Aout 2019/August 2019

August 2019: the artist in residence @lmStudio is Shari Pratt.

Usually, I try to be around Hyères to welcome the artist and help for the first days..But it is not always possible and sometimes even the artist does’nt wish it. This time, I had asked Shari if it was ok for her if I wasn’t around. Indeed,  I had the opportunity to travel to Asia during several weeks this summer-

Really it was a wonderful opportunity to prospect for LM Studio: reach out old friends, visit new artists in Dubai, Singapore, Bengaluru, Melbourne, Sydney..More news about this Asian trip in a later post. This way, you won’t be surprised if later on, one of the next resident is related to that trip….

Meanwhile, Shari had told me it was fine if I wasn’t in Hyères. So I went,… but……I really wanted to meet Shari after her residency.

Finally, one of the possibilities was to meet her in Arles. She was going to visit Arles for a few days late August-I hadn’t been to any of the exhibit organized for « les rencontres d’Arles » (is an annual summer photography festival with an international impact. It was founded in 1970 by the photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historian Jean-Michel Roquette. you can read more here )

So this picture was taken while we had lunch ( and almost diner as we spoke for such a long time..) on one of the touristic main market squares in Arles. We had a very serious discussion, exchanging infos on all kind of subjects like hours of opening, sales, and a very good news:  what she would do differently next time!..Yes ..Shari is planning to be back in 2021. This was a very good news for me as a proof of an artist not only enjoying his/her residency but also wanting to come back!..Now Shari has to take an important decision: which month is she going to choose to experience her time as the LM Studio artist in residency ?