Mar 10th 2010
Wednesday 10. 03. 10 Yesterday was a very productive day. I managed to do a small (8″ x 10″) painting of Winter Landscape and I started on the first of my white van series White van before the storm. I painted both using thin linseed glazes. The small one is finished but I’m waiting for the White van to dry before working on the plane trees and the vines.
Mar 8th 2010
Monday 08.03.10 I woke up this morning to snow! There had been a few flurries last night but I never expected it to come to anything, but this morning everything was covered by a 2 cm white blanket which lasted until about noon. This afternoon I was at my engraving class and started work on an aquatint of Clive Minto. It went well.
Mar 1st 2010
Monday 01. 03. 10 I have been back at the Winter Landscape again today and have also started working on a monoprint of a van in a vineyard. Perhaps the first in a series?
Feb 28th 2010
Saturday 27. 02. 10 I have been working on and off on George and Winter Landscape this week. It has been quite damp so everything seems to take so long to dry. I finally went into Dalbe today and have bought a drier to mix with the linseed oil which should speed things up in the future as I really like using linseed glazes. George is nearly finished but I still have some work to do on the other one. I’m hoping to start a new series next week based on the ubiquitous white vans which are so much a part of the landscape around here.
Feb 17th 2010
Wednesday 17. 02. 10 Another rainy day so went to the market this morning and then coffee with Laurene, George and Carol at Les Negociants. This afternoon went with a group from the Accueil to the Musée Fleury at Lodève to see an exhibition of the works of Vincent Bioulès a painter from Montpellier. Superb expo and very inspiring. I can’t wait to get back into the studio tomorrow afternoon.
Feb 16th 2010
Tuesday 16. 02. 10 Today is a grey, rainy day here but it is a bit warmer than it has been. This seems to be the pattern for winter: either sunny and cool or warm and rainy. The forecast for this week is mostly rain so will be in the studio. Today have been working on George again and also on Winter Landscape. I have been working with oil pastels and glazes which give depth to the painting surface.
Feb 10th 2010
Wednesday 10. 02. 10 Yesterday had a great book club meeting with a lively discussion of Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden, an excellent read. Also yesterday The Rider by Tim Krabbé arrived from Amazon which I read overnight – 150 pages about a bike race around Mont Aigoual just north of Montpellier. Great read. Today spent the morning at the market and had coffee with Laurene and George at Les Negociants. This afternoon have been back at George, the painting, adding more to the woods and starting on the foreground bed of leaves.
Feb 8th 2010
Sunday 07. 02. 10 After lunch with Gisèle and Jonathan we drove up to the Buddhist temple on the Larzac plateau just above Lodève. It was a lovely sunny afternoon but windy and much cooler on the plateau. The temple is one of the largest in France and was opened in 1992. It is open for visitors only on Sunday afternoons and we were shown around by a woman originally from Montreal. It has extensive grounds with a lake and small cabins for monks or for people attending retreats. I found the temple decoration quite garish but was assured that they were authentic Tibetan. I was surprised how unspiritual the space seemed – I guess I was looking for an atmosphere often found in old churches or monasteries in the Christian tradition and I was quite disappointed in the lack of a sense of peace and tranquillity. Afterwards we went back to the real world and stopped in Caylar for a coffee where Jonathan managed to catch part of the France/Scotland rugby match.
Feb 6th 2010
Saturday 06. 02. 10 This is the drawing on a yellow ground for the winter landscape near Plaissan. I am hoping this colour will work with the more acidic colours at this time of the year.
Feb 5th 2010
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.