Travel

25. 04. 08. Thursday. Beautiful day. Early start and drove to Claire’s in Montpellier. After a cup of tea we drove to the Villa Eugenie where we hi-jacked Claire’s first sculpture and then drove on to Sauve. We parked the car and went on a wonderful walk through La Mer des Rochers. The sun was warm and the air was full of the scents of thyme and broom. The path lead through the garrigue and what was once an old fortress and across a chaos of rocks. We had taken a picnic so stopped in some shade and had our baguettes and salad. Oddly enough where we stopped we discovered a momento mori to a friend of Claire’s elder brother complete with engraved stone, the remains of his ashes and two old umbrellas. Returned to Sauve after lunch and then drove on to Sommières where we stopped at a café by the river and had Monacos and ice cream. On then to Baillargues where we met Jacques and saw his new expo and then back to Claire’s for tea once more before driving home to Clermont on the scooter.

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.

04. 02. 08. Monday. Got up, did Yoga, had breakfast and was just having a shower when there was a knock at the door. I hastily put on my track pants and went downstairs only to be greeted by Jacques and his confreres who were there to clean up the garden! After shaking hands and greeting everyone I went upstairs and got dressed. I came back down and chatted to several members of the association before heading out for the Midi-Libre. On my return worked on a drawing for a monoprint of the Dominican convent which is just around the corner. After lunch went to the supermarket and as it was sunny did the initial drawing for a painting of a view from my garden. It was so great not having to lug everything with you, just being able to go in and out of the house. Spoke to Carole and Jason on the phone – I realise that contact is very important and without the internet I sometimes feel pretty isolated. I was so happy with my drawing that I did a much larger one to use as a base for a monoprint.

05.02. 08. Tuesday. Drove over to Claire’s this morning and had a cup of tea and sent out e mails. One of the emails that I received was from Judith in Merrickville saying that she had sold 3 of my paintings! This was very exciting news altho I have no idea which ones have sold but who cares! Came back here for lunch and then after lunch did a painting of my neighbour’s house from my back garden. It was so nice painting outside near the house and being able to pop in for a cup of tea etc. After finishing the painting I drove out past Notre Dame de Londres scouting sites for potential paintings and took some pics. Julia phoned in the evening and seemed to be in good spirits.

06. 02. 08 Wednesday. Julia’s birthday so phoned her this morning but missed her. After the supermarket started working on a couple of monoprints – one of the neighbour’s house and another of a small church just round the corner. Both worked out quite well and I’m wondering whether to try and colour one. Signs of Spring here – saw a little yellow bird just outside singing its heart out – maybe a yellow finch? I think the tree just outside is an almond tree and I am hoping it might blossom soon. If so, definitely a painting. After lunch drove out of town and found a place overlooking the cliffs of Hortus and the Pic St Loup so settled in and did a small painting which worked well. Came back home and did a big drawing of the cliffs of Hortus for a monoprint. I quite like the drawings that I’m doing for the monoprints. Normally I would chuck them away but I think I will keep them. I have concentrated on tones as the monoprints are black and white so have used various type of shading to show the various tones which make them quite interesting. I think I’m finally in the groove here now. I have established a routine of printing in the mornings and then painting and drawing in the afternoons. It works well as I like starting the day with painting the plate – seems a sort of warm up for painting later on. Fran phoned so it was great to get up to date with all her news and then Julia phoned as well so it has been a pretty good day.

07. 02. 08 Thursday. A very bright morning with high of 15 supposedly. After breakfast opened the shutters from the studio and realised that there was a painting looking up the road to the little bridge. The light seemed just right so started immediately. Again very convenient painting from the studio. After this went off to the art shop in St Gely and bought various bit and pieces that I needed including 3 canvasses on sale. Came home very pleased with myself. Had lunch outside in the garden! It was so warm even the little lizards were darting about in the sun on the wall. Decided to do another painting of the other neighbour’s house – a large house owned by an architect with pool etc. And after this started painting the plate for a monoprint of the the Cliffs of Hortus that I sketched yesterday. Busy day but very satisfying. Printed the plate but it came out too light.

08. 02. 08. Friday. A frustrating start today but after such a great day yesterday, hardly surprising. I had reworked several large paintings in my head during the night and was all ready to go when I realised that it really wasn’t working. I had been thinking about the work of John Virtue and how he reworks everything creating various layers and a sense of history but I couldn’t seem to make it work. I have to somehow loosen up! Anyhow I couldn’t seem to get anywhere so went for a ride to see if I could find new sites for paintings but of course the sun was always in the wrong place! It was a great ride though and slowly I am immersing myself in the landscape and it was warm with lots of sunshine and of course nobody on the back roads. After lunch decided to do a larger canvas of La maison de mon voisin with a lot more drawing and I want to try and let the drawing show through. Did the drawing en plein air directly on the larger canvas and then started painting but had to stop because again I was “making a painting” rather than dealing directly with the landscape so went for another ride. When I got back I thought that perhaps I can make something of this but am going to let it dry for a bit and think about it. Painted plate for another version of the Cliffs of Hortus and made it much darker this time and it worked out very well – it has a very Cezanne like quality. I coloured in the light one but it looks like an Edward Ardizzone illustration!

09.02. 08. Saturday. Had a great ride into Clermont this morning and set up and sent e mails. Spoke to Julia who said that the birthday card I had sent to Daisy nearly 2 weeks ago for her birthday had finally arrived.

01. 02. 08. Drove over on friday afternoon to St Mathieu de Treviers and after asking at the mairie and another person, found Maison d’Emma my home for the next month. There was nobody there but I knew where the key was so let myself in and phoned my contact. Jacques came over after a few minutes and introduced himself. Nice guy, does really meticulous watercolours and builds model boats from kits. He suggested that I might want to go to the supermarket to get some supplies etc and offered to take me over in his car which was great. En route dropped by his house which is in the old village. Very comfortable, old renovated farmhouse. He has a great studio which is part conservatory with loads of plants – quite tropical with orange and lemon trees. I met Nicole his wife and also met his dog. After the supermarket he wanted to know if I needed anything else and I said that I needed some paper for monoprints so he then took me off to the local art shop which had a pack of 25 sheets on as a special promotion. Finally he dropped me off with all my various bits and pieces and I haven’t seen or heard from him since! I thought I might have had dinner with them or something. However I remember how the French are – that bizarre mixture of formality and friendliness. Anyway I made something for dinner and then spent the evening watching absolutely asinine game shows on French TV – there was only the news and game shows! So I have no internet but do have television!

02. 02. 08. Saturday got up remembering all the things that I had forgotten to bring over from Clermont (rollers etc for monoprints) so drove back and picked them up and then drove back here. It only takes just over and hour each way. In the afternoon and evening did a couple of monoprints and a small painting. I have since erased the painting but the prints are Ok for a start. I feel much happier about things now and think that I can actually get something done this month. Still not totally focussed but think I can make my way through. Part of the problem is intellectual stimulus – not a lot around here and I realise how much I have relied on the internet It make an enormous difference – however, I don’t have it so will have to dig deeper within myself.

03. 02. 08. Sunday – overcast and grey. Went for a walk around town – not much happening but took some pics and found a good boulangerie. Rained all afternoon so did a very complicated little postcard watercolour of a whole load of stuff in the kitchen – there must have been nearly 20 different items on the tray and then did a self portrait. All the time half watching a Brit crime drama called New Tricks in French. Odd kind of cozy wintery, afternoon but strangely satisfying. Just before dark decided to do a small oil of the view outside – pretty overcast and dark.