Meet Dothy Henriot, aka Mersea People
Inspiring, sunny and undeniably cool, that's what you think when you meet Dothy!
To mark the launch of the 2 boxes she has designed for belle-iloise - the Coffret Marin and the Coffret Coquillage - the artist and founder of Mersea People welcomes us to her new studio in the heart of Quiberon, to talk about her work, her creations and answer all our questions!
When Léa meets Dothy...
It's already been 3 years since Léa, Product Manager in the Marketing & Innovation department at belle-iloise, spotted Dothy's work on the streets of Quiberon. A fan of her creations, she was waiting for the right moment to propose a collaboration:
‘ We met up in a café in Quiberon, she was really excited about the idea of doing this project together and told us that her mum would be very proud that she was designing for belle-iloise!
MERSEA PEOPLE X LA BELLE-ILOISE
Tell us how these beautiful boxes came to be? Where did you get your inspiration?
From the outset, Léa told me that the boxes would be launched around Mother's and Father's Day, and I wanted to draw on my childhood memories...
As a little girl, my mum and I would collect shells on the beach at low tide, and my dad and I would go out to sea in his boat for fishing trips. So I thought of the seashell and the sailor as symbols to differentiate the two boxes!
In doing so, I also wanted to embody the bond of filiation: the ocean makes the shells and the compass guides the sailors, just like the parents who give birth to and bring up their children, giving them a perpetual anchorage. But the boxes can also be given to a lover, or to anyone who is a landmark in life!
Then I let my imagination wander off into the world of dreams: I thought it would be nice if the sailor flew through the sky surrounded by little fish and little stars... and that among the shells there was a mermaid!
Growing up between Quiberon and the island of Houat, I was bathed in the ocean and the azure every day, and I'm aware that it's not everyone's childhood, but I love the fact that I've put a bit of my personal history into the world of belle-iloise, and that it creates a new story together. I think that's what a real collab is: when we manage to respond to each other beautifully and make sense of it all.
I think the greatest compliment for an artist is when you see that what you do touches people, that it speaks to them, and that it speaks to them so much that it becomes a personal message for them.
That's why I call myself Mersea People: to send a message of gratitude and to say thank you to people, because they give me the strength that allows me to be creative all the time, and to create lots of different things...
How did you discover belle-iloise?
You can't really say that I've discovered it, because it's been all around me since I was born: at my mum's house in Quiberon, or my aunts' in Houat, there were always boxes of la belle-iloise available, and now it's my turn to have some in my drawers too!
My fishing uncles knew the sardine fishermen of Quiberon, the returns from fishing at Port Maria... I've always loved listening to them tell me their stories of the time... So when I told them I was drawing for la belle-iloise, they went ‘Wahou’, as if I was on TV! (laughs) They're very proud of me.
Do you have a favourite la belle-iloise recipe?
I love the classics: sardines in olive oil - Saint Georges - and mackerel fillets with all kinds of sauces, especially white wine and mustard! I also love crumbled mackerel with grains of paradise. Whatever the recipe, I almost always accompany it with small home-made potatoes, pan-fried with a little butter.
What does eating well mean to you?
I love simple, good, authentic products - Proust's comforting madeleines like buckwheat cakes with butter, sardines, seafood... Those are my favourite dishes, and my mum's!
A good meal, good food, is also about mates and friends. I love picnics and frichtis: we prepare lots of little tapas-style things, and we all have a bite to eat with a good glass of wine! It's funny, because we often use la belle-iloise products: Crumbles, Spreads... one of us brings the bread, and there we go. It's simple, comforting and makes for great memories!
What does Quiberon mean to you?
Quiberon is home, my base, where I feel good. Because I grew up here, I have all my childhood friends close by, and that's priceless! I love the fact that the people I meet today have known me all my life: they've seen me grow, they know who I am.... That's what's great about Quiberon, it's like one big family, with this small village atmosphere where everyone knows each other and says hello...
Also, in Quiberon, and more generally in Brittany, we're lucky to be close to nature and its elements: at any moment I can go out and in 5 minutes be right in the middle of the rocks overlooking the sea... it's magical!
People often say to me ‘you must get bored in winter’, but no, not at all! And boredom is good too, it's important to let your imagination wander and create. When I go out for a walk in nature, I contemplate the landscape in silence and listen to what comes to me. It's a different way of relating to time, and life becomes gentler...
For me, real success in life is simply living where you feel good, doing what you love to do. And I've managed to do that, so today, at almost 40, I'm fulfilled!
DRAWING / CREATION
Can you tell us about your creative process and technique?
I work the old-fashioned way, without a computer, and very often with a bic pen. For the belle-iloise, I chose watercolour because I wanted the softness to embody childhood, and as it's a water-based paint, it also resonates with the sea!
As a general rule, I don't pencil beforehand - I find that you're less free when you follow a given line. So my creative process is to take my paper, my brush and a little pot of water, and off I go, feeling around, to find my subject.
Once I've got it, I work on it a lot before coming up with a drawing that I like. For example, to get a good shell, I might draw 20 of them before I'm satisfied with the curves!
As well as drawing on paper, I like to explore a whole range of different media: I make vases, canvases, ceramics, textiles, murals... Working in different media keeps my art fresh and allows me to keep a fresh eye on my work by discovering new things.
What does blue mean to you? Is it present in all your works?
Blue came into my work when I moved back to Quiberon and Mersea People was in the making. Before that, I only drew in black and white, in particular as a nod to the gwenn a du, the Breton flag, because when I moved to the Basque country, I was a bit homesick: far from home, I missed Brittany!
Once back in Quiberon, I was bathed once again in the azure waters of my childhood, and the colour blue seemed an obvious choice. I then explored many variations, and created my own shades by mixing different palettes.
Up until now, I've mainly worked with blue, but since last summer and the birth of my child, I've also been exploring other seaside colours: the pinks and browns of seashells, the yellow and gold of the sun on the sand... Since I became a mum, a rainbow has entered my life, and I'm craving new shades, more softness, and that's good because I love to evolve!
Can you tell us about your iconic medallions?
They too were born of a childhood memory: as a child, I always wore a small shell found on the beach around my neck. It had no value apart from sentimental value, and it became like a treasure for me. I wore it for years before it broke and I lost it as an adult, and it devastated me!
It was just as I was creating Mersea People, and I'd just told a friend that I wanted to make some jewellery. So I thought porcelain was the perfect medium to represent this little lost shell and the sentimental dimension of the seaside treasure....
What I love about these medallions is that when you tap them together, they make the same noise as the shells!
Do you have a favourite work of art of which you are particularly proud?
The wave! This is the work that suits me best because it sums up so much of my life. I chose the metaphor of the wave to represent life, its undulations, and the faces in it are the people I've met along the way, the encounters that have made me take a turn, change, evolve...
The first time I painted it was on the wall of my old studio, and today it's still there, but I no longer have the keys! I've reproduced it on different media and it's become a Mersea People timelessness: you can find it on T-shirts, posters...
This wave is a bit like my artistic madeleine de Proust: when I'm not inspired, I redo it a bit mechanically, and that gives me the impetus for something else. As it symbolises permanent movement, it helps me to move forward, and life goes on! (laughs)
What's your programme for the summer?
The summer programme involves opening my new design studio at the beginning of June! It's my childhood dream come true: in the same space there will be my workshop, my kiln and the sales area. I'll be able to create on the spot, and people will be able to come and chat with me while I'm working... So I'm looking forward to meeting people there, sharing and chatting!
It's a new place to bring to life, and I'm going to make it evolve as I make my art evolve. It'll be my own space, my own little world that people can immerse themselves in, with lots of paintings, unique pieces and new creations!
Follow Dothy on her Instagram page: merseapeople, and if you're passing through the Presqu'île, come and visit her brand new design studio at 3 rue Pouligner, just 2 minutes from Quiberon's Grande Plage!
Photo credits: Nozimages
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