picture via streetview
One of the houses in a small social housing project south of Boulogne in France, dating from the sixties of the former century, has an exterior that has been abundantly decorated, both with mosaics and all kinds of figurines, self-made and bought on flea-markets Above picture shows the decorated house, adjacent to a standard one *.
Life and works
Mrs Marie-José and mr Jean-Marie Moren in 1987 came to live here.
In the late nineties, mr Moren, who had a job as a mason, because of physical problems had to stop working
Around 1998, just to have something to do, he began decorating the exterior of the house by adding mosaics to the low wall that separates the terrace in front of the house from the street.
this picture and the next ones courtesy of Laurent Jacquy
Menawhile, mrs Moren began filling the terrace with nains, other figurines, decorative shells, trinkets and various small objects.
This creative activity became the Moren couple's full time passion. In the course of some fifteen years the exterior of the house has grown into an ensemble of bric-à-brac, that by its large size and motley composition makes a rather special impression.
Mrs and mr Moren, nowadays around sixty, spend all their time in supplementing the collection, ransacking flee markets and garage sales in the near and distant surroundings, even as far as Belgium.
Jean-Marie Moren has also made a number of smaller creations from wood or concrete, depicting animals, some in the form of two-dimensional silhouettes, others in a three-dimensional version.
Documentation
* article in Laurent Jacquy's weblog Les Beaux Dimanches, sept 30, 2013note
Grand merci to Laurent Jacquy who informed me about this site.
Marie-José and Jean-Marie Moren
Paradis de statuettes
3 cité de la Dunette
62151 Neufchâtel-Hardelot
can be seen from the street (along departmental route D 119)
