![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtncoPAb2YbF1mFV0sgQX6wurpsUZxVu4iUeNsv9bfxSJ-j2aOt-UgbYxCd8V1MoaN0A-6vB68fO2fRn1zanZiKugbtvoRJHUPYrk8GtmtAGN_RMsp0gJSqtkjJ6Sryppe0vtdr7uX8uE/s320/IMG_0008.jpg)
Won't you stay a while with us? Pull up a chair and pour yourself a cup. It's time for another "cuppa" interview, this time with the French illustrator extraordinaire Amandine Labarre and I know you are going to love her work! You may already be familiar with her blog Epine Blanche
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO8ngSJlDk6H9S_k3tnIclX8nn519vdKRNrkkwfI2IbE42P0Lwoa5Iv9UJ35XXM08mY6y33lEUiix_tvzxIk_fKVlX11WqhbZpSLRgc99QYmmr7KzbPWD3aKwaE9o0pCt1OxR1DjPSO8Q/s320/IMG_0083.jpg)
How do you take your tea and in what kind of cup do you like it served?
Answer-Without sugar, in a tall mug to keep it very hot… My favorite one is a blue ceramic one, homemade by a friend. If a cat could jump on my knees while I’m drinking from it, it would be just perfect.
If you could choose anyone, past , present or future, who would be joining us for tea.
Answer-I think I’d like to invite the great Arthur Rackham. I discovered his work very early and was astonished by it. There’s a real word in his watercolors, the shades talks to my heart, and so do his vision of fairy tales: his characters are full of grace, but there’s also something gloomy, mysterious and frightening in it...I find his Nordic myths paintings really mesmerizing. He seemed to be a quite lonely person, but I’d be honored just to share a cup of tea with him, perhaps evoking old tales quietly. I’m not very talkative either.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxc_3Q3vv5DAO6DOw0fLUDXbJlBhFQIEYbqscItLgKSaPqW3zPW8YT_37aX8fZ0HfwUzvDfqHsV1_xfXaA8B-V5-NXoFhROvZX7iMqxEVnulEnNFqeYjEsqkf0Xx6e_pTMQERq5r3nXgw/s320/eglantine2.jpg)
Tell me a little about your background in art and design.
Answer-I studied at the faculty, intending to being an art professor. But while writing my final dissertation, dealing with art and shamanism, I took the time to think about what I really wanted, and finally realized I definitely wasn’t made for doing this job..I wanted to be an illustrator, which had been my dream for the very beginning…I just was afraid to fail, but I had a lot of luck, and a year later I was earning my living with my drawings-thanks to my first book I wrote and illustrated, on the theme of faeries and herbs.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLGwHyx3ZtWF1qp6SS0NsUa-q1vytpn9AkJw5QkGFlrk_EuqSoNiqIJ6zOYdFKkyUBg7waM5mehHUDJdvCAsuqeGQQ1eIekf9dOYsEJ2LOSik7DP9wF_k9mvl4vca5tIVw3OoU9RhAhAc/s320/air.jpg)
Where are you based and does it influence your work?
Answer-I live in Touraine (France), and really love my town. I live next to the Loire and run along it each morning: each day, the sight, the colors, the smells are different and inspiring. This afternoon I saw a kestrel flying just above me for a long moment, as if wondering if I could make a good breakfast for it; I was delighted!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-CJvZDmxO4BEwKCHwJicfjD4LU1zoAh58dke3GxLX_nXvD97byccPhsAAv4aAk8akkvrjAjstCIryUVrAggfrZILg6XJc34DkGYXMHCCk5n1-nOZ8hyphenhyphenb5rRvlE6NLXTd783JWXdmY7s/s320/leboisduncton.jpg)
What have you been doing/working on today?
Answer-Today, I took my bicycle and went taking some photos of trees for a personal book project, I also picked some lovely hawthorn berries I found on the way back, I think I’m going to paint it, but I don’t know yet to what purpose, perhaps just for the pleasure of taking a quiet time exploring their beauty.
I hope that you have brought along something wonderful to show us, what is it?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7xG9-G_E2e93SUaDIEgb5c6ZVRWsrPlopS7RNrvjyTjcul0el4uESCZoWqvwYJodLXVPNtdJe3qeLa3TMSxhIu1crGEAEZvzRohgZHhkVGNc3geOhQ2GY3fFoKx_ZHpboyQItkRj7nk/s320/p00.jpg)
Answer-Well, It’s a picture from a little children’s book I made with my brother, an eerie tale dealing with cats, a quest for the return of light in a shadowy land ..It’s the 3rd book in that collection (this one will be published for next Christmas) and I’m particularly attached to it, they really are done with heart.
I think that is evident Amandine, thank you so much for calling by and sharing your work with us.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDz92viAgoId0w_crm09vqFRTXhQc3z-n_d7nkf1du1-82X4sJ6ASvmTnEmAcDBRUButwhuQfWuH-G74KGLuDRQ3rNycFZmxsG9-kcPSXkdQIVh2XxvXmvZALCy5W33Ne1kxOftmr2stI/s320/foretevanouie1.jpg)