Sunday 10. 04. 09 Finally finished Lac du Salgou and have been trying various new methods of working to try and loosen up. Octon is a small 12″ x 12″ on board where I drew the image in oil stick, washed the whole board in linseed oil and then painted into the wet oil. I have also been working on adding colour to my black and white 
monoprints. I have just varnished the print and am waiting for it to dry before adding colour in thin loose oil glazes. Seeing the work of John White last week at the Peret vernissage, I have again been thinking about how to add text to pictures, something I have been interested in for a long time. I have discovered a local writer, Max Rouquette, who has written prose, poetry, plays and music about the Hérault. He wrote in Occitan and seems to really capture the sense and smell and feel of this particular landscape. I went to the libray, here which is named after him, and borrowed an anthology of his work in Occitan but also in French. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make this work with my paintings and prints! Yesterday went to another vernissage this time at the Prieuré St Martial. This is a cluster of Gites which hosts an exhibition once a year I think. Each artist has his or her own Gite in which to show their work. Interesting international collection of painters, sculptors and photographers all living and working in the Hérault.
Painting
Deux Vernissages
Sunday 05. 04. 09 It has been a busy week. On Monday I went to Montpellier to IKEA to buy a coffee table and after checking to see that the parcel would fit on the scooter I forgot to see if they had it in stock. They didn’t! However it was a pleasant drive and as always I picked up a few 
small things. I had George and Laurene over for lunch on market day which worked well with chicken stuffed with goat’s cheese mixed with taragon. Thursday and Friday evening I went to a couple of vernissages, the first on Thursday at Peret at the anpq gallery and the other on Friday at Aniane. Both interesting, my friend Jonathan was part of a group show in Aniane. This morning I have been to the flea market at Marseillan looking for a carpet and then this afternoon went for a drive around lac du Salagou – it was warm enough to drive in a T shirt! I have been working on a monoprint of textured landscape this week and have done a couple of small paintings trying out a technique of drawing into the paint more.
En Plein Air
20. 03. 09 Friday. It has been a busy week. On Monday started painting en plein air at George and Lawrene’s house and then did another small painting in the woods en route to Liauson Friday afternoon. Went to my engraving class on Tuesday but battery on the scooter was flat after the class. Managed to get a ride back into town with Claude but had to get the tow truck out there on Wednesday morning. Quite impressive service, rang for truck from Pezenas at 9 and was in Octon by 10. Of course as soon as we got there Alex managed to start the scooter!!! C’est toujours comme ça! I drove back with him to Pezenas where they changed the battery for me and off I went again. Yet another opportunity for improving my French vocabulary!! Apparently I can also get the towage fee back from my insurance. Thursday I started my life drawing class also at Octon in the evening. Drove there with Jonathan and met Rania and had a coffee before class. Good class, very informal group which just shares the cost of the model.
Landscapes
17. 03. 09 Tuesday. Yesterday I finally finished Textured Landscape or at least I think I have finished it. It is quite large 80 x 100 cm and is based on the the hillside just outside Clermont. Also last week I did a couple of small paintings 8″ x 10″ of the local landscape. One is of an old disused railway bridge and the other is near Octon where I go for my engraving class and is of burning the old bits of vines. I am hoping to start a painting of olive trees this week in the textured series based on a couple of olive trees just by the gas station at the HyperU. I have been to two movies, Bellamy by Claude Chabrol with Gérard Depardieu shot in Nimes and Sete and The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke. Depardieu is colossal physically and plays a commissaire de Police on holiday in the south. Quite Maigret-esque and all in French so I think I may have missed a few bits but enjoyed it all the same. Interesting how French actors don’t necessarily have to be in perfect shape altho Mickey Rourke is in interesting physical condition too for his part!!!
Printemps
Wednesday 25. 02. 09 I was talking to someone the other day and they said that the weather will change after the 15th and indeed it has. The mimosas are blooming and some cherry trees too. Yesterday I went to my engraving class and it was warm enough to work outside in just a T shirt. Recently I have been working on a large canvas called Textured Landscape see above. It is not finished yet but I am quite happy with the way it is coming along. I did some monoprints at my class yesterday and next week we will try linocuts.
An odd week
Friday 06. 02. 09 It has been an unusually wet week in Clermont with 4 days of rain and very little sunshine. I now realise why they have the canals everywhere; where there was normally a trickle this week there was a torrent. En route to the HyperU I noticed that there were camels and lamas grazing on the parking lot – the circus was back for 2 days. Also on Tuesday on the way to Octon for my etching class I noticed snow on the plateau. Strange times. I was supposed to go over to St. Mathieu this week to do some en plein air studies of le Pic du Loup but because of the weather I cancelled. I finally finished a landscape I have been working on since before Christmas shown above and I’m now working on a large painting showing the textures of the landscape. Hopefully next week the weather will improve and I can paint outside. Went to a vernissage at the wine store beneath Le Tournesol, liked the wine not so sure about the paintings.
New paintings
Wednesday 19. 11. 08 This has been another busy week and I have now finished a couple of new paintings shown here. Both are of Clermont. The Allée is just by the old station near Le Terminus and the park is just around the corner from there.
Yesterday I was back at my engraving class after the half-term break and I did my first aquatint – interesting process which I think will take a while to master. As my teacher said, it was quite artisanal with the shaking of powdered resin on to the plate, blanking areas out in varnish and then dipping it into an acid bath. It also has quite an element of surprise when you actually print it! A new student has joined the class, another anglais, an ex art historian from Brighton. The drive back yesterday was a nightmare, everything completely black and it was raining too. Luckily we are going on to winter hours next week 2.30 – 5.30 so it will be light when I drive home.
Red Dot Day
30. 10. 08. Thursday. I finished painting Les Negociants 2 yesterday and sent it out to the usual suspects as proof that I’m still alive and well and painting over here. I had an enquiry last evening as to size and price etc and then this morning an e mail telling me that it was sold!!! Amazing, I only wish I could sell all my paintings this quickly. Thanks again Fran and Clive for your support.
Weekend output
26. 10. 08. Sunday. It has been a busy weekend. I completed a painting Umbrella Pines yesterday and then today as the weather was so warm and sunny I drove down to Florensac and did another river painting. Florensac is on the Hérault between Pezenas and Agde. High noon on a lazy, sunny fall day. After I had finished I drove on to Marseillan and then alongside the beach we go to in the summer, between Marseillan and Sete. Not the crowds of summer, but still people sunbathing and even a few paddling at the water’s edge.
Back in the Hérault
21. 10. 08. Tuesday. I have been back here just over a week and have been busy with my series on the Hérault. I am documenting the river from source to mouth in a series of 16 drawings, 16 paintings and 16 monoprints. I have finished 3 new paintings and one monoprint since I got back and am hoping to finish the series before Christmas. I have also enrolled in a class for graveurs and am learning various techniques for printmaking – dry point, etching etc. I went to my first one today and was happy that there are only 4 in the class and everyone was very “sympa” and encouraging. As a bonus of course I get to improve my French at the same time learning all these new words. Just had an email from Jan and Ralph Marriott who will be staying here in early November for a couple of days en route to Italy.