Tuesday 27. 10. 09 Yet another productive week. Have done a small painting of my bike from a sketch I did for the Ride series. Have been working on a winter scene based on a photo of Daisy toboganning in the park and managed to find a couple of 100 x 80 cm canvasses in Mr Bricolage at a good price. Today, in my engraving class, worked on more tests with soft grounds and Joan has ordered some new etching grounds from Lascaux which should arrive by next week. Thursday hoping to go to Céret to see exhibition of landscape paintings from 1909 – 2009. Vines are all out in their fall colours and weather is still warm. Ate lunch outside today chez Giséle.
Month: October 2009
Drawings
Monday 19. 10 .09 It has been another busy week. I have finished the drawings for my etching series based on my morning ride and now just have to do the etchings! I have also started a couple of new paintings. I went to see a show of paintings by Zoe Benbow at the ANPQ gallery here at Peret which I liked a lot. She is an English painter who has a studios in East London and also up in the Tarn – she paints abstracted landscapes. It is starting to cool off here now and is draughty in the mornings and the evenings, however it is still warm at midi. Had a very relaxed lunch yesterday with Giséle and Jonathan at their house in Ceyras.
Back to work
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.
Les Vendémiaires
Monday 05. 10. 09 I got back last night from my week at St Mathieu de Treviers. What a great week. It was wonderful to meet and mix with the other artists and I have come away with a lot of new ideas and techniques. I’m not sure if this kind of thing is peculiar to France but it is certainly a pity as it is certainly a great experience. I was one of 5 artists, all French. Anne Lacour, Maryse Duponchel, Cornelia Marin and Pascal Myrahong. Pascal was the youngest and I think that Maryse was a bit older than me. Cornelia was originally from Rumania and Anne was from Paris. Each day we had visits from the local school children aged between 5 and 10 and we talked about our work. Tuesday we all had to present ourselves to the association and discuss our work. Wednesday we all (artists and members of the association) went to Sète for the day and visited galleries and the Musée de Paul Valèry there. Lunches and dinners were provided everyday and we either ate out at restaurants or at the Maison d’Emma which is where I was artist in residence in February 2008. The grand finale was a lunch yesterday of mussels in a pastis and curry sauce and roast lamb done on a spit. I didn’t sell anything but I was approached by the patron of one of the large brasseries in Montpellier about an exhibition at his brasserie. All in all a fantastic week.
