Stéphane Dufour – Artiste Automobile

One of my deepest passions in life is the automobile. Classic cars, trucks and motorcycles in particular have been an obsession as long as I can remember, growing up in France. This was actually what motivated me to come visit America, especially California. Growing up in the French countryside, it was extremely rare to spot a sports car, a custom car, or even a nicely restored antique. Magazines on the newsstands abounded with articles from sunny Southern California, and fast forward a few years, here I am, living in the heart of Orange County, California, driving a classic Chevy truck! I am mentioning this because yesterday I met another French man who not only shares my passion, but is able to turn it into amazing pieces of art. His name is Stéphane Dufour and his paintings and sculptures are just breathtaking! He creates his realistic works with pencil, acrylic, and airbrush techniques. If you share my interest in car culture, you should visit his website http://sdufour.com/ We also have a few of his paintings displayed and available for sale in our Tustin store.

Stéphane Dufour - Hommage Citroën

Stéphane Dufour - Ferrari 250 GTO

— Jean-Michel

 

Art Walk in Old Town Tustin Coming this Saturday

Come to Old Town Tustin this Saturday for the 2011 Art Walk!

This Saturday, October 22nd, the 4th annual Old Town Artwalk will be held in the historical area of Tustin, centered around the corner of Main St and El Camino Real. Fine art will be displayed and available for purchase.

A Wine Tasting will be presented by the Tustin Preservation Conservancy at Jamestown Village. Over 70 wineries will be featured, including Roth, Mount Veeder, Cakebread, Kenwood, Merryvale, and Francis Ford Coppola.

There will also be live music, a tour bus of Old Town and other activities for the whole family scattered around the neighborhood.

Local merchants like I Dream of France will also be open, so you can add shopping to the lists of things to do! Check out our selection of oil paintings and fine art photography from Emet Martinez and Evelyn Morris, as well as our selection of Beauvillé teatowels, so beautiful they can be framed.

You can find all the information on the Old Town Art Walk at http://www.tustinca.org/artwalk/.

See you then!

–Jean-Michel & Brett

 

Happy Memorial Day! Spring News from I Dream of France

Happy Memorial Day!

We’ve been unpacking new shipments all month, and are putting new items online every day! Visitez I Dream of France online or in our Tustin (Orange County), California, boutique and see what’s new.

We have new lower shipping rates. As always, orders of $75 or more ship free! No coupon code required for the shipping special. (Alaska and Hawaii pay $10 extra.) Also, we now ship to Canada!

Below are some examples of what’s new…more info on our website!

New French Kitchenware

Provence Handpainted Ceramic Stackable Pots. As a decorative piece, this is a showstopper — and it’s practical storage as well. We’ve been using these pots to style dining rooms for local home tours, and everyone’s eyes go straight to them.

Provencal Scenery Art Tile Trivet. Another stunning piece for kitchen or dining room, our art tile trivet makes a splendid gift (if you can bear to part with it!).

Couleur Nature Olive Tree Towel. We have added several new kitchen towel designs from Couleur Nature, all block-printed by hand and Provençal in style.

New French Table Linens

Provencale Sunflower Green Cotton Tablecloth. Available in round or rectangular sizes.The printing on both the round and rectangular is what is referred to as “placé”, or centered in the middle of the cloth.

New French Decorative Hardware

Paris Antique Style Dressing Room Hook. Perfect grace note to add to your powder room.

New French Baby Accessories

The latest fashion accessory for babies: pewter pacifier keepers featuring a French fleur de lys! We also have rose and giraffe motifs available. These are made in the USA by a company in New Orleans. Too cute to pass up!

New Sale Items

Summer is around the corner. Do you know a little girl who could use a new dress? Here’s a good buy: Alphabet Safari Girl’s Sun Dress, 33% off.

 

Tour Versailles…with Google!

Have you heard about the Google Art Project? Google asked museums around to world to let them photograph their buildings and collections to put online for everyone to view. The museums chose which works to show (some are blurred for copyright protection) and Google did the rest. The absolutely amazing result is that people anywhere and everywhere can discover and view more than a thousand artworks online in extraordinary detail. See the 200-foot-long Hall of Mirrors online, no plane ticket or trip through TSA required.

Versailles Hall of Mirrors

On a related note, our building (The Cox Market Plaza in Old Town Tustin) and boutique interior were recently photographed by Google for our place page. The Google photographer took lots of pictures of our shop, which should be online in a few weeks. I guess we got the same treatment as Versailles!

I Dream of France After Dark

–Brett & Jean-Michel

 

Art Walk in Old Town Tustin Tomorrow PLUS French Style Paintings in Store

Come see works by local artists, maybe take a treasure home with you. Weather should be great tomorrow.

There will be a Wine Bar exhibit located where the Farmer’s Market is on Wednesdays (El Camino Real/3rd). I Dream of France is located in the alley across from the Wine Bar; come say Hello and check out the new oil paintings we got in this week. Poppies, sunflowers, and children on the beach…so French!

Saturday, October 24, 2009
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Art Walk Flyer PDF

 

Art Walk in Old Town Tustin Tomorrow

Come see works by local artists, maybe take a treasure home with you. Weather should be great tomorrow too.

Saturday, October 18, 2008
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Art Walk Flyer PDF