June/July 2025: Welcome to Vanessa Wallet-Hardi - France

Vanessa was born in Vojvodina, in the former Yugoslavia. She graduated from the School of Design in Belgrade, Serbia, after which she studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria, and in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2000, she was voted Young Artist of the Year in Slovakia. She lived in Prague for many years, but since 2015 she has lived and worked in Annecy, France.

Vanessa’s testimonial :

"The artistic residency at La Magnanerie de Séraphin was an extraordinary experience for me - a stay that was both artistically rich and personally rejuvenating.

Being able to paint and live at my own pace is a real luxury!

Enjoying each day, painting in the studio, sitting in the garden, cooking something tasty, cooling off in the pool... and above all admiring the magnificent house and garden that Kristine and Geoff have created with their own hands - it's simply inspiring. I can't recommend this exceptional place highly enough.

I sincerely hope to be able to return one day."

www.vanesahardi.com. Instagram :Wallethardi

May 2025: Welcome to Susanna Chen Chow - Australie

Susanna's testimonial :

Combining art with a holiday in the South France and painting my way through the landscape has been a long time dream. I have a leaning towards abstract impressionist painting and often read about the great artists of the time being captivated by the soft and gentle light across the south of France. I dearly wanted to paint some large canvasses to trace my own personal journey through this landscape of ever-changing light with its softness in shape, colour and textures.

I started my endeavours in May at an artist residency with Kristine and Geoff for three weeks in the small village of Navacelles near Ales in the Cevennes. They have a renovated 17thC “magnanerie” where the silk was collected and processed near Ales in the Cevennes. My companion cooked while I painted on 12 pieces of cut canvas up to 90cm x 90cm rolled up in a tube, and chaperoned me around to explore the lovely landscape and capture numerous gouache sketches of shapes and textures. Three weeks comes to an end all too soon and I had to finish as much of each canvas as I could before heading off on an exploration of the south of France from the Pyrenees to the Alps, with my small body of work back in its protecting tube.

Website : susannachenchow.art

September 2024: Welcoming Janene Porter - Australia

Janene’s testimonial :

I enjoyed a fortnight's residency in September 2024 at Kristine and Geoff's beautiful establishment in Navacelles. I was supported mainly by Geoff, a very experienced teacher and artist, in developing studies for a painting series I plan to exhibit. His advice and tips were invaluable to me and I felt I made huge steps in understanding where I'm going with my work. The large studio is upstairs adjacent to the house, above Geoff's painting and sculpture areas, so I could work uninterrupted in a quiet and well set up space.

We stayed in the very comfortable apartment next to the house so we could be independent, but enjoyed aperitifs with Kristine and Geoff and their dear little dog Rocky on the terrace several times as well as a dinner or two. They were both very welcoming and informative about the local area - once it was even warm enough to swim in the pool.

The local area is very pretty - the village has a great restaurant we would thoroughly recommend - so we walked a lot, exploring nearby villages, castles, Nîmes and shopping in Alès with its supermarkets and art supplies. We hired a car too to get around.

Instagram : @janeneporter_art

August 2023: Welcoming Sara Pilino and Erika Ciccone - Italy

For the first time, La Magnanerie de Séraphin welcomed two contemporary dancers in residence for a fortnight this summer.

Sara and Erika worked on the creation of a brand new choreography and gave a superb end-of-residency performance at the Maison de l'Eau theatre, in Allegre les Fumades. 

Here's the link of the full performance: https://youtu.be/hc-R-PMmfjs

Erika’s testimonial :

The dance residency was a truly enriching and intense experience. Spending two weeks immersed in nature, surrounded by greenery and silence, allowed me to fully concentrate on my artistic research and physical practice. Being away from the usual urban noise and distractions gave me the space and time to explore movement in a deeper and more focused way.

Staying at Kristine’s house was also a key part of the process — the atmosphere there was calm, welcoming, and inspiring. It felt like a perfect environment to rest, reflect, and continue thinking about the work even outside of the studio.

The theatre of Allegre les Fumades, located just five minutes by car from the house, agreed to host us for our performance. It was very convenient and well equipped for rehearsals and experimentation. This made the daily routine smooth and efficient, helping me to make the most out of the residency period. Overall, it was a wonderful opportunity for growth and creation.

Here's the link of the masterclass we created after the residency: https://youtu.be/UmPQwgLPptE

(actually we created a compositional method "OCS®" by using the principles Erika and Sara experienced during the residency and before)

This is the updated program of the project with all the dates and locations we got invited or we performed to:

Our Comic Side (OCS®) - exploring comedy in choreography (07/2020 - 09/ 2025)

1- Residency CosiDanzi Bando per la Giovane Danza D’Autore 4a edizione - final performance September 26th, 2020 at Teatro del Lido, Ostia (Italy);

2- Residency La Magnerie de Serephine - final performance September 1st, 2023 at Theatre La Maison De L 'Eau - L 'Allegres des Fumades, France;

3- Residency Black Box 3rd edition Balletto di Siena - final performance December 8th, 2023 Siena, Italy;

4- Performance at Anima Mundi Art Fair Visions 2024 – June 7th, 2024, ItsLiquidGroup, Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello, Venice, Italy;

5- Performance at Dancing in Summer, The Festival! by Terpsichore Collective, Riverside Arts Center, Ypsilanti, MI, USA;

6- International launch of the masterclass “OCS® – exploring comedy in choreography” during Dancing in Summer, The Festival!, Ypsilanti, MI, USA;

7- Invited to present the masterclass OCS® in occasion of Healthy Dancer Canada Conference 2024 at University of Calgary, Canada;

8- Performance at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, March 30th 2025, Italy.

9- National launch of the masterclass OCS® in occasion of "piccolo festival" by Maestri di Strada June 13, 2025 in Naples, Italy;

9- Performance at Teatro in Stalla, Ostia (RM), August 2nd, 2025.

September 2022 : Introducing Thérèse Briggs - Australia

Therese’s testimonial :

In September 2022, my husband and I had a memorable 3 weeks stay at La Magnanerie de Séraphin in Navacelles. Our accommodation was private in the Appartement de Séraphin, with a beautiful ambiance. Our artist/hosts Kristine and Geoff anticipated every need including delicious meals, croissants and coffee. The gardens, the pastoral views of the magnificent Cévennes and the sunsets were an inspiration. The studio, set in a barn, was spacious and provided a great working space. As an artist I was able to work at my own pace and the environment gave me both the physical and mental space to explore many concepts. Kristine and Geoff were very supportive and made themselves available for mentoring and advice. I was able to take some works to completion and others will form the basis of further work and exploration. For artists, there are many resources available within half an hour drive (for example stationery, printing, art supplies, book and fabric shops etc ). There are also many places of interest nearby including Nîmes and Uzès. And of course, Rocky the doggie and “concierge” was an added bonus.

Site web : theresebriggsart.com

August 2022 : Introducing Elva Hreidarsdottir - Iceland

Late July 2022, we welcomed Icelandic artist, Elva Hreidarsdottir, for a 2 weeks residency at La Magnanerie de Seraphin. She was accompanied by her graphic designer /writer husband, Halldor. They had chosen the option to stay in our newly opened self-contained apartment, “L’Appartement de Seraphin” located within the building of our magnanerie, so that they would be able to prepare their own meals and keep a more independent life. They had also opted to rent a car and this way they were able to do their own food shopping and to explore the many touristic spots our area has to offer.

Elva’s testimonial :

My residency at La Magnanerie de Seraphin in Navacelles was quite good. My husband and I arrived at the end of July for two weeks and it was quite hot during our stay, at least for us coming from Iceland. Kristine and Geoff are extremely kind and helpful hosts and we had many nice evenings with them, chatting about art and more. The self-contained flat, where we stayed, the studio and their home are really great and beautiful. We can see that Kristine and Geoff have put their heart and soul in this project. The area around Navacelles is inspiring and quite beautiful.

April 2022 : Introducing our first artist in résidence, Christina Lundqvist - Denmark

Note: In April 2022, Séraphin's apartment was not finished and Christina was welcomed on a full-board basis in Séraphin's Bedroom, which is a guest bedroom located in Kristine and Geoff's house.

Christina’s testimonial :

Here is my testimonial of my 2 week artist residency at La Magnanerie de Séraphin.

Even though my train was very late, Kristine and Geoff still had no problem waiting for me and I was met at the Alés’s station where they picked me up, in their original 2CV. My 2 weeks have been formed by a mixture of my plan from home and all the inputs and talks I have had with Kristine and Geoff. With Geoff, I could pull on his knowledge as a curator and fellow visual artist and with Kristine I was invited to join her walks with local French ladies who knew several places that were of interest specifically to me and my inspiration for water. I have used my time to dig into my thoughts surrounding my art. I have tested colours and new sounds for my videos and had time to think about how to go about my next solo exhibition. During the residency mealtime, talks with Kristine and Geoff have been filled with knowledge, and exchanges of ideas. We have had evening video sessions, talking about and analysing our respective video works, looked at previous exhibitions and works and even talked about where to go from here. Geoff and Kristine live an interesting life. They have travelled the world and have had several exhibitions in the East, Australia and France. The surroundings are fantastic – there are mountains, beautiful small towns and the residency is amazing, a small piece of heaven for an artist. I didn’t use the studio, but have used my little desk in my room when working on the computer. However, the living room, the garden and the studio are all for use – they have opened up the whole house for their artists.

http://www.christinalundqvist.com https://www.instagram.com/christinamajlundqvist/