Friday 05. 02. 10 Finally got some paint on the canvas for the painting of George, Lawrence and Diane’s lurcher whom I met when I was staying with them in Stevenage last November. The painting is based on a photo that I took when out walking in the woods near their house. I also sketched in another painting of the winter landscape near Plaissan which is about 10 minutes from here. I think I’m back on track after nearly two months out of the studio. Feels good.
Monday 18. 01. 10 Finally finished this big landscape 100 cm x 80 cm which I started last Fall and I’m quite pleased with it. Now off to my etching class to continue the etchings for The Ride series. Yes it is real grass>
Wednesday 14. 10. 09. This has been a good week. After my week at St Mathieu I have been very busy in the studio. I have started a couple of medium sized canvasses and have been working on a series of drawings of my morning ride which will form the basis of a new series of etchings using soft grounds and soft resists. This is a new process for me and is supposed to give soft pencil like marks.We shall see. I 
was in Montpellier on the weekend and I saw an interesting show by Ionas. He is a painter from St André de Sangonis (next to Clermont) and his show was in this wonderful slightly run down Chateau des Evéques set in a park in Lavérune. Above, a small painting that I did when painting en plein air with George before I went to St Mathieu.
Monday 21. 09. 09 I have been thinking a lot about the workshop that I am attending next week at St Mathieu. I’m not sure exactly what is expected of me but perhaps that is a good thing. I have been searching for some frames to frame a few monoprints and also a hanging kit for the canvasses – I don’t think they would be happy with just a nail in the wall as per chez moi! I think I have located some cheap frames at Ikea and this morning I found hooks and wire at Mr Bricolage. I have rephotographed the morning ride using a gorilla pod which allowed me to fix my camera to my handlebars and I have finally (I think) finished a painting of Moureze.
Wednesday 02. 09. 09 The summer has ended altho the weather is still pretty warm but school is back and I will be starting my French, engraving and life drawing classes next week. This has been a busy week so far and I have finally managed to get back to painting. I have been documenting my morning bike ride to Liausson and back and this week I have done a storyboard and some gouache sketches of various stages of the ride. I am hoping to do a set of 24 etchings based on the ride. I have also done a triptych monoprint of Moureze which I have hand coloured.
Tuesday 19. 05. 09 These are a couple of small paintings that I did just before I went off to London. The interior is my living room here and the exterior is of the Paul Valery gallery in Sete.
Sunday 10. 05. 09 This is the month of public holidays in France, I believe that there are four in May and we have already had two. Had a very civilized lunch last Sunday at Gisele and 
Jonathan’s. It was a warm, sunny day so enjoyed a leisurely lunch with lively conversation and finally got home around 6. Monday evening saw flinty, squinty Clint in Gran Torino here in Clermont. A predictable tale well crafted. Wednesday made it to the beach for the first time this season – 28 degrees. Not too crowded but already the camping cars were there. Wore shorts for the first time this year. Thursday afternoon went to my first ever book club meeting. The book was The Yacoubian 
Building by Alaa Al Aswany which is a great read. Enjoyed the club – good articulate people with diverse opinions. Yet another vernissage Thursday evening at the ANPQ gallery. This week I have done another triptych monoprint of Moureze and have began painting over the previous one in oils. Not sure if this is going to work but will continue with it. Finished Green Landscape and another small landscape that I painted 
near Pinet en route to the beach. Also done a couple of non landscapes just to have a break.
Tuesday 28. 04. 09 This last week have been busy with various projects. Drawn in the basics for another landscape which may be in the textured landscapes series I don’t know yet. Have also been working on a new series of monoprints which are a combination of more than one plate. I like the idea of making a different size of mark and a more gestural mark. I worked on 3 plates put together, each plate being 35 cm x 50 cm so the whole thing measures a bit more that 1 metre across. it is a bit of a performance to print it because you have to make sure that each sheet has all the same degree of dampness and that you apply roughly the same amount of pressure to each plate. However I think it worked out quite well. I now want to try another one which is 6 plates so that the final piece will be about 1 metre square. I have been thinking a lot about combining words and images and have been looking at some of Robert Rauschenberg’s prints. Friday I went to a vernissage of an expo of artist’s books at Octon. Inspiring. Started me thinking about initial letters and illuminated manuscripts as a way of combining words and pictures. Also reminded me how much I like handmade books. Thinking about an accordion book of the ride on the D908 from Moureze to Clermont. Went into Montpellier yesterday to see Claire, bright sunny day but windy on the drive back. Just got back from a Kazakhstani movie called Tulpan. Life is hard on the steppes.
Saturday 18. 04. 09 Maryann came down last Monday from Nice with her husband Greg. Greg went back on Tuesday morning but Maryann stayed until this morning. We managed to jam a lot of things into four days. 
Besides visiting Villeneuvette and Pezenas, we went to life drawing classes in Octon and last night had a wonderful dinner at George and Laurene’s.Maryann never stopped drawing from the moment she arrived: the gate at Villeneuvette, the market at Clermont and the square at Pezenas, all documented. Yesterday while walking through the Cimetière Marin 
in Sete we discovered a book on one of the graves. It had been turned in to a piece of sculpture and was in English. Very bizarre. This morning I realised the bus schedule had changed so I had to hastily drive Maryann to the airport on the scooter with her suitcase between my knees. Not to be recommended!!!