Wednesday 06. 04. 11 Another beautiful morning ride to the studio and I managed to print another five monoprints so I now have a total of 15 ready for painting. George dropped by on his bicycle this morning to see what I was up to. The photo above gives an idea of the Village des arts and metiers and each studio is the size of the triangular segment of the roof. Lac du Salagou is sparkling in the distance.
Tuesday 05. 04. 11 It has been two good days of work at the atelier. Both mornings have been warm and sunny so the drive has been a good start to the day. So far I have managed to to make 10 different monoprints based on my drawings. I have been surprised at how efficient a bigger studio with more working surfaces is. Once I’m back from the UK next week I intend to reorganize my own space.
Sunday 03. 04. 11 Another busy week. I have started two new paintings and have also been working on the large white van canvas. Have booked Joan’s studio and press for next week where I will be working on a series of monoprints based on my Cross Canada drawings.
Sunday 27. 03. 11 I have been working on number of different techniques for monoprints this week. Besides adding detergent to the ink and/or to the plate I have also been experimenting with adding colour to the monoprint after printing. The above has been coloured with thin glazes of oil. Plus the vans continue to roll.
Monday 21. 03. 11 Am house/cat sitting this week so am up the hill with Grappa. Yesterday met Claire in St Martin de Londres and we went for a walk on Mt Aigoual before an excellent lunch at La Cravate. We had a lot to catch up on as she had been in Viet Nam and Cambodia and I had been to Canada and Cuba. This morning it is back to the studio where I have been working on the large white van painting.
Thursday 17. 03. 11 The smaller white van painting is moving along well. The sun shone today and it didn’t rain which was encouraging.
Tuesday 15. 03. 11 It rained yesterday and also most of today and looks like more tomorrow – Spring in the Hérault! However because of this weather I have been in the studio and have been having a very productive time. I have been doing more Waterloo stations, this time with a bamboo pen (as above) and have been working on more white vans. A strangely satisfying and cheerful day.
Sunday 13. 03. 11 It has been a frustrating week waiting for the paint to dry on two white van paintings. So I have been back at monoprints of London train stations. I have done several of Waterloo and have also been experimenting with drawing over them in pencil and drawing with a pen using printing ink – so far not too successfully.
Sunday 06. 03. 11 This week have started on a new white van painting as above and have returned to my monoprint series of London stations. Met Kevin and Emma for lunch and discussed his podcasts and also his new art magazine due out in May. We also talked about the possibility a show of my paintings in Nîmes this summer. Weather is starting to improve now and besides the mimosas I have now seen the new crop of wild irises.
Thursday 24. 02. 11 Have been doing some small paintings to get back into things again. Above is an oil sketch of snow on Austin Avenue to remind me of why I live here. Have figured out the next white van painting and also want to try some kind of combination monoprint/chine collée for the Cross Canada series. On y va!