Agathe Berjaut | The Way We Play

Making 30 meters of amore… into the atelier

2 months ago

Earlier this year, i was commissioned a very long piece for a memorable moment of life…. for 2 persons I did not know before and that were getting married in Tuscany in the summer months.

I wish to share here, a bit of the story of this piece; the making of it in my atelier and the emotions related of crafting something so personal.

It went flying its way a spring day and I never really shared anything about it… As life goes on and other projects take on.

But it is worth going back to it and show you some few behind the scenes snaps from this moment.

I painted line drawings over 30 meters of cotton toile, each drawing represents an Italian metephor or some intimate references that belonged to the personal stories of the couple.

I came in my atelier a winter day where the light is almost inexistant, with an heavy roll of fabric and started to unfold 3 or 4 meters by 3 meters, as i could not work on such a long piece in one go.

This piece illustrates a looooong table full of whimsical tableaux: animals, food, characters from italian art history, songs etc… A long mix of small or large drawings creating a poetic table. I did not want to repeat one single motive to make it truly unique and special and worked quite intuitively with my personal associations of Italian culture. To set me in the mood I listened to a Paolo Conte playlist and some wordings ended up on the piece.

I felt in my body each strokes, I had to work on the floor and going on several days in a row was painful. When I was finished with 3 or 4 meters I had to wait for it to dry in order to roll what was done and continue to work on it. At one point I felt it was not ending…. hahaha

I understood that over 30 meters of fabric is a long, long, extra long piece. During the process i even dreamed that I looked at it floating on the Empire State and that I could actually see it from the street level.

My only regret is that i haven’t experienced it totally unfold in all its glory….on its own…

I do simply not know how it looked like and I would really have loved to see the unrolling of it.

A little glossary of the important facts:

30 meters of unbleached organic cotton

8 textile colours

1 easter break

1 wedding

1000th of strokes

1 Italian playlist

12 pencils

52 hours of fixing

Papa pasta every day while working

1 iron board

2 wings to fly from Oslo to Italy

2 hands

1 white working shirt

A piece commissioned by Lalindi

Snap shots from the Agathe Berjaut Atelier, the month of March 2024

Summer is my favorite colour

6 months ago

What is Happiness to me, when and how do I actually feel it the most?…

No easy answer but it takes place more and more in the small and simple moments, observing the ones I love (to see if I can discover some of my truths…)

And Forever in Summer…

Looking at them, jumping from cliffs, chasing the wind, reading books, eating crabs, picnicking along the river of my childhood, observing shooting stars and making wishes, collecting shells or being bored with sunrays in my eyes and saturated colors

is HAPPINESS, no doubt 🙂

What is YOURS?

Everyday thoughts: january journal

10 months ago

Bonjour bonjour…

1 year ago

I have thought a long long loooong time on how I would write this first post?

How should I present myself and give you right away a little piece of my intimacy, something extra that would luckily trigger your curiosity.

Several Journeys around the sun behind me, weathered by storms, but unconditionally looking at life with the eyes of a child. You will learn most likely to know me along these posts but for now…

IF I WERE… I WOULD BE…

A sound – An heartbeat

A season – Eternal summer

An element – Water

A thing – A white shirt

A landscape – A lost beach

A fruit – A tomato

A colour – A painter palette

A book – The Ice People by Barjavel

A Plant – An old tree

A feeling – Desire

An animal – Cicadas in the garden of my childhood house

Food – Parmesan

A way of Life – Surfer

A place – Puerto Escondido in 1997

A Song – Le Sud by Nino Ferrer

A texture – Rice paper

A future adventure – Japan

A source of inspiration – The imperfect

A word – Life

But I am above All, A Mother

Stealing Life on film and drawing It, is my language. While others write their diaries, I draw my journal instead since 1997.

I am a French-born creative adventurer based in Oslo where I ended up because of love. While working in fashion for over 20 years, first in Paris, in my early years at Jalouse and training in Christian Lacroix atelier, then designing for a Norwegian company, I have dedicated my sensitivity to the visual language; drawing, annoting, photographing, collaging, mixing, drawing, manipulating…. All means to achieve a sense of elegance.

Devoted to Paper and the hand touched, I collect the multiple intonations of Life. You will find here a piece of my journal echoing to my extraOrdinary, you will travel along into uncharted territories following the paths of creativity and hopefully stay close to me 🙂

TWWP and I, have inspired each other for some years now and I am SO grateful to have this place in their community!

MERCI

If you wish to see a bit more of me hahah :), you can read the Small Talk published a year ago by TWWP here.

And the series Time Passing in the magazine no.07

À bientôt

bisous x

Agathe