![[The Company]](../buttons/company.png){kind=small}
![[Home]](../buttons/home.png){kind=small}
![[Events]](../buttons/events.png){kind=small}
![[The Silhouettes]](../buttons/silhouettes.png){kind=small}
![[Silhie Swaps]](../buttons/swaps.png){kind=small}
![[UK Artists]](../buttons/swaps-uk.png){kind=small}
![[France]](../buttons/swaps-france_lit.png){kind=small}
![[USA]](../buttons/swaps-usa.png){kind=small}
![[Internet]](../buttons/swaps-internet.png){kind=small}
![[Silhie Links]](../buttons/links-grey.png){kind=small}
![[The Artists]](../buttons/artists.png){kind=small}
![[Meet the Artists]](../buttons/meet.png){kind=small}
![[Booking Us]](../buttons/booking.png){kind=small}
![[Check a Date]](../buttons/date.png){kind=small}
![[Contact Us]](../buttons/contact-e.png){kind=small}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the Summer of 1997 we went to Paris. We had a great time visiting the great city, and also went to the new Disneyland Paris, which the children loved, and I coped with quite well!
Like all tourists in Paris we headed up the hill to Sacre Coeur to look at the market, and me in partucular to look for silhouettists. Well, we found 3 of them and they looked a shady lot! (excuse the pun)
The Vietnamese artist who cut mine was probably the best, but his profile of me is barely recognizeable, and for some reason he cut me in a shirt and tie which I certainly wasn't wearing on holiday! I suspect it's the only male attire he can manage. Still, at least he seemed honest and diligent, and took the trouble to talk to us about his work.
Next came Natasha's profile. She was literally pounced on by a character who arrived out of nowhere and began hacking away with his scissors without so much as a by-your-leave, almost reducing her to tears. He then demanded 150 francs, rapidly climbing down to 50 francs when he saw my scepticism! Eventually I offered him my loose change (about 20 francs) which he snatched from my palm, and stalked off to bother somebody else. The silhouette must be one of the worst I've ever seen, but it's interesting just because of that!
Of course Nicholas now wanted a silhouette done too, and so we approached a German lady who was at least friendly, but without much eye for likeness that I could see.
The whole experience was a salutory reminder of what can happen to artists who have to scabble like pigeons for a living. Their skill, if there ever was any, becomes lost to the endless repetition and lack of any real reward (apart from monetary). All the Montmartre artists supplied a little printed backing card, but none took the trouble to actually stick the silhouette onto it! Everything was just thrown loose into a plastic bag. I felt I would have liked to introduce myself to them as a fellow silhouettist, but their attitude, and the pressure of the market-place, made me feel it would be an unwelcome intrusion! I was later told that I missed the best artist, a Frenchman who was not in sight on the day we visited, but I remain sceptical on that point!
|
| ||
| Nicholas in Montmartre | Natasha in Montmartre |
|---|
Sun has a little stall in Disneyland were he works slowly and carefully with his scissors. He comes from China and I suspect he only earns a fraction of the money he takes. He was friendly and delighted to make my aquaintance. His silhouettes of children are far better than the one he cut of me. I watched him cutting profiles of children for a while before I introduced myself to him, not wishing to disturb a profitable line of work! I think he had problems with my hat (which I left on to test him.... hee, hee!).
He even gave me one of his cards to paste my copy of his profile (the only one of my silhouettes ever to be pasted on a Disneyland card!), and then let me into the secrets of his traditional pasting technique (on condition that they remain secret.. sorry!)
|
| ||
| Sun, by me | Me, by Sun |
|---|
Working alternate shifts on the stall with him was a French lady, who also worked slowly but to good effect. I like her slash work. I surprised her with a profile cut while she was working, and then she did this one of me. In a rather broken mixture of French and English I gathered that this was her first season as a silhouettist, and she felt not at all confident. I think she had been rather pushed into it by the Disneyland managment!
In the Summer of 1999 we went to St Malo, on the north coast of Brittany. There I met a chinese silhouette artist called Sunshine Wan. This is the swap I made with her.
|
| ||
| Sunshine, by me | Me, by Sunshine |
|---|
Sunshine lives with her partner in a place called Pledran in Brittany. She described their lifestyle to me. Apparently they spend around six months each year working 12 hours a day on their stall in St Malo, he selling his watercolour landscapes, and she selling her silhouettes. The remainder of the year they simply relax, read, and enjoy the good life in France. It sounded to me as if they had the 'on scissors' lifestyle well worked out!
