| Text:Valérie
entressangle Photo: Michel Serra Pour IKEA Room Magazine |
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When you arrive at Jeanne’s you would think that
you are in the middle of the famous painting by Van Gogh the Gypsy
Encampment. In a meadow, surrounded by Cypress trees,Five gypsy
caravans form a timeless circle. All
that’s missing to bring the whole thing to life is the campfire and
the wail of a flamenco guitar. Jeanne
Bayol lives in a world surrounded by her passions, following her dreams
and her fancies always in full colour. She is lucky and most of all very
talented.It all started in Paris for this southern girl, where she
studied at a famous design school. At the end of her studies she went to
work for a fashion house. However,
she missed Provence and on her return she ran a contemporary art gallery.
Fate and love then took a hand. She met Jean-Marie who was also was a
lover of gypsy culture. Together
they restored their first little tinker’s house.
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Jeanne
says “It’s because of the memory of these trailers being pulled
slowlyalong
by horses and the fascination that these little wooden houses held for
our imaginations, that we wanted to give them back their original
splendour, so that they could once again regain the spirit of the proud
nomads who once lived in them”. A
famous decorator fell under their charm and bought one. The story still goes on, always in full colour just like in
Jeanne’s dreams. The caravans, newly restored or rebuilt, go on to a
new destiny. Although now
still, they still conjure up wandering for the soul. “A writer bought
one to make an office do his writing in …”Their interior decoration is a key step for Jeanne.
That is the moment when she becomes a stage designer and lets her
imagination run loose, inspired by the sensations she feels in this
place. The colours and ornaments are all carefully chosen to invent a
particular atmosphere in each one. |
Old paintings, pictures of gypsies, crystal
candlesticks, rococo mirrors, flowery and stripy materials, Indian silks
and old-fashioned quilts all come together to make a daring cameo
Jeanne brings in
far-off decors from wherever the wind takes her – to the ‘Vive la
maison’ in Paris or to the ‘Fiesta des Suds’ in Marseille, where
she conjures up a far away atmosphere. She is always guided by the
colours of the South and the nomad spirit that shapes all her daydreams.This taste for far away lands and her leanings
towards fantasy are also found in the sumptuous coats that she designs.
These unique pieces with their fabulous patterns are sold in
Paris and New-York …
.
*The caravans, called
‘roulotte’ in French are
also known by the name ‘verdine’, a name of Caucasian origin
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