Artists Gallery
During their time at Maison Les Buis, visiting artists are given space, time, and the gentle rhythm of the Charente countryside to explore, experiment, and create. This page celebrates the work that has emerged from these residencies, a reflection of personal vision, inspiration drawn from the surrounding landscape, and the freedom to play, reflect, and follow curiosity wherever it leads.
From paintings and sculptures to textiles, prints, and experimental projects, each piece tells a story of a creative journey taken in a place designed to nurture focus, imagination, and new ideas. We invite you to explore these works, to see the diversity of voices and approaches that flourish here, and to experience a glimpse of the rich, reflective atmosphere of life at Maison Les Buis.
Whether you are an artist, a collector, or simply someone who loves creativity, this gallery offers insight into the quiet, fertile space where art and everyday life meet.
Strength
by Gizem Candon, 2025 – Canadian/Turkish
Medium: Oil on linen
Field: Painting, foraged pigments, biomaterials and videography
“I spent a week in Maison Les Buis in July 2025, and I'm still amazed at how much I was able to fit into one week! My intention was not to produce so much work or do so many activities at first; instead, I wanted to rest, clear my thoughts, and feel inspired for future projects. And it happened! But I also ended up walking on empty roads, seeing foxes, deers, wild boars and cows (so many cows!), falling in love with Sasha (one of the residency cats), watching colours changing during sunset and waiting for the moon to come up, do yoga and taro reading with Martina, paint in the studio, gather rocks and soil to make pigments, and then make oil paint. It was truly magical.
In this particular work, I was inspired by the feminine energy at Maison Les Buis as well as the surrounding landscape; I saw it in the colour of the earth and sky. I used raw earth pigments from France and worked with hand-made paints. I worked on the painting until the very last day, so it was still wet when I left.”
Detail from ‘The Chapel of Natural Intelligence.’
by Lydia Idel, 2025, American
Medium: Leaf installation/Digital Photograph on Acetate
Fiels: Interdisciplinary, Ephemeral Art
“Maison Les Buis is many things: certainly it’s beautiful, serene and gracious and wonderfully far away from the hectic world. Yet it is also, in ways you may not notice at first, extremely powerful. The house and grounds are a living, potent world that holds the possibility for creative breakthroughs and transformations.
The presence of place at Maison Le Buis is palpable: a deep yet playful wisdom emanates from the trees, the rocks, the surrounding land and very much from the house herself. If that weren’t enough, the presence - and joy - of Martina, Julian and Andrew weave together to create a perfect mix of community and care.
I stayed in residence for two months and saw different artists come and go during that time. It was astonishing - and fun - to see how each went through a process of release, expansion and triumph.
The work I did there opened entirely new doors for me and is changing my career significantly. (I also became much, much better at ping pong).
All in all, I am quite certain that the house and land made a decision to support artists in creative breakthroughs. They called Martina to come create the space and now there is, in a very quiet part of France, a speck on this planet where house, trees, water and skies (and cats and a dog, flowers and fields) conspire to bring out the best in artists.”
Blue Door
by Andrea McLaughlin, 2024, American
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Field: Painting, drawing, printmaking and collage
“This painting Blue Door was my first impression of Maison les Buis. The classic French country architecture, the rose gardens and the reflections of light and colour that so distinctly characterise the quiet beauty and sense of place. While at Maison les Buis, I experienced the calm, natural, inspiring lifestyle that only the European countryside can create. Blue Door now hangs in my living room, and is a daily reminder of my time in France, and how much I want to return.”
Song
by Claire McGory 2024, American
Medium: Gouache and watercolour on wallpaper
Field: Interdisciplinary, Writer, Videographer, and Painter
“I have spent about two months at Maison les Buis over the course of the last 2 years. It has become something of a home to me, a constant in an otherwise changing life. When I applied here, I had no idea what it would come to mean, as all the greatest stories live to be known. The first residency here was quiet: 40 days between August and September, where I began to write. In that time, shifting between the cerebral nature of finding the right words, I began to paint. Painting offered a new freedom of expression, one rooted in the embodiment of feeling. It is this I always seek to translate, regardless of the medium. Some are better or worse at accessing that.
I also made a video documenting my process, speaking candidly about the joys and the difficulties. This would come to reach people who were also, in their own way, sharing the experience of a creative life. I believe we found solace in each other, the nature of reciprocal understandings.
The next time I arrived here was June of the following year. I befriended two beautiful artists, Liuba and Eliza. That period marked one of companionship, of simple laughter and quiet company. I painted more than I wrote, but there is an aspect here that reignites the simple wonders of life. It is enough to just look, and notice. Creation because an inward act of being; to express it is merely secondary.
It is now March of next year. I am only here for a week, my shortest stay since the day I arrived. I am spending most of it at my desk, writing for my novel as well as doing work for my senior thesis. The days, as always, are full of a delicate quiet, the type of solitude that reminds, life is lived from within. I feel it in the breeze, the morning walks where the sun pokes out from the clouds, and the promise of such a renewal, to do it all again the next day.
Maison les Buis is the space that allows deeper art to unfold, the kind that occurs in silence, the work of the heart. Time and time again, I have been fortunate enough to remember its grace, the fullness of the here and now.”
Le Tournesol
by Jeffrey Lamperts, 2024, American
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Field: Painting
“This close-up detail of the sunflower head and stalk was painted on our 3rd day at Maison Le Buis. The inspiration to depict these flowers was immediate upon seeing the early blooming parts of the field, when the first days of July were upon us, and our walks were scouting missions to see what we could see, and explore the bucolic landscape of Feuillade and environs. Midday was clear, and the cyan skies were mostly cloudless. Walking out and following the dirt road left, past the front gardens of Le Buis, and passing the neighbouring farmhouse atop the hill, we were met with the elevated view of the rows and rows of stalks and densely upright flower heads, plate-like, and turned to face the sun like nature’s satellite disks. Many were unopened, and would continue forming, following the sun a few more weeks until they finally spread their petals outward in glory, yet a few sporadic bursts of a lone flower broke out and peering at the passerby like a periscope were visible. The excitement I felt was fueled by these ‘early bloomers’, which had been impatient, and had given an enticing preview of the splendor that was imminent. The fields stretched out in the distance, only to be framed by tall, wooded wonderlands of shade. Each day, as we walked, we waited to see more flowerheads in bloom, yet the gradual unveiling of their glory didn’t come as expected. The flowers seemed reluctant for two more weeks, until at last, well past the middle of the month, our long-awaited spectacle was revealed. Upon turning the corner, we were struck by a vista of golden yellow, and the field seemed to have burst into bloom all at once. To see a blanket of petals and seven-foot sun-worshipping living beings against the summer sky was breathtaking, and it was then that I knew I had chosen my subject well. The painting brought me great joy, and perhaps foretold of the magic that was to come.”
Forest Bathing
by Arden Rose, 2024, Canadian
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Field: Painting nature, Portraits, and the Hidden Self.
“I spent four weeks as an Artist in Residence at Maison Les Buis, a place that will forever mark both my practice and my life. The property itself is fabulous, a space where artists can truly breathe.
Martina was truly a wonderful host. She carries a rare calm – a slower, more measured pace that gently recalibrates you without you even realising it. Her steadiness, honesty of spirit, and genuine presence changed my life. Conversations with her were grounded and transformative. She has a way of seeing directly to the heart of things – and inviting you to do the same.
The ‘back pond, past the cow pasture’ at Maison Les Buis caught my attention, and it sparked a long exploration in my studio afterwards. What began as quiet observation evolved into a ten-month exploration once home, where I found myself painting ponds, lakes, lagoons, and other bodies of water almost exclusively.
But what stayed with me most was the quality of being that Maison Les Buis fostered. It wasn’t simply about subject matter – it was about slowing down enough to listen, to observe, and to trust what was unfolding.
I left with more than a series of ideas. I left with a recalibrated nervous system, a deeper commitment to authenticity in my work, and a renewed understanding that art begins with how we choose to live each day.”
A Miscellany of Moons, Sound Drawings and Poems
by Judi Pettite, 2024, American
Medium: Watercolour and Ink from local plants and earth pigments
Field: Painting, Installations, Sound Drawings, Ecological Ar
“My work at Maison Le Buis was shaped by the sensory abundance of summertime—the glowing fields of sunflowers, expansive blue skies, star-filled nights, and long walks along wooded trails.
The residency offered me the space to slow down, to think and breathe more deeply into my practice, and to fully immerse myself in the surrounding landscape.
The colours I worked with were drawn directly from the environment: soil, leaves, and flowers are the source of the ink and paint for my field notes and colour studies. The environment entered my work materially and conceptually.
I continue to expand on the themes that began at Maison Le Buis, including sound drawings and installations that incorporate sustainable materials gathered outdoors.”
“I feel so grateful for the talks and experiences we had; it really helped me to connect with my body, souls and the universe too!”
ROELI