What makes this English card shop in France so special? Our team of talented artists...

Whether it’s working with watercolours, inks or fabrics the passion for their work and their skill in creating original designs is very apparent. Here we give you a pen-picture of three of our artists, all of whom run art courses in England and France – contact us for details!  Our other artists will feature here in future up-dates…….

Textile designer / maker/artist
Carole holds a diploma in art and design and graduated with a degree in fashion and textiles in the year 2000. Carole has been making and designing her own textiles ( scarves and bags in velvet and silks) for several years. She has enjoyed painting since a child and has tried several mediums including oils, acrylics and watercolours. It has been through using watercolours for her design work that she has developed a passion for painting. Some of her favourite subjects are flowers, plants and the natural world but her interest in architecture, ancient buildings and crumbling surfaces are apparent in her work both in textiles and her paintings.
She exhibits her work in her own open studio and at local exhibitions and craft fayres.

After gaining a teaching qualification she now teaches adults to paint, running her own classes at a local Art Centre and popular workshops in villages near her home in Somerset, England. Carole's love of the French way of life and the landscape has given further inspiration to her work. These are often subjects for her card designs. She has also lead a painting course for adults in France.

As a teacher of primary aged children I have always enjoyed experimenting with different art techniques, both for my own enjoyment and for use in the classroom. I was first introduced to batik at a Summer School at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad. Batik involves using hot wax as a resist on fabric before dying. The fabric is then dyed and small cracks in the wax produce the characteristic batik effect.

Travelling recently in South East Asia I was fascinated to see this done in family-run small businesses. As Health and Safety became more of an issue in schools, I extended my repertoire to silk painting; and I now work in school with children and run silk painting days for adults in West Sussex. I also use both techniques to produce my own designs for greetings cards. Having learnt French at a very early age, travelled extensively in France on holiday with my family, I readily admit to being a Francophile with a capital ‘F’, and contributing to a greetings cards website in France is an exciting challenge!

I am married and mother to four young children. I was born in Cambodia of Chinese parents, who settled there after leaving their homeland. At the age of 4 I moved to France where I received my education. I am lucky to have a mix of French - Chinese culture. Through my husband's job in the army I have travelled a lot and now live in Cognac.

Painting for me is second nature. Since a young age I remember tracing bamboos which are still one of my favourite themes, of adding colours and detail on sheets of paper. I have never taken lessons in art and I think I owe my gift to my paternal grandfather who did Chinese calligraphie, an art I now practise in French. When I sit in front of a blank canvas I close my eyes and mentally create an image, outlining my thoughts on paper and the drawing is born like this.I sometimes spend a longtime without drawing, then the need arises and I become creative. My favourite themes are inspired from my other passion in life, cooking: fruits, vegetables, ingredients, spices,wines and liqueurs.... as we know inexhaustible in France I work mainly in watercolours and ink but I like also charcoal and gouache.