29 July 2025
There is something almost poetic about the pairing of subject and setting when an international group of artists gathers in the Dordogne to paint landscapes and still lifes. Few regions of France offer quite the same blend of dramatic natural beauty, golden light, and timeless rural charm — making it an inspired choice of location for this year's international painting course, held from 6 to 12 July 2025 at a guest center nestled within the region's scenic countryside.
An International Gathering of Talent
What set this course apart from many others was its truly international character. Ten mouth and foot painting artists, hailing from both French- and English-speaking countries, came together for a week of intensive artistic focus — a genuine cross-cultural gathering united not by shared language, but by a shared passion for painting and a shared understanding of the unique techniques their art demands.
The participating artists included Serge Maudet, Keith Janz, Tom Yendell, Joseph Martins, Melodie Spiess, Christine Minet, Szilvia Vari, Arnaud Dubarre, and Michael Marseille — a group representing a rich diversity of nationalities, backgrounds, and artistic sensibilities. Each artist arrived with their own distinct style and perspective, and it was precisely this diversity that gave the week its particular richness. Working side by side, participants had the rare opportunity to observe how fellow artists — shaped by different cultures, training, and artistic traditions — approached the very same subjects and challenges, often arriving at strikingly different, yet equally compelling, creative solutions.
Guided by a Master of Pastel
Leading the week's instruction was Jerzy Moscicki, a recognised pastel master whose expertise shaped the course's focus and direction throughout. Under his guidance, the ten participants turned their attention intensively to two classic and demanding genres: still life and landscape — subjects that, in the hands of a skilled pastel artist, offer nearly limitless opportunity for nuance, subtlety, and technical refinement.
Pastel is a medium that rewards patience and precision, qualities that align naturally with the deep discipline already cultivated by mouth and foot painting artists in their daily practice. Throughout the week, Moscicki offered his expertise generously, helping participants refine their handling of light, shadow, texture, and colour blending — the very elements that separate a competent still life or landscape from a truly masterful one. Under his mentorship, the artists were encouraged not simply to replicate what they saw before them, but to explore new creative approaches, pushing their technique in directions they might not otherwise have attempted.
A Week of Focus, Growth, and Exchange
Over the course of the week, the group settled into a rhythm of dedicated, intensive work, each day offering the opportunity to build further on lessons learned the day before. Working amid the picturesque Dordogne countryside — with its rolling hills, historic villages, and warm, golden light — surely offered no shortage of inspiration for both landscape studies and the careful arrangement of still life compositions.
But the week's value extended well beyond technical instruction alone. Bringing together artists from different countries and different linguistic backgrounds created a natural and valuable space for exchange — an opportunity for participants to share not only artistic techniques, but stories, perspectives, and experiences drawn from their varied artistic journeys. For many of the artists, this kind of sustained, in-person exchange with international colleagues is a rare privilege, one that offers insights and connections simply unavailable through more conventional forms of correspondence.
A Week's Work, Revealed
The course reached its culmination with an exhibition showcasing the works produced during the week — a fitting conclusion that allowed each artist to present the fruits of their labour to fellow participants and guests. Visitors to this closing exhibition were treated to a striking visual record of the week's journey: still lifes rendered with newfound technical sophistication, and landscapes capturing the unmistakable character of the Dordogne itself, each piece bearing the individual stamp of its creator's style, shaped and sharpened by a week of expert guidance and dedicated practice.
For the participating artists, seeing their work displayed together — nine distinct artistic voices united by a shared week of learning — offered a powerful and satisfying sense of closure, transforming a week of individual effort into a collective artistic achievement.
More Than an Art Course
Beyond its artistic focus, the Dordogne course offered something equally significant: a meaningful opportunity for exchange, connection, and community among artists who might otherwise rarely have the chance to meet. In an international community as geographically dispersed as that of the mouth and foot painting artists, in-person gatherings like this one carry particular importance, offering artists the chance to build friendships, share encouragement, and remind one another that they are part of something larger than their individual practice.
A Week to Remember
As the course drew to a close, the participants departed the Dordogne not only with refined technique and new finished works, but with new friendships, new perspectives, and a renewed sense of connection to the wider international community of mouth and foot painting artists. Guided by the expertise of Jerzy Moscicki and set against one of France's most inspiring landscapes, this year's international painting course stood as a powerful reminder of what becomes possible when talented artists, regardless of language or nationality, come together in pursuit of shared artistic growth.
Source: VDMFK News