09. 02. 08 Saturday. Had a nice drive over to Clermont and checked e mails etc Spoke to Jason et al who were all at the Patrician having breakfast. In the afternoon came back here and painted the plate for a monoprint of the plateau just outside Caseveille. Watched France beat Ireland at rugby.
10. 02. 08. Sunday. Woke up this morning and decided that actually what I was doing was documenting life in St Mathieu or at least around it and somehow this has become my project. Decided that I should expand this a bit and not just do quaint, old villages but also try and do box stores, zone artisanals etc à la Hamilton drawings. Quite excited about this and am hoping that this might lead to more abstract landscapes. Drove around town to see if I could find something but couldn’t find what I was looking for but believe it is around here somewhere. Claire came by around 10. 30 and after a cup of tea we drove up to Caseveille, parked the car and started out on our hike to the top of the Pic St Loup. A lot steeper and more rugged than we thought, however, the view from the top was superb. Had a picnic lunch at the summit and then came back down. Claire went back to Montpellier and I watched the last half of the England vs Italy rugby match. England won 23 – 19. Printed yesterday’s monoprint which looks great – quite loose. After dinner watched Midsummer Murders in French – bizarre!
11. 02. 08 Monday. Went walking into town to try and find some industrial sites but again couldn’t find anything very inspirational.Shot some pics of the roadworks and the Pic St Loup from the mairie. Did monoprints in the afternoon of both of the them – Pic St Loup OK but roadworks didn’t work. Also did a small painting of a man burning wood on his allotment which I quite like. Repainted the plate of the plateau near Caseveille – this time the right way round with a darker sky. I have been thinking of buying some heavier paper and re doing the whole series once I get back to Clermont and then see if I can’t get a show somewhere.
6.30 Nicole and Jacques showed up with wine and food for the party and by about 7. 30 I had a house full of about 20 people. It was great – I went into French overdrive and thoroughly enjoyed myself – such a change from my normal monastic life! Met several interesting people. Camille my neighbour with the big house – she has invited me to go and paint over there, Gerard (www.gerard-bru.com) a painter of abstact landscapes who lives nearby, and Elisabeth a printmaker with a press! I am going over to Gerard’s place on Thursday morning to see his paintings and am hoping to go with Elisabeth to a vernisage at a printmaking co-op in Montpellier later this week. It was a very successful altho exhausting evening with lots of compliments on my work – I’m starting to feel part of something here. Printed the darker monoprint and it works quite well, wondering about starting to do stuff in colour.
12. 02. 08. Tuesday.
Had a restless night filled with new ideas. Wondering about doing prints in colour. Drove over to Claire’s in the morning – bright and sunny. After getting back, finished larger version of La maison de mon voisin. it was very satisfying to be able to take longer on a painting than usual. I should try and do a similar one of Camille’s house. Elisabeth confirmed the printmaking vernisage on Thursday in Montpellier.
13. 02. 08. Wednesday. Spent the morning finishing up La rue de la Grenouille and am quite happy with it. Took some other photos this afternoon and started on a new panting of the Pic St Loup from the D113. Had a call from Gerard saying he couldn’t make it tomorrow morning but could I come now so hopped on the bike and drove over. Fantastic house, very modern, architect designed, pool etc. Very minimalist. He is a very prolific painter and has an agent in the UK to whom he pays 45% commission. He also sells on the net. Very convivial visit and he and his wife Michelle are very welcoming. Great studio. He gave me the address of another maision des artistes in Brittany where he is going in March. I will definitely apply. He also told me of a cheaper art store in Montpellier. Interestingly he used to be a figurative artist before he went more abstract.
14. 02. 08. Thursday.
Today thought that I would try more abstract landscapes. Drove over to art store in St Gely du Fesc to pick up some more canvasses. Painted new grounds on these and started on a new painting Les fallaises de Hortus. Started with a Prussian blue ground which I drew into with turps which seems to work OK. Went back and changed the sky in La maison de mon voisin and also redid the sky for the Pic St Loup – which is coming along quite well. Finally did a small abstract and a monoprint of the Pic St Loup from the D113. Elisabeth picked me up at 6.30 and we wnet off to the vernisage. Interesting atelier – previously an old garage. Was not very keen on the xpo but the event was interesting – lots of people of all ages including children – lots of food, wine and punch. Surprisingly the place only has one press, however, they do do workshops which might be interesting. Elisabeth (http://elisabeth-keh-chalas.midiblogs.com)has invited me to lunch next Thursday and also to see her work.
15. 02. 08. Friday. Picked up some watersoluble markers at the supermarket to try for some coloured monoprints. On my return met Jacques Pourlain from Orleans who is the artist in res for March. He was just checking out the place. After luch worked on a coloured monoprint for the Pic St Loup from D113. Takes quite a long time to do as one has to build up the colours. The print is a bit odd colourwise and has a strange pointilistic aspect. Did another one which didn’t work as well. I will try one using watercolours later on meanwhile did another black and white monoprint. Thinking of doing a collage of several different views of the Pic St Loup.