project but also by the theme this year. I am always amazed to see all the different types of artwork and interpretations that come from a single word prompt. So incredibly powerful. It’s a creative challenge that I have absolutely adored watching unfold and always felt I was missing out on something amazing by not being able to participate due to health. Not this year my friends.
This year will be my first year participating in the event because I want to challenge myself to rewild a little and make self-care a priority through a daily creative practice that is not related to my artwork work. I want to carve out a bit of time each day to ground and find joy just for me. I hope you will join me, have some fun and experience the benefits of a daily art practice in any form that feels like you.
To learn more and register for this free and fun event, click the button below:
Final thoughts -
My motto through my intensive rehab and now a business brand is to ‘BEE KIND’ - and to be honest, it is still a lesson and a daily reminder for me.
The reason I want to share this with you is because although there are a lot of benefits to winter, I can also be a bit hard on myself for not having the same energy, enthusiasm or waistline as I did earlier in the year.
If this resonates with you too, then I hope you will remember with me to BEE GENTLE, BEE PATIENT, and BEE KIND - because there is only one you and this season and any struggles you are met with will pass. And remember, if those winter blues set in, join me for the July Challenge and we can help each other.
That concludes my very first studio journal, ‘L’hiver’ and I really hope you enjoyed yourself and got to learn a bit more about me and my art practice. I will be back on the 1st of September with a new studio journal and newsletter so until then, please take care, bee kind and stay toasty warm.
Melissa x
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Le printemps
Coming 1 September 2025
Coming 1 September 2025 in the Spring Edition Newsletter.