The teacher

The teacher is Valérie Chaussonnet.

Valérie, a French native from Aix-en-Provence, came to the U.S. in her twenties to study. Valérie is trained as a linguist, an anthropologist, and a sculptor. See more at valeriechaussonnet.com.

After being a student at the University of California at Berkeley and Laval University in Quebec, she was hired by the Smithsonian Institution as a researcher in Anthropology and a scientific translator at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and became an American citizen.

As her children are growing she has been able to go back to her love for metal work in particular, and art in general, with great delight.

Valerie is also a Reiki Master who practices and teaches Reiki natural healing.

Valérie is maman to 2 wonderful bilingual boys, 14 year-old Olivier and 11 year-old Nicholas.

La Petite Provence, established in 1999, is located in her home.