New York, Madrid, Beijing... and now a small medieval town in the south of France that Sierra is turning into the centre of everything: of culture, nature, medieval and of what's contemporary today.

Photographs by Pablo Curto

Sierra preparing breakfast.

This is what happens when Sierra Forest moves to the countryside, setting up the next "place to be" that we all, whether we're artists or not, dream of enjoying: La Moissie. A creative residence in the heart of France's Perigord Noir region surrounded by nature and history. Sierra, an anthropologist from New York, moved to Madrid in 2004, where she met her husband, French urban artist El Tono. A few years later they were living in Beijing, then returned to France to marry in idyllic surroundings: La Moissie. And without even realising it, that's where the project was born.

I've always been attracted to art (...) Sharing our house with creative people is something that comes as second nature to us as a family says Sierra.

Artist and model Alba Galocha.

Ariadna Chez, painter and poet.

Sierra's goal with this project is to bring together contemporary artists and a whole range of creative people in order to offer them a place to rest, be inspired and create while she ensures they feel at home. “Here they have the space, time and calm to fully throw themselves into their work, as well as having the encouragement and the chance of collaborating with each other” says Sierra. The artists can choose any part of the house or the gardens to work in, but there is common thread that links all these spaces: the calm that you can feel everywhere.

“A coffee and a croissant, the sofa in the study facing the window, the morning mist giving way to warm sunlight, the reflection of the tree branches in the pool, the silence.”