Another cold night last night followed by an equally cold day today. Definitely not a day to get out your paint brushes and begin an extensive piece of artwork on the window of your local tabac/café. Well this is exactly the kind of work that local artist Jean-Charles Vincent undertakes on such days in the run up to Christmas.
Jean Charles' theme for Christmas at the local 'Pressing' shop in Ribérac
Jean Charles' theme for Christmas at Le Fournil boulangerie in Ribérac
Jean Charles' theme for Christmas at Le Fournil boulangerie in Ribérac
Jean-Charles does not restrict himself to Christmas scenes. At other times of the year one can come across his artwork adorning the windows of various cafés, garages and other local enterprises. I have observed past examples of Jean Charles' work and have seen his interpretations on subjects such as the Rugby World Cup and all the seasons including Christmas.
Jean-Charles at work this morning, despite temps of -5 degrees!
Whilst on my way to pick up my daily 'baguette tradition' I happened on Jean-Charles hunkered down, hard at work on the window of Le Marigny Bar & Tabac. I stopped and asked him about his metier 'peinture des vitrines'. He told me that he'd had a love of drawing and painting since he had been very young and that unlike the other children with whom he was at school he had been more advanced in this than in reading and mathematics. He explained how the 'Crise Mondial' had affected him, giving me an example of a contract he once enjoyed with the supermarket chain, Intermarché, and which, because of the current financial climate, had been cancelled. Ever since seeing Jean-Charles work for the first time I have always thought it a shame that it is so transient, for when the season changes, or the final ball of the Rugby World Cup has been hoofed over the sticks then all traces of his work are wiped away for ever.
Almost finished at Le Marigny
A bit further down the street - one of our local driving schools
On the way home I stopped off for a hot chocolate (the weather certainly demanded it) at the Café des Colonnes. Here I was able to admire another couple of examples of his window painting.
Jean-Charles' Christmas dinner at the Café des Colonnes
Evocative of the predicted weather at Café des Colonnes
The window of 'La Gavotte'
La Gavotte - a play on the popular 'La Trappe' beer
If you fancy having your window or wall painted with something very special and unique ( he is also very good at caricatures) you can contact Jean-Charles VINCENT by email at "charlicom@hotmail.fr" or by phone on 06 81 29 56 68.
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