Sketchers Festival at Brest - ENKI organisation


USK-Brest-carbon-pen-Emily-Nudd-Mitchell

1ST DAY

The sketchers and drawing reporters festival at Brest, organised by ENKI. Usually begin on the train ! Philippe Bichon meets me as he's going to the bar. And our neighbour is from Wallis et Futuna, he's wearing the traditionnal skirt. It's already begun!

We also meet François Bihorel, great paintings, and he goes out the train with beautiful old cases full of his drawings.

At the Fourneau, Brest's street art place, we set up our stand and we escape to draw the harbour with Philippe Bichon and Sylvie Bargain.

Brest-manoeuvres-port

Fantastic manoeuvres of a sail boat, no doubt they're seamen around here. It's just playing with waves ! Suddenly, we can't see it anymore : the sea is up, the big Abeille Bourbon (Assistance boat) covers the horizon !

Brest-abeille-bourbon


At night, Tzigan music concert with group O Shuno (dream in Romani), Philippe Bichon tells me he can hear indian notes, fascinating !

Brest-groupe-Tzigane-O-Shuno


2ND DAY

Visitors are great, travellers usually, and even sound sketchers, like Mélanie et Tristan (www.tamatam.fr) or Brigitte who I draw while she records us. My neighbours have a stand to dream, with flying caravans and Noah's arks. (Léa Tirmant-Desoyen et Paskal Tirmant) When they tell you about the birth of their art, it's even more beautiful !

  Brest-Brigitte-P-et-L-Tirmant

At night, we make "artist couch surfing", great ! We are all sleeping at Brest people house : I'm staying at Marion Le Bec 's place (and her cat's) who welcomes me as if I were family. On the first morning, we go to the printer to get her posters (she made the festival's poster). Like Lapin, she prints her work at a local printing place, not on the web. Fair trade.

Brest-M-Le-Bec

At the big top, concert of Amari Famili, with Tzigan songs from their album Airs d'accueil...

Brest-Chapiteau

3RD DAY

At the festival, we meet again artists we knew at other places such as La Plagne, Clermont Ferrand... We follow them on the web, like Damien Roudeau who presents his drawings realised before the festival in Brest harbour, full of boats and portraits, full of life. I also meet new artists, like Violette Gentilleau. I ask them three questions :

What is your best memory during a drawn report in France ?
- Violette : A mobile intergenerational festival at the Vosges (Eastern mountains). So many nice people, nice places, and I was staying at people's place, and organisators were just fantastic. One day, I've been drawing at a old people's home, one of them began to play the accordion, and all the others sang oldies from the 20's !
- Damien : Saint Denis' project, at Sémard's quarter. With Guillaume Reynard, meeting people, drawing directly there, you can follow us here : Semarensemur, c'est marrant ces murs.

And abroad ? What's been your best encounter ?
- Violette : In India, I went by chance to Auroville, chance is always good. And my best encounter was with the man with no name, in a saint indian town, a sadou man who renunciated to everything. It's been a great exchange, and he told me it was the same for him too.
- Damien : In India, with a sculptor woman in Calcuta. I don't speak Bengali, so we communicated with drawings, and the atmosphere was great with her co-women workers too.

A definition of drawn report ?
- Violette : Testify while drawing, through your eyes and sensibility, without judging.
Damien : Ask questions, and answer with drawings.
  Brest-M-Le-Bec-D-Roudeau-V-Gentilleau

At night, we draw at the pub, Briton music and beers, and papers. Marion is in the articles ! (le télégramme, ouest france...). We begin the portrait party with Sylvie, Lapin, Gérard Michel who came from Belgium with his son Antoine, and it's Ronan Hervé who discharges the pens first !

USK-retratos-Brest-Emily-Nudd-Mitchell

4TH DAY

Nobody believes me when I say it's been raining in the morning. A 3 minutes cats and dogs shower, first sketch under an umbrella ! (Rue Poullic al Lor, near the harbour)
  Brest-le-port-parapluie

Back to the Fourneau, with music !

Brest-Fanfare

And Jill Donald, a Scotthish artist who travelled to Afghanistan with English archeologists in the 70's, ses carnets d'époque sont merveilleux, calligraphiés... I draw her while William from the revue Bouts du monde interviewes her. Contact her if you go to Brest !

Brest-W-Boutsdumonde-J-Donald
I was also happy to see again the Tribulants, admire nights sketches of Marion Zilbermann and comic drawings of Nibor, discover the universe of Vivi Navarro and Marie-Hélène Puget, Tzigan portraits of Kkrist Mirror and Tchernobyl sketches of Gildas Chasseboeuf.

I'd like to really thank the organisation Enki, the volunteers's energy and warmness Agnès, Véronique, Josiane, Pierre-Henri, Cathy, Leila, Marie-Paule... Merci pour tout !

The end of a festival is always a bit sad. Sarah Letouzey cheers us up with her gigantic puppet, so poetic. Philippe Bichon sets the music to her dancing walk.

Brest-P-Bichon-C-Guenot-S-Letouzey

Brest-P-Bichon-S-Letouzey

5FTH DAY

Back to Lyon, down the train, the festival theme (Tzigans) is really actual...
  Lyon-tzigane-manche

6TH DAY

I receive a letter from a visitor, it shows their warmness, why we don't go to Brest by chance !

  Brest-lettre-rectoBrest-lettre-versoBrest-Jill-Donald
(it's Jill Donald ! See you soon)

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