February in Nérac is a lovely time. The sunshine is out as well as the BBQ.
STUDIO FAIRE is in the midst of its yearly downtime as we renovate a further bedroom and a bathroom in the guest area. Season 2024 is fully booked and of course we look forward to welcoming a further 45 creative souls from all over the globe.
I continue to play drums in Tequila Mockingbird in a myriad of varied venues from Chateaux, wee local bars and village fêtes. It’s like I’ve been invited into another family and we have our own wee adventures around the Gers department and beyond. Such a lovely bunch. Letty sings and she is English, Julia plays Sax, Flute and sings, also English, then we have Ian on guitars who is a fellow Scotsman and finally Laurent who is French of Russian decent. We have a busy summer ahead of us.
Julia is busy as always managing Studio Faire’s bookings and admin while I focus more on the garden, parc and outbuildings.
While Nérac is snoozing a little in these winter months, we continue to care for the property. As I type this, we have David on the roof of the main house mending all the slipped and broken tiles. I’m also looking at starting a potager (veg garden) this year in the main garden.
My sidekick, Dougie is getting old and slowing down a bit. He never complains though… sweetest soul in the house.
Henri & Noushka are constant reminders that we need to spend more time outdoors too, not killing things though… I’ve had to use the glove of death to remove a fair amount of mice and the odd bird this year so far!
We are also very pleased to announce our STUDIO FAIRE Fellowships programme this year and we are now open for applications. The fellowships have been set up by Julia & myself as we’d like to offer creative practitioners with limited financial means a period of research, development and production, as well as an excellent adventure in a foreign culture and the exchange of ideas with all others in residence at the time. Click for info and to apply:
https://studiofaire.fr/en_gb/residency-fellowship-application/
We are in discussions with an events partner for the summer so watch this space for announcements.
And, needless to say, we are loving life here with our many adopted family members and great pals in the area.
And, the Tour De France is passing right outside our front door in July, bacon roll party it is then! Chez Nous.
Keep in touch and all the best, Colin
