After painting for her own pleasure for 30 years, it was time to share her passion for colour with the world. The Atelier Galerie Véronique Joguet off the rue de l’Ange started out a ruin. Totally renovated by Véronique, it is now an oasis of calm, a perfect backdrop for the explosions of colour that burst from her paintbrush. It is also her workshop, her own personal space, where ideas transform into creation.
Véronique sets a theme – Collioure, Paulilles, the vineyards of Maury…. and tells its story in a series of different textures and colours. Always bright. Always joyful. Exuberance, energy, light and heat of the Mediterranean to keep you warm until summer returns.
Summer isn’t all about the beach. Perpignan rocks and sizzles too!
Throughout July and August, ‘Les Jeudis de Perpignan’ enthrall and captivate locals and holiday makers alike every Thursday evening as the streets and squares light up with a sparkling mixture of free and exciting street entertainment. Throughout the season, there is music, dance and theatre from jazz to flamenco to classical, culminating in the world famous VISA exhibition of Photo-journalism in more than a dozen historic buildings where the world’s greatest press photos are exhibited.
But should you feel the need to wander far from the madding crowd, stroll through the shady and ancient cobbled streets past inviting inner courtyards to find havens of calm. Just off the Rue de l’Ange, Galerie Joguet greets you with a burst of exuberant colour. The paintings of Veronique Joguet‚ a confessed colour junkie since the age of 14 when she discovered Turner’s abstract landscapes at the Tate Gallery‚ emit energy, light and the heat of the Mediterranean.
Veronique created Galerie Joguet in 2009 as a permanent exhibition space for her work. She sets a theme – Collioure, été indien, the coastline of Paulilles, the vineyards of Maury, flowering cacti or female portraits – and explores its pictorial possibilities in a series of 25 to 30 canvases each telling the same story in a different way
The Chateau Royal floating on the bay, the Fort Mirador seen through a screen of dancing pines, the Mouret fishermen’s houses nestled above the bay and Fort St. Elme rising above a tumble of rock and cactus. Each scene is awash with a bright primary colour: red, yellow or blue.
But don’t take my word for it. Pop along and see for yourself. As springtime makes its tentative return, celebrate with a visit to the courtyard at 18 Rue de L’Ange and soak up the radiant colours of Veronique Joguet’s world.
