Attendee Experiences

A perfect environment for writing. After four productive weeks I had written two chapters of my thesis, over 30,000 words. I also found I had a real sense of focus and renewed clarity of thought about my project.
- Liza Filby, GRADBritain 8, Summer 2009.

La Muse is such a relaxing and inspiring place. I came here to finish my novel and ended up writing a play, and enjoying it hugely. Vive La Muse!
- Kate Rhodes, Bristol, England, July 2009.

Such a wonderful and relaxing month. It's been great to be able to write in such a lovely place - the combination of good food, plenty of wine, interesting conversations, inspiring walks and views, has provided an extremely positive setting for a very productive time.
- Melanie Simms, England, May 2008.

It was just what I wanted it to be - a peaceful, secluded space to write, and write I did, a large slice of the novel, and three new stories.
- Stephanie Buckle, Canberra, Australia, May 2007.

I've had a wonderful time! From heartbreak to breakthrough! Though I didn't finish my projects, I've gotten an excellent start.
- Michelle Lovegrove-Thomson, Canada, Nov. 2007.

I came, I sat, I wrote.
- John Clanchy, Canberra, Australia, May 2007.

I've had changes of direction, prolific moments, time to reflect and space to sink my teeth into writing again - leaving with a new sense of direction and invigorated by this beautiful valley.
- Tim Moss, London, Aug. 2005.

Being here has been an inspiration, a cure, a respite, but most importantly a beginning.
- Alexandra Farkas, New York City, 2003.

To spend the month at this divine place was one of my best decisions ever.
- Alice O'Neill, New York City, 2003.

Do I begin by describing the beautiful surroundings, or the lively people, or the varied experiences to be had from the villages in the mountains down to Carcassonne and other nearby cities? I found inspiration and subject matter in the nature around the retreat, and I met many people who I photographed and sketched. La Muse is a safe place where artists, writers and creative thinkers can find out what they want to do for their life, work and education. For visual artists, La Muse offers a wonderful mix of people, places and subjects to use in ones work. I was so comfortable with the pace of the everyday at La Muse (although I wish my time there lasted more than a month!) and I am happy with the work I did while I was there.

John and Kerry created an environment where I was able to develop my own work schedule and do things my way. I am constantly struggling with adapting to other people’s schedules, like at school, so I was able finally to keep my own hours and do self-motivated projects and studies. The library at La Muse gave me wonderful surprises, including philosophy lessons, photographs to study, and extreme entertainment. I am so interested in the effect La Muse had on my work that I am pursuing research for a master’s thesis on the benefits of artist residencies.
-Kara Lewis, artist and photographer and barter, September 2007

I would say it's the energy and the soul of La Muse herself... there's something profoundly inspiring within her walls...vestiges of the formerly as far back as the Cathars and a silent peacefulness at present, as the writers and artists inhabit her space to later leave behind traces of their passing.

The charm and silence of her surrounding village is also very inspiring... creativity and meditation seem to manifest without the usual "effort " due to typical distractions of towns or cities where other residencies exist.
-Krista Boggs, photographer, Feb. 2005

Thanks for letting me stay at La Muse during February. I had a very productive time, not only adding about 120 pages to a second draft of the memoir I am writing but also organizing and deciding about what was usuable with little change from the first draft. So altogether I now have about 210 pages and about 57,000 words. And it is much better than the first draft. So thanks.

The house itself was very comfortable and I liked the furnishings and the cleanliness and usefulness of the rooms. No clutter, nothing wasted. I found Euterpe a very comfortable place to work in. Also nicely decorated. I had moved the desk to the inner window so the shelf along that wall was very useful for keeping papers and files in order. Very convenient. Looking out the window at the red-roofed houses spilling down the mountain, I thought I was looking at a painting by Cezanne. I've told you in your guest book the effect of staring at thousands of trees on this city person. The air in the mountains and in the house was very dry especially for a waterlogged guest from the west of Ireland. A humidifier or supply of back scratchers would have been useful.

Thank you again for having me. I wish you all the best for La Muse. You are providing a very useful and valuable resource for artists of varying fields and skills to get away and get focused on what they are doing. And I hope that you are able to laugh at all the ups and downs that having creative people in the house will certainly bring, later if not at the time... Best to you both.
-Kevin Donnelly, Dublin. February 2006.

A quick note to thank you very much for my stay at La Muse. I was unsure about how much writing I might accomplish but the company of other writers is infectious and I’m very pleased with what I was able to achieve. The whole experience is one that I will never forget. You might be aware that the people involved all got along remarkably well. My best wishes to you and your family.”
- Les Brown, Bowen Island, British Columbia, April 2006.

The main reason that I am writing is to thank you with all my heart. I spent the month of April in your beautiful retreat house and cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the stay and how inspiring and important it was for my work.

Your house has the right amount of comfort and freedom and also the right amount of challenge and simplicity. I just loved the rhythm I could live, according to my own needs and the Muses calling. The result of this month’s stay was a stunning transformation of my work to a higher level of understanding and maturation than was there when I started this final phase of my book. It seemed to me that the concentrated and undisturbed focus on one and only one object was like a magnifying glass pointing all energy into one spot and it burned through layers of cobwebs and fog. I also had important dreams, mainly towards the end of the stay, that seemed to come directly from those Muses that gifted me with sweet and deep help after I had done my own hard work. We had a lovely group of people/friends gathered during this month and it was smooth and easy to get along and share the house.

It is just delightful to be able to walk out of the house after intense work and wander through the rough and stark landscape, to feel safe and embraced by the mountains and the lively water and the budding trees. I heard the nightingale sing during the night when the moon was shining, I heard the cuckoo call all day and watched the aggressive and lively salamanders in the garden. There were every day moments when I consciously thought : “This is perfect and there is nothing that I would want differently right now, I am totally happy!

I have told many friends about your place and hope to come back. Thank you for creating such a perfect container for creativity and birthing of art. I bless you and hold you in my heart, you have thrown a “pebble into a pond” and it will ripple out into the world and attract the right people who will be inspired and empowered by the spirit of this house and place.

With gratitude and very kind regards and good wishes for the whole family,
-Shanti Bannwart, Santa Fe NM/USA. April 2006

I had a wonderful, fabulous, glorious, extremely productive time at La Muse. It was exactly what I needed in order to finish my novel.
- Sherry Christie, writer, Maine, October, 2005.

I'm very very happy with the outcome of my stay at your lovely old house. I felt great throughout my stay. The spaces in the house were just right for writing, especially the sprawling mess of papers involved in music composition. The lovely lanes and tracks stretching out in all directions from the house were perfect for - indeed specific to - the piece I was writing, 'Les sentiers étincelants', and it's no exaggeration to say that the house and the surrounding geography wrote the piece for me, with me looking on in amazement! Abandoning technology was a good decision too.
- Derek Ball, composer, Scotland, September, 2005.

I would just like to say thank you very much for our stay at La Muse. We had a great time and even managed a fair bit of writing. There were so many nice walks and talks to be had with the other lovely folks who came there. It’s fantastic that there is such a lovely affordable place. Thanks for making it available to us. Our room was great - just the sort of place I’d always dreamed of. We found it ideal for writing and Tim much appreciated the day bed – something he has always wanted.
- Anna Zaluczkowska and Tim Moss, screenwriters, England, July 2005.

I just thought I'd give you a quick report on our time in LaBastide. By now we already feel like veritables Bastidioles! We all had a great time and even got some work done, perish the thought. The house is great, and I admire your chutzpah in taking it on. It really has a great atmosphere...We rented a car and went swimming in the lake every evening, which was not only cool but pretty cold. Locals assured us that this was freaky weather, but coming from the land of Mist and Fogs, we didn't mind.
- Michael O'Loughlin, poet and screenwriter, Dublin, and Judith Mok, novelist and classical singer, Dublin, July 2005.

If I get sentimental I will wax on and on about how much I miss you and Labastide and the life you offered us. Why is everyone here in New York crazy? Why do they insist on sweeping me into their madness, no matter how often I declare that my zen-like calm will persist?
- Alexandra Farkas, playwright and theatre director, New York City, May 2003.

I'm guessing you must getting into full swing at the house about now that it's spring. We have wonderful memories of our stay there.
- Heather Burt, writer, February 2002.

We have recovered from jet lag and are getting used to being on Houston Time. We loved France and the the house. Thank you. The painting of La Muse came out great. We loved our stay and the many new friends we made in Labastide.
- Cinnamon and Ginger Clooney (daughter and mother) painters, Houston, November 2001.