The Art School - Brushes

L'Ecole Municipale des Arts Plastiques de Menton is an art school tucked away in a tiny street in the Old Town. Anyone from 6 to ancient can attend this school and you can learn sculpture, painting, how to draw comic strips, mosaics, photography, history of art, and much more.

A wonderful place just buzzing with creativity.

This photo is from one of the studios.

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L'Ecole Municipale des Arts Plastiques de Menton est une école d'art nichée dans une petite rue de la vieille ville. Elle est ouverte à toutes et à tous à partir de l'âge de six ans jusqu'à ..... On peut y apprendre la sculpture, la peinture, les techniques de la bande dessinée, la mosaïque, la photographie, l' histoire de l'art, et bien d'autres choses.

Un endroit merveilleux tout bourdonnant de créativité.

Cette photo est l'un des ateliers.

The Gobelin Tapestry

This beautiful tapestry was made by a famous Parisian company called Gobelins in the 17th century. It was created for Louis XIVth and is part of a series called 'The History of Alexander.'

It hangs in the Museum of Beaux Arts in the Palais Carnoles in Menton.

Stephane Montalto - Ceramist and Potter

Stéphane Montalto is a well-known Riviera ceramist and potter, originally working in Menton but now at his workshop in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.

And it isn't only beautiful pots that he is famous for. A while back he discovered the archives of Saissi, an important ceramics company of the last century. Saissi was a Menton enterprise with more than 100 employees who created beautiful balustrades, cabochons and bowls using the particularly beautiful pale turquoise we see around Menton and Monaco. Using the traditions of Saissi, Stéphane works restoring many of the Belle Epoque villas of the region. You can see more of Stéphane and his balustrades and large pots in the colour I'm talking about by clicking HERE.

Stéphane's work is installed in many parts of Monaco, including the Japanese Garden and St. Martin's Garden on Le Rocher. His work has been shown in many different exhibitions and he's won many awards. And he's such a nice gentle man. Today's photos were taken at one of Menton's art markets near to Place du Cap.

The Icons of Elvire Mercatini - 2

Meet Elvire, the Menton artist who creates these beautiful icons. The photo below shows Elvire's interpretation of Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (The Book of Hours).

And note the smaller photo which shows a little more of the beautiful Chapelle Saint Jacques which housed Elvire's work.

The Icons of Elvire Mercatini

There's a tiny and very pretty little chapel in Garavan - right next to the Napoleon hotel - and often it's used for art exhibitions.

The artist is Elvire Mercatini who lives in Menton and creates these beautiful icons. We'll meet her tomorrow. The work is incredibly detailed and she applies 40 coats of paint to create the effect she wants.

Do come back tomorrow and meet her and take a closer look at the chapel.

Infographie and the Teacher

We are continuing our visit to the exhibition of students work from the Ecole Municipale des Arts Plastiques.

Meet Christelle Esperto who teaches infographie - computer graphics or art made on the computer. You can see some examples of her students' work on the walls. Notice Johnny Depp in the smaller photo?

I wouldn't have a clue how this work is done but I understand that no original photograph is involved.

In the smaller photo you can see the Mayor of Menton in the foreground. The lady with him is the Principal of the school which takes students as young as 6 and with no top age limit.