LISTE DES ÉVÈNEMENTS 2009

Voici la liste des évènements auxquels je participe cette année. De nouvelles expositions s'ajouteront à la liste avec le temps.

Pour toute informations France Benoit

List of the venues for 2009. More will be added.

La Coopérative l'Empreinte

272, rue Saint-Paul Est
Vieux-Montréal
Québec, Canada
H2Y 1G9

Téléphone: (514) 861-4427


La boutique Madame de la Courge
20 rue du Cul de sac
Quartier Petit Champlain,
Vieux Québec
Téléphone: 418-692-1689
Courriel: achoubec@videotron.ca


Complexe archéologique de Pointe-du-Buisson

333, rue Émond
Beauharnois, secteur Melocheville
(Québec) J0S 1J0

Téléphone: (450) 429-7857

Cultiv'art à Oka

Verger Le Cultiv'Art au 5 rue de la Pinède, Oka
du 27 juin au 18 octobre 2009

Musée des Abénakis

108, rue Waban-Aki
Odanak (Québec) J0G 1H0
du 27 juin au 18 octobre 2009

Conseil des Métiers d'art du Québec - Arts and craft council of Quebec

Je suis fière d'annoncer que je suis officiellement membre du Conseil des Métiers d'art du Québec. Je fais parti du répertoire des membre sur leur site internet. :-)

I am proud to announce that I am part of the Arts and craft council of Quebec. I am listed in their website's directory. :-)

Leur site web est le : Le Conseil des Métiers d'art du Québec

Artistic steps

Artistic steps

France Benoit Quebec artist.

Following the birth of her son, France yielded to a compelling desire for creation that led her to find her vocation late in life. Her yearning for artistic expression appeared with such urgency that she signed up for the only art class offered in her neighbourhood, oil painting.

This was the start of a profound transformation that, through a series of chance events, helped her discover her true passion: gourd painting. So fascinated was she with this art form of a thousand faces that she decided to leave the feathered nest of a full-time job and dive into the uncertainty of the world of art. Now, six years later, France continues to explore the gourd as a means of self-expression.

The trial-and-error exercises that became a regular part of her daily routine eventually proved to be at the heart of her artistic development. Gourd art is her primal response to the call of cultures across the ages and her celebration of our common origin and the cycle of life.

The gourd is an annual herbaceous plant of the Cucurbitaceae family whose fruit is most commonly used when dried to make a variety of objects. Its shell is used in making traditional tools, in particular kitchen accessories (containers and vessels), and musical instruments (berimbau, maracas, sanza, sitar, and more). Gourds can also be made into decorative items.

The traditional communities of tropical and temperate regions have been using gourds for thousands of years, especially as floats for their fishing nets. In fact, this is probably how the gourd floated across the oceans to become the only plant to span the globe in prehistoric times. Originally, gourds were used in their natural state for everyday purposes much like we now use plastic and metal tools.

People throughout space and time have discovered this precious gift of nature and drawn on its strength and energy. Besides being the perfect receptacle for carrying water and catering to other daily needs, the gourd was also used in traditional medicine and in creating various sacred objects. I therefore derive great pleasure from working with such an instrument that is as old as humanity itself and yet renewable with every harvest moon.