1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 274 Painting with Food

"I'll go see Nicola." Seeing that Zoe wanted to say something to Ronan, Leah tactfully left.

Ronan stopped making cookies for a moment, stood up and asked Zoe:

"With these cookies?"

Zoe picked up a Christmas log cabin cookie and looked at it carefully:

"It doesn't have to be this cookie. It just suddenly occurred to me that desserts could be made into works of art. Why not give it a try?"

The sight of Ronan making cookies reminded Zoe of many images.

There are scenes of her throwing and shaping the pottery herself, scenes of other artists drawing, and scenes of sculptors carving.
The artists in Lourmarin rack their brains to make breakthroughs in craftsmanship to highlight their characteristics. Are there any artists in Provence who use desserts to create art?
Anyway, Zoe hasn't seen it.

Maybe because this was the topic we were just talking about, she blurted it out.

Ronan said self-deprecatingly:

"These cookies are far from works of art. No kidding."

All the cookies and cake bases were made by Leah.

Ronan only relied on the 'aesthetic' ability brought by the [Cooking] skill, the knife skills, and the deft hands brought by the [Weaving] skill to 'paint' on these ready-made ingredients.

Zoe put the biscuits down and said calmly:

"I just proposed this idea. You can 'draw' on cookies, and you can definitely 'draw' on other desserts. This is really unique."

Ronan thought for a moment and said with a curled lip:
"Maybe, but I'm not interested in your 'Land Art' project. It's helpful to you, but it's a waste of time for me."

Can't I just go to the mountains to dig truffles instead?

Zoe tapped Ronan's head gently, as if to ask what was wrong:

"Have you forgotten that you have a goal of attracting artists? If you can shine in the 'Land Art' project, perhaps more artists will come to live in Lourmarin. Wouldn't the atmosphere of rosé wine be more intense?"

Ronan smiled and said to Zoe:

"Why would you need me? You can definitely attract more artists. I remember what Cotillard said, 'Zoe will definitely lead these Lourmarin artists to shine in Gordes!' I have confidence in you and in Batty. Lourmarin is the next Gordes and Saint-Remy."

"How can it be that simple?" Zoe kept shaking her head. "The slogan is to cheer everyone up. We are going to be on the same stage with real famous artists from Provence. It's too difficult to stand out. You don't know how much pressure I'm under right now. And this may also be helpful to the restaurant."

"Because of 'Louis XIV'?" Ronan asked with a knowing thought.

Zoe nodded in agreement. The earlier trip to Bonnieux had left both of them with deep feelings:

"Think about it, during the tourist season, tourists who come to Lourmarin not only need to eat, but also need to rest and kill time. They can't avoid the French's favorite desserts. If the restaurant's desserts can be as outstanding and unique as Mr. Jacques's king cake, can't we expand our customer base?"

She looked back carefully and saw that there was no one behind her. She lowered her voice and said to Ronan:

"My mother has already thought of this. She always complains that she has limited abilities and cannot provide you with much help. If you can design the desserts in the restaurant to be like what Louis XIV ate, it will also help my mother share the pressure."

“But isn’t it a bit too much to attend an art event?” Ronan said, pointing at himself. “I’m not an artist at all.”

Do you think I have any artistic aura?
Zoe glanced at Ronan and muttered softly:
"Your title of 'artist boss' has long been known in Provence. Do you think you can escape from this identity?"

For Ronan, this conversation was just a small episode in his life.

He designed the cookies just to perfect the Christmas event and didn't think that far ahead.

It is true that they want to attract customers with desserts, but it is a bit unrealistic to link it with art.

He identifies himself more as a farmer than as an artist.

After designing several Christmas cookies and cakes, Ronan returned to his 'countryside' life.

During the day, I go into the mountains to dig truffles, and at night I return to the restaurant to plan Christmas activities with Vieri, and the days repeat themselves over and over again.

But one night, when Ronan returned to the restaurant covered in mud, he was told an unexpected news.

"An artist from Siakan came today. She came all the way to see you." Feng Zhen urged Ronan as she brushed the dirt off his body, "Go and say hello. The girl has been waiting for you for hours."

"Looking for me?" Ronan asked in shock.

It is not uncommon to see strange artists in a restaurant, but what is rare is the artist who seeks him out.

Usually, these artists come to Lourmarin to see Zoe.

Ronan went over to listen and found that this strange artist really came to see him.

Before he came back, the female artist named Keli had met several "colleagues" in the restaurant, and they were talking about Ronan at this time.

"The first time I saw Ronan's name was in a magazine. He introduced the restaurant's design concept and weaving techniques. It was then that I learned that there is such a special handicraft in Provence," said Kelly.

"A few days ago, I went to a decoration store in Apt and found that there were many types of rattan wreaths and woven products on sale there, and more than one store was selling them. After asking the owner, I learned that these goods were from Lourmarin."

"Ronan is really amazing. He actually brought art into the field of life. He is not only an excellent artist, but also a great businessman. I came here this time to ask, how did he come up with the idea of using vines instead of flowers to make wreaths?"

All those present were regular customers, and as soon as Keli asked the question, several people rushed to answer it.

"I know this question! I was there when Ronan was making a wreath with grape vines. His hands made a heart-shaped wreath for me like magic. It was a hearty creation. It seemed that there were no 'boundaries' for him. Anything could become a tool for his creation."

"Those wreaths are made of grape vines?"

"Yes, those are the most common grapevines in Provence! Ronan turned them into treasures!" "Oh my God, no wonder he can run a restaurant besides being an artist, this is so 'out of the box'."

"Ronan is the most profitable artist I have ever seen, no doubt about it!"

Ronan was stunned by their constant calling him "artist".

Zoe is absolutely right.
It's not a question of what he thinks he is, he has long been associated with the word 'artist'.

After the restaurant closed that day, Ronan did not leave in a hurry, but instead discussed the topic of desserts with Leah.

Maybe we can really consider Zoe's proposal.

At least try?

"You want to learn how to make desserts?" Leah asked unexpectedly.

Ronan nodded:

"Yes, I hope you can teach me a few desserts that you are good at."

The [Cooking] skill brings knowledge and provides a lot of abilities, but it does not give Ronan a 'recipe'. If he wants to make something, he needs to find someone to learn from.

If you want to try to make a work of art out of desserts, simply making shapes on the cookies is far from enough; that is too childish.

Ronan needs to come up with more creativity, so he needs to learn dessert making systematically.

Leah agreed immediately:
"No problem. I know how to make common Provence desserts such as cakes, pies, bread, cookies and mousse. I will teach you all of them."

As a Chinese restaurant owner, Ronan’s first choice is definitely Chinese desserts, but now he just wants to try the possibility of making desserts into works of art, and these are enough for him to find the answer.

He hugged Leah gratefully:
"Okay, then how about teaching me something simple today?"

9:30pm.

Zoe came out of the studio and found that only her father Louis was sitting in the living room watching TV. She asked:

"Where are Mom and Vieri?"

They should have returned long ago.

Louis turned down the volume of the TV and said to Zoe:
"Your mother is in the restaurant teaching Ronan how to make cakes. Vieri may be waiting for your mother to come back together. He didn't say it on the phone."

Zoe immediately realized that Ronan must have followed her advice and might want to participate in the "Land Art" event, otherwise why would he suddenly learn to make desserts?

So she immediately changed her clothes and went to the restaurant.

Ronan needs her encouragement at this time!
It was now past closing time, and most of the lights in the restaurant were off, with only a few at the door still on.

Zoe saw from a distance that Vieri was fiddling with something at the door.

She didn't rush in, but observed at the door for a while and found that Wei was installing a fake "closet".

Under his feet there are socks, firewood, a milk cup, etc., which are all traditional Christmas decorations.

"Why are you decorating it yourself?" Zoe pushed open the door.

Vieri said as he worked:

"I'll wait for my mom to come home together. I have nothing to do anyway, so I'll just do what I need to do tomorrow."

"Where are Mom and Ronan?" Zoe asked her brother.

Vieri didn't say anything, just pointed to the kitchen.

Zoe had to pass by the cashier on her way to the kitchen. She saw a piece of white paper on the cashier counter with dozens of "to-do" lists densely written on it, and more than a dozen of them had ticks on them.

She recognized the handwriting as Vieri's.

Zoe put her hands in her pockets and didn't look back:

"What do you want for Christmas?"

Vieri's voice came from behind without any ups and downs:
"Same as before, stationery will do."

"If you don't want anything, I'll prepare it for you." Zoe left the checkout area.

"Oh, you have such a clever hand! You drew a picture again!"

Before she saw the person, Zoe heard her mother's praise.

Then Ronan showed no emotion:

"It was my first time to 'paint' with buttercream. It was completely different from painting on paper and plates."

Zoe gently pushed the door open and saw Ronan lowering his body and carefully carving a 'rose'.

Seeing Zoe coming, he smiled and said:
"Why are you here? I'm doing an 'experiment' and will be done soon."

Zoe lay on the table, propped up her head and looked at Ronan:
"Last time I told you that you refused, so what? This time you really can't refuse me again. It's only been a few days, and your 'craftsmanship' has improved again. You should prepare for a while and go with us to the exhibition in Gordes. I'm serious. At your rate of improvement, you might be able to make a dessert like Louis XIV in a month."

(End of this chapter)