Slow down and stitch.
Sylvie, the founder of Artful France, organized her first art workshop in France in 2000. Now, 25 years later she’s still genuinely passionate about delighting and supporting clients in their creative pursuits. Alongside creating retreats, she is a designer and antique dealer, Her interiors and retreats have been featured in international magazines, including Victoria, Living Etc., Country Living UK and Australian Vogue.
Our Ethos
In building our retreats, we draw on a lifetime of exploring the French countryside, scouting locations and making connections. We concentrate on the details that make for an enriching experience.
We believe that the energy of a place can influence your creativity and color your work. There’s an alchemy that happens when a place has that… je ne sais quoi. It can be transformative.
Careful consideration has gone into choosing locations with good energy. The same goes for the artists who will nurture and guide you in your artistic process. Come and be our welcomed guest!
Meet Our Artists
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Audrey Demarre
Featured Artist September 14-21
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Sophie Baillet
Featured Artist September 21-28
Audrey Demarre
Photo: Julie Ansiau
Audrey Demarre (Paris, France) is an intuitive embroiderer who defies tradition by making unique, contemporary pieces with an illustrative quality. Her pieces are influenced by the mystique of American Indian craft. Similar to a mapmaker, she captures the nuances of human experience, exclusively taking on commissions that range from traditional hanging pieces, to cushions, shoes, and panels. What started as a side pursuit during her time as an illustration agent has now become a full-time commitment, in which Audrey collaborates with brands such as Dyptique and Le Prestic Ouiston.
In her recently published book, Broderies: Anthologie Curieuse, she presents a dynamic range of 50 contemporary embroidery artisans who are keeping this ancient art alive — in a modern world.
Sophie Baillet
Sophie Baillet is a textile artist based in Marseille, Provence. After studies and professional experience in Paris in fashion design, 10 years as a textile jewelry designer and maker, she has settled into an artistic practice related to textiles.
Inhabited by the question of family, cultural and social heritage, their weight, and the liberation necessary to chart one's own path, Sophie accumulates lines of meticulous embroidery stitches on assemblages of textiles, often upcycled. Her abstract and subtle embroidered works, monochrome or black and white, materialize her emotions, and bear witness to the multiplicity of twists and turns throughout one’s existence. Similar to subjective, imaginary, organic maps, they establish a link, through formal analogies, between interior worlds and immense natural landscapes, to create a space conducive to contemplation and meditation.
