When she was a little girl in the south of France, Francoise Issaly was fascinated by anything that was related to Asia, China in particular. Even though her family was quite sedentary, Francoise dreamt of other countries and pined for travelling.

She remembers buying a Chinese lion figurine at the age of 12. It was green and moved when someone shook it. Francoise loved it so much that she promised to herself she would keep it forever. And keep it she did: if you visit her house in Canada, you will surely see it.  

Francoise has always dreamt of coming to China, but she has been told as often to “stop dreaming”. When she moved to Canada as a young adult, pursued her career as a professional artist and teacher, became a mother, divorced, and built a steady and stable home, it seems her dream would be no more than just a dream, until one day in 2014.  

 “That day, my son came to me and said:‘Mom, I am ready to travel...’she recalled.

And with that, Francoise started “dreaming” again.

She decided to submit a project proposal as a resident artist at the China European Art Center in Xiamen, which was promptly accepted. During the summer of 2015, she was able to spend two months there with her son, focusing on her art. While this trip was her very first to China, it would become a sort of ritual for Francoise to travel regularly to the Middle Kingdom.

As fate would have it, before she was even done with her residency in Xiamen, Francoise  received an invitation to come to Hangzhou in November of the same year to participate in a big international exhibition (titled “The Asian, African & Mediterranean International Art Exhibition”), which she accepted with alacrity. And that is how her story with Hangzhou all began.

She remembers how welcoming everyone was. The host of the exhibition (Professor Luo Qi of the China Academy of Art) had organized an amazing event with artists from many countries. The participants were invited to visit the Seal Carving Museum, as well as the Wood Carving Museum in another city, and many other places.

In 2016, she was invited again and had another fantastic opportunity to come to Hangzhou, walking by the West Lake, eating wonderful food, and visiting the Roof Culture Museum (where she will hold an exhibition later), and many other areas of Zhejiang (the Stone Carving Museum in Qingtian, etc).  There was always something new to discover.

In 2018, she decided to make the leap: applying for work in China. “RDFZ King’s college school made me an offer and it felt as if the universe was telling me that Hangzhou was the place to be,” she said. Within a month she had all the papers ready, packed her suitcase, and moved to the district of Yuhang, where she still lives.

What Hangzhou attracts Francoise most is the city’s wonderful atmosphere and the different “landscapes” that people can experience. Walking on the boardwalk of the West Lake in the afternoon and watching the night slowly come down, and looking at the light on the lake and enjoying vegetarian food around...these are some of Francoise’s favorite pastimes.

She also loves walking in the tea fields, which are close enough to town but at the same time far enough to allow people to “get lost” in endless green.

The place where Francoise stays in now also piques her imagination. Stepping out of her house, she usually walks by the canal after a long day’s work, enjoying the wetlands, looking at birds flying over the water and  watching the sun set. It  helps clear her mind and relax her body. “I come across other people walking at that hour, enjoying the moment, listening to birds, and looking at lilies on the water,” she said. “This is often when I have my most inspiring moments.”

Another source of inspiration comes from teaching. Right now, Francoise spends most of her time teaching grade 7 to grade 9 at RDFZ King’s College School. With a master’s degree in fine arts and having taught in Canada, USA and now China, she has developed a passion imparting art knowledge to her students. “I love teaching teenagers,” she said. “This is a time in life when so many things are happening on the emotional and personal levels, when everything becomes possible, and when a person starts having a better idea of what they wish to do later in life.” In her classes, Francoise shares knowledge about art history as well as different art techniques while helping students discover their own way of expression.

Since Francoise moved to Hangzhou, her artistic endeavors have been influenced by patterns of traditional Chinese and Buddhist paintings. She started studying different forms and shapes that are used in many different designs, especially those with recurring and repetitive elements,  from books, images, architecture, and even construction sites. She would spend many hours observing during her walks. To Francoise, living in Hangzhou is like living in an open studio.

One place in this “open studio”is the Liangzhu Museum. Impressed by the ancient Liangzhu culture when she first settled in Hangzhou, she has already visited the museum a number of times, studying the patterns used during the time and integrating them into her paintings.

“I am really enjoying living here in Hangzhou,” she said. “I just wish I had a little more time to learn about the area, about the historical sites, and the history. My dream is to be able to spend more time working on my artwork and meet more artists from the area, maybe artists from the China Academy of Art, and I would love to go and study there, either as a guest artist or as a PhD student.”  

There seem to be so many possibilities for her, and she lamented that even a lifetime would never be enough  to explore them all.

“I hope the years to come will allow me to discover more of the mysteries of this beautiful city and this beautiful province.”

Francoise Issaly is a visual artist born in France, who lived in Canada for many years before moving to Hangzhou. She has been teaching art for many years to children, teenagers, and adults. She has hold exhibitions in Europe, Canada, USA, Malaysia, and China.  Francoise has been living and working in Hangzhou since 2018.