Pascal Lagesse from the island of Mauritius

“I’d be delighted to meet you when you’re in Mauritius,” wrote Pascal.  Delighted – a simple word, yet so removed from my daily vernacular that it completely broke through the clutter in my brain.  I couldn’t wait to get to the island of Mauritius and meet Pascal.  But who am I kidding?  I just couldn’t wait to get to the island.

Pascal at work in his studio in Mauritius

Pascal lives in absolute paradise and he’s lived there all his life.  Mauritius is just East of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.  “The life there is simple,” he says, “we wake up late and work early.”  Of course, Pascal creates a ton of artwork between waking and calling it quits for the day.  What a dream to wake up each day on a beautiful island and play with paints.

He lives in the highlands village of Curepipe.  I hired a driver for the day to take me up to meet him.  I’m usually a ‘rent-a- car’ girl because I just love to experience the roads and scenery of a new place first hand.  But since road signs haven’t completely made their way to all spots on the island, it would have been virtually impossible for me to navigate. And directions such as, “turn right at the sugar cane field next to the carved rock,” were just not going to cut it.  The odd thing is even my “professional” driver got lost and had to call for backup directional advice.

When I finally arrived, Pascal was outside waiting to greet me.  A quick walk down the driveway led to his studio which was tucked in the back of his house.  Through the doorway, I spotted my favorite site in any artist studio. Tubes of paint scattered among brushes, torn canvas and work rags splattered with the colors of his latest creations.  Beautiful and diverse illustrations of island life and tales from his own travels to India, France and Egypt covered the walls.

Pascal decided long ago that he wasn’t willing to choose only one style or medium with which to work.  He loved them all too much.  His passion for art started when he was about 18 and since then, he can’t spend a day without drawing.  He shared stories from his days at Cambridge where he first honed his skills as an artist.  But the strict curriculum and guidelines didn’t do much for his free spirit and creative aspirations so he continued his education in South Africa.  It was there that he discovered many brilliant artists.  “They knew how to paint with their souls,” said Pascal.

There’s something truly special about meeting new people and instinctively knowing that a lifelong connection is in the works.  When I started to tell Pascal about Travel Gal and my past work experience in marketing, he nodded his head knowing exactly why I had become so frustrated with my old job in marketing.

He himself used to work in advertising and shared the very same experiences, but this wasn’t the only thing we shared with each other.  Fortunately, we both used a Nikon D90 camera.  So when my battery ran out while taping our conversation, he was able to loan me his.  And, yes, I now have a backup battery.  Lesson learned!

Lisa and I at the beautiful waterfall of Chamarel. Lisa is my friend that is currently living on the island of Mauritius and made it possible for me to stay there for 5 weeks! Yeah Lisa!

Pascal is the first official Travel Gal artist!   Browse through his gallery and get a taste of his work and the island of Mauritius.

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