Wednesday, May 27, 2026

INTERVIEW: French Artist Raphael Seygnovert


Raphael Seygnovert
French Artist

Dear Gentle Readers,

What a treat I have for you today! The wonderful French painter 
Raphael Seygnovert has taken time away from his easel to be 
with us this morning, and I am thrilled to bits, fan-girling all over 
the place.

Good morning, Raphael and welcome to Vision and Verse, the 
place for Art and Authors. I am a big fan of your work. It is my pleasure to have you here with us. Tell us a little about your work.
When I realize a work, I try more to express a feeling than to 
follow strictly speaking a figurative approach with as a theme the landscape. 
I use an archaic graphic language impregnated with all my experience, all my musical and pictorial artistic influences. It is 
as if I were trying to express a distant memory that would not 
have root in our present life. As a vision the eyelids closed.


What is your favorite medium?
I love all the pictorial techniques. It is a real pleasure to apply and work the pastel with 
the fingers, I also like acrylic but I use it recently; I have a preference for oil, it is 
a very complicated technique.




So what does our favorite Frenchman like to eat?
I appreciate French cuisine but as I am a vegetarian it is a bit 
complicated; I also love Asian, Indian and Japanese cuisine. 
Vegetables, cheeses ... And I love cooking too.

Coffee or tea?
I drink tea and coffee, but more coffee; In the north of France 
we drink a lot of coffee.

Pizza or ice cream?
The both!  Pizza "Sicilian" and Lemon ice cream.


What piques your interest?
I love everything about ancient cultures, ancient civilizations, mysteries ...

Favorite kind of music?
I love acoustic guitar, folk music, mystical music, relaxation music, traditional music and Celtic music. I listen to many different things, I would hardly say my favorite artist.

What makes Raphael Seygnovert laugh?
I laugh easily, I like to laugh with my friends. The imitators make me laugh, the hidden 
cameras too.





This is my very favorite of all your works. I have a small print 
of this hanging in my bedroom. You call it bluebells, but in my 
part of the world, we have tiny pale violet clusters called bluettes, or Quaker Ladies, that only bloom in the wet, wet spring, only in the woods or parks. 
They are my favorite flower. You cannot buy them in a store. You can't order them online or by phone. You can't get them from a florist. You must tromp through the wet woods and get all muddy
to find these little beauties.


How old were you when you began creating art?
I started to paint very young, then being an adult I stopped for a 
long time to resume after. But painting, art, is not a craft strictly 
speaking, it is a way of life. It's not a choice one day makes 
saying  "it's an interesting job", or "I can make a lot of money like that!" Or "I will be famous." This is necessary to us, for we need 
to create, to express ourselves in this way, because it is part of 
us. I need, as an auto-therapeutic way, to paint, it is my medicine ...which heals my soul. 
I think the important thing is to be in agreement with ourselves.




We all like to draw, paint, glue rocks together, snap photos, etc., but we are well aware we couldn’t make a living doing it.  When did you know you made the right decision?
I am comforted in my choice by all positive feedback from the people I meet.


Where do you get your inspiration?
Nature is a constant source of inspiration, walking in the middle
of the trees has always done me good, it is resource, we should 
try to preserve as many natural spaces as possible. 
My spirituality is also a source of inspiration.


What do you do when you get an artist block?
The artistic blockages I see more like moments of reflection that 
allow to take a new beginning, to have a new eye. We are all the time, internally, dying and reborn to evolve, to grow. Like the 
chrysalid and the butterfly.




Favorite artist?
I like many different artists, I like the Impressionists, Monet, Van Gogh, Cross, Corot and 
also Modigliani ...


If you were not an artist, what would you do for a living?

If I was not a painter, I would have liked to be a professional guitarist, a singer, or had a social job.

Who has influenced you most in your life?
The person who has influenced me most is hard to say; I have a 
thought for my father ... he was a great person ... courageous 
and much more, my mother too.. but I do not forget the others, 
all those people who cross your path and illuminate it even for a short time. 
I think we are all like sponges, every interaction, every encounter, 
changes our life in its own way.

What advice would you give someone who aspires to be an 
artist?
I will tell him to paint more and more, it is by forging that one 
becomes a blacksmith.I would tell him to expose ever more, meetings 
and criticisms are always very useful to evolve.To have his own 
opinion about his work and that of others.And getting to know
one self, is the best way to be authentic.

Links to follow our favorite Frenchman:

twitter: @seygnovert

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us today. We at Vision and Verse wish you continued success in all your endeavors. Come back and see us again!





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Tuesday, May 26, 2026

BOOK REVIEW: Herbal Homicide


 

Herbalist Tea Shop owner and tea connoisseur Penny Hawthorne receives an invitation to Chateau Blanc, a posh spa in Switzerland to
create a unique healing tea blend exclusively for the spa and its clientele. 

Penny is mesmerized by the beautiful Swiss countryside and collects herbs from the area to make her special tea blend.

She makes the tea blend, and at the special tea event, a famous area person drinks it and drops dead.

This was a well-written cozy mystery with great characters. Penny Hawthorne is a force to be reckoned with!

Fiona Grace does not disappoint.





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Monday, May 25, 2026

ART: New York Boxed Assemblage Artist Joseph Cornell


 















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Sunday, May 24, 2026

SCHEDULE: May 25 - 29, 2026


 Monday, May 25 - ART:
New York Boxed Assemblage Artist
Joseph Cornell
Tuesday, May 26 - BOOK REVIEW:
Herbal Homicide
by Fiona Grace
Wednesday, May 27 - INTERVIEW:
French Artist
Raphael Seygnovert
Thursday, May 28 - TV TIME:
Best Medicine
(Fox)
Friday, May 29 - BOOK :
A Dilemma for Daisy
by Carol Ann Kauffman




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Friday, May 22, 2026

BOOK: Waiting for Richard by Carol Ann Kauffman





When Skye retired from her life-long job as office manager of the insurance agency, she planned to relax at home, sleep in late, wear muumuus, and continue writing children’s books about the cute and funny little elephant named Captain Packy, the Wacky Pachyderm. 

Captain Packy Joins the Circus
Captain Packy Visits New York City
Captain Packy Goes to Congress


She was working on her fourth book about natural elephant habitats when she retired and her co-worker Rita took over as office manager. 
One evening, Skye and Rita went out to dinner. As they walked to the car after dinner, they discovered they were being followed. Rita panicked. Skye called the police.

This is where our story begins.


Chapter One 
Fear in the Parking Garage 
Location: Sterling, Ohio 

“Run!” said Rita, fear catching in her voice. 
“Are you kidding me?” replied Skye. “I’m way too damn old to run. Do you want me to have a heart attack? Or fall and break a hip? If some slimy son of a bitch wants a piece of me that bad, let him come. He’ll be damn sorry.” 
“We’ve got to get out of here. I’m scared,” Rita whispered. Skye pulled out her cell phone and tapped 9-1-1. “Yes, we’re in the underground parking garage of the Sterling City Center and we’re being chased by a madman with a knife, and my friend here is scared and I’m too damn old to run. Yes. Skye McKenna. Sixty-six. Well, I’m glad you agree that’s too old to run.” 
“Help is on the way, Rita. Calm down.” 
“Skye, you don’t know he has a knife.” 
“You’re absolutely right. He could have a gun. Shall I call her back and correct myself?” 
Sirens were blaring in the distance. 
“Isn’t calling 9-1-1 for a non-emergency illegal? This is at least a misdemeanor, if not a felony. Skye. We could end up in jail.” 
“Would you rather be murdered in the parking garage?” 
“No.”


Waiting for Richard is a novel in the Time After Time series, where a pair of lovers find each other in different lifetimes in different countries, in different time periods, and sometimes on a different planet.

Everything changes. But love remains the same. 







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Thursday, May 21, 2026

TV TIME: Starfleet Academy (Paramount+)


 
I am not a good judge of any Star Trek series because I feel ANY Star Trek is better than NO Star Trek. I loved Andor. I really liked Bobo Fett, Ahsoka, and all the rest.

Now, this one is about teenagers. Think Aliens 90210. Or Intergalactic Glee with tunes. Or Dawson’s Creek in Space.

If you approach it with that mindset, this new series is enjoyable. Let’s give it a chance. 

And Paul Giamatti knocks it out of the park as Nus Braka. He commands every scene he's in as the cold, calculating, evil, manipulative, smart villain. I hope to see more of him in later seasons. 


















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