Plan de la Tour : Daniel Van de Velde, landscape sculptor
© D. Van de Velde
There are all sorts of ways to discover the Maures, by sea, by land, on foot, on horseback, by car… But there's nothing like a Land Art session to immerse yourself in the landscape and commune with nature !
Born in Burgundy and brought up in Champagne, he spent some time near Paris before moving to Plan de la Tour, in the Maures region, which he now has no intention of leaving.
"At first, you see things through the prism of summer holidays, everything looks like a postcard. But when you actually live here, it's really fantastic. The landscape changes all the time. You go from oak forest to pine forest, from the sea to the mountains, from hard to soft and subtle light."
Experimenting with Land Art
As a visual artist, he has a preference for ephemeral works and enjoys introducing the uninitiated to environmental art. "We organise group excursions, listed among the guided nature walks offered by the La Garde Freinet Heritage Preservation Society and the Ramatuelle Tourist Office. I ask people to use what they find around them – twigs, leaves, flowers, pebbles, rocks, seeds, sand – to create a collective work. The children are usually the first to get started. Adults sometimes take a bit longer. I have even seen some who brought their easel along! It's up to me to reassure them, to show them I am not knowledge personified. After that, it is the eye and the exchange of views that form the work. It's fun, and even gratifying when you contemplate the result!" Daniel Van de Velde has a fondness for tree trunks, which he hollows out, keeping only the shell, the outer circle. "When I go for a walk in the forest and come across a pile of logs, I reassemble the trunk." Nature is a fascinating jigsaw puzzle… Your turn to play!
Contact us
Conservatoire du Patrimoine du Freinet
Chapelle St Jean
83680 La Garde-Freinet
(0033) (0)4 94 43 08 57
The "Art and Nature" workshops in the Maures, with Daniel Van de Velde, feature in the brochure on « balades nature commentées » (guided nature walks) from Ramatuelle and La Garde Freinet.
Website
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Office de tourisme de La Garde-Freinet
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Daniel Van de Velde
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Topic : Landscapes and nature
Published on : 2008/10/27
Tags : ramatuelle plan tour daniel van velde landscape sculptor
