Sous le Soleil

December 16, 2023 Rosie, artworker

Bonne chance mes amis

Fin 17th December 2023

Interview by local press:

Tucked into Roseville Park on Sydney's leafy north shore, the always booked out, hidden gem French restaurant Sous le Soliel, is set to close in December and will be sorely missed by its loyal following. But within the attached boutique filled with homewares and linens imported from France, it can also be credited with 'discovering' the unique jewellery created by local artist Rosie Perl. “It is a story of endings and beginnings”, says manager Mathias Brehier. "When I first saw Rosie's work, I knew it had promise but wasn’t yet fully resolved" but with his encouragement, Rosie pursued it with gusto during lockdown and “at our next meeting we knew it was special, and voila! a sensation was born.” With customers often buying several pieces at a time, the beauty of gold leaf and AAA grade freshwater pearls make for some of the most unique and covetable jewels around. As the restaurant and boutique are tearfully farewelled, we expect another retailer will step into the breach, because who knows what developments await?

Matt Tabard

And the long read

Sydney artist Rosie Perl began making jewellery with ‘skewings’, or scraps of gold leaf accrued from her art practice during lockdown. Known for her use of gold and silver leaf on large decorative panels, with numerous commissions by 5-star hotels and resorts internationally, the sudden pandemic down-time saw her playing with these scraps and coming up with something new. “My core design is based on the French “quatrefoil”, a shape common to many cultures, symbolising wholeness and redemption. I was playing with some small wooden quatrefoils I’d made as framing ornaments for a painting, and with nothing to lose, I began casting them in translucent resin with scraps of gold leaf I'd collected in the studio. I loved them but didn’t immediately know what to do with them until my sister suggested jewellery. From there, I gravitated to freshwater pearls – a not so subtle reference to my last name, Perl! Through a chance meeting via my previous neighbour Julia, I showed them to Mathias Brehier at Sous le Soleil, having seen the quality of the boutique he had created with homewares and linens imported from France, wondering if I might fit in somewhere." Mathias acknowledges “When I first saw Rosie's work, I knew it had promise but we both agreed it wasn’t ready yet. I encouraged her to keep going and come see me again with new developments. At our next meeting, post lockdown, it was clear she had done the work, and we knew then that it was something special. And a quiet sensation was born. Rosie's creations effortlessly blend classic French elegance with contemporary design. They are beautiful.” As Rosie says, “it’s like a once-in-a-lifetime convergence of interests. And now, just as Sous le Soliel winds down, I feel my work is growing stronger, and it is absolutely down to them; having followed a dream to bring some Paris to Sydney, the team granted me space to follow this dream. It has opened new portals (I never thought I’d find myself with a market stall, and that I’d love it) and given life to an aspect of my artistic practice which brings me great joy. From a chance thing, Mathias has been both a business mentor and an inspiration, supporting me in growing this creative venture and I will be forever grateful. I also want to know what he is doing next so I can be in on that too!” What comes next for all of them is the most asked question in town, but beyond seeing out these last days of Sous le Soleil, they say wait and see; but we are quite sure it will be a venture with great 'savoir faire'.

M Tabard

First drop. Seriously cant believe it was like this and how Mathias saw a future in it

Always thinking of new displays, I constructed a mockup in the studio of my shop cubicle. Its not a super big cubicle so I had to max it out

Then I did something like this.

My ingenious ring display! I had this clear acrylic laser cut with 12 slots for the rings & set it on an Ikea phone stand, spray painted white. I drilled a hole behind the acrylic for an earring stalk display but as time went on, I would stick a laser cut rose gold mirrored palm tree in it instead. I covered some boxes with a linen jacquard fabric I bought in Lille one time when we went over on the Eurostar, so it was you know, French. On theme.

Then two years later. I grew quickly

I made the cube bases and cast them in resin with heavy nuts and bolts inside so they would stand the weight of the earrings. The two seen above had some patina applied in the form of black shoe polish, well known stuff in the world of sculpture. The black metal stalks came from stands readily available if you google jewellery display. I just took them apart.

These ideas were also put to use at markets. My display is GOD. It started at Sous le Soleil.

Brief foray into accessories

Always find pricing is the hardest thing, I get a bit emotional with pricing. Genuinely stressful

Mathias supported anything I brought in & did everything he could to sell it. I was so bummed when only 2 or maybe 3? of my beautiful cuffs sold. I super LOVE my cuffs. Didnt go down in Roseville

Shelfings same. Zero sold even at the end when EVERYTHING was being sold. I said whats wrong with people and gave it a Gallic shrug

Whats wrong with people

The Flea! Annual sell-down of flea market goodies imported from France

Fun for all the family!

And I was generously invited to have my stall on the verandah. So grateful to have been included, it was a really fun and busy day

And that is that. I publish this on the 17th December 2023, the last day of Sous le Soleil. I say thank you. Literally wouldn’t have done it without you. I will miss you so much.

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