Toits Rouge

TRANQUIL • LUMINOUS • ROOTED

Stories from the studio, reflections on process, and the art of the handmade.

House Forms — A Study in Form, Place & Connection

Some collections begin with an idea. Others seem to reveal themselves slowly, one form at a time.

Toits Rouge began with a memory of architecture, simple white walls, warm red roofs, and small structures gathered across a landscape. These handmade architectural House Forms grew from that memory, distilled into shapes that feel at once distinctly Mediterranean and almost universal. There is something about these buildings that has always stayed with me. Perhaps it is their simplicity. Perhaps it is the way a few uncomplicated shapes can suggest an entire place.

Toits Rouge House Forms

Red Roofs, White Walls

The name Toits Rouge, red roofs, became the natural language for this collection.

Each House Form begins simply: a small architectural structure shaped by hand, finished in white plaster and topped with an earthy red roof. Windows and doors are kept to a minimum. I wanted the forms themselves, their proportions, rooflines and relationships, to carry the story.

Against the white, neutral surfaces, the roofs become almost graphic.

And then there are the small black details.

A branch.

A bird.

A slender mark against a wall.

They interrupt the simplicity just enough.

It's All In The Details

When One Form Became Two

As the collection developed, I began experimenting with something new.

I placed two House Forms together.

Immediately, the relationship changed.

Instead of a single structure standing alone, there was suddenly a conversation between them, a larger house beside a smaller one, one tucked slightly forward or behind the other.

Tiny shifts in placement made an enormous difference.

When One Became Two

I found myself moving the smaller forms by fractions of an inch, turning them, changing their height and studying the negative space created between them.

It reminded me of something I have always loved about architecture: a building is never experienced entirely on its own. It is shaped by what sits beside it, what surrounds it and the spaces that occur in between.

The paired forms became some of my favorite pieces in the collection.

A Sense of Place

I never want these House Forms to become literal models of particular buildings.

They are impressions.

Fragments of places remembered.

A hillside village. A sun-warmed wall. A glimpse of a red roof beyond another building. A bird perched for just a moment before disappearing.

There is enough information to suggest a story, but not enough to finish it.

That part belongs to the person looking at them.

Toits Rouge in the Mediterranean

Perhaps that is what continues to draw me back to these little structures.

They are architectural, but they are also emotional.

Small objects can hold surprisingly large memories of place.

And with Toits Rouge, I think I found a little of both.

If you enjoy learning about the story and materials behind House Forms, I occasionally share new work, studio stories, behind-the-scenes glimpses of my creative process, and early previews of upcoming collections in my newsletter.

From papers and bookbinding materials to artist books, house forms and whatever I happen to be exploring next, you'll be among the first to see what's taking shape in my studio.

If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, you're warmly invited to join the list.

You can sign up on my website at melaniegrantdesign.com.

Rooted in place • Shaped by hand • Becoming what feels true

Melanie Grant — Northern Idaho