Art & Bulle: the lively family spot in the 17th arrondissement with its creative and manual workshops

Art & Bulle is above all a family story, that of two art-loving sisters, Samar and Noura, who ended up opening the same creative space, together but separated by a few hundred kilometers, one in Brussels, the other in Paris in October 2024. In the heart of the 17th arrondissement, on the Guy Môquet side, we discover this colorful spot, with its window full of drawings and its all-green facade, kindly welcomed by Noura, who is just finishing preparing the studio.

Here, everyone can choose a different activity according to pre-defined time slots, whether you prefer to try out self-hardening clay, textured art, watercolor, canvas or flowerpot painting! Whether you're a great artist or a self-taught painter, all levels are welcome, as the steps are explained step by step, with a helping hand if needed. And there's something for all ages, from children with their parents to adults looking to relax for a few hours!

We rediscover our childlike spirit, working on the shape we want to give our clay, or the patterns we'll have to create on our canvas to give it a three-dimensional look. For our part, it's hard to decide what to do with the clay, but one of us starts off with a pocket opener and an adorable little octopus, while the other bends over his training sheet, looking for textured motifs to work on: waves, mountains, flowers... We choose the latter, far from being the easiest to execute!

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After a number of quite satisfying attempts, we move on to the real canvas and start working with colors to create pretty petals in relief and give life to our work, while on the side we paint our little modeled objects. In the meantime, we sip the complimentary drink, a homemade red berry infusion perfect for the young ones, but there's also a small menu of coffees, hot chocolate and other beverages available for a few euros.

As with any manual workshop, we clean our utensils while chatting with our neighbors, then once our work is finished, we can either leave it to dry (since clay doesn't need to be fired) and come back later to collect it, or take it straight home.

In that case, especially if you're only in the area for a few days, bring a small container to take your creation with you, otherwise you'll have to pay a euro or two to pick one up on the spot! It's an inspiring and affordable event, with low prices on Wednesdays and Thursdays (€20), and even nocturnes for night artists!

To your brushes!