Mas Saint Antoine, Provence, France

This was the property where we stayed in Provence. It was just outside of Rognonas, France, and I loved it! The buildings had such character with the stone walls and the shutters. I could have painted each of the buildings. The first painting "Mas Saint Anoine" is 5 x 7 and shows the front of the building. " "Courtyard" is the patio to our 1 bedroom unit. "Chez Pauline" is the front entrance to our unit. There were pots of flowers and plants everywhere and the scent of rosemary growing. The apartments were well equipped...even your own gas grill. All of my Provence paintings are 5 x 7 and are in a separate watercolor journal.

Loire Valley - Part II

I awoke early in the Loire Valley so I painted the floral arrangement on the dining room table ("Le Fleur" 4 x 6 watercolor). Luckily I can paint anytime. The second painting was of a hotel in Amboise near the river. I loved the bright yellow stripes on the canopies ("Amboise Charm" 4 x 6 watercolor and ink). I just had to paint a castle while I was there, and although Chenonceau is considered a "chateau" it looked enough like a castle for me. I sat on a bench in the garden area with a view of the towers that blocked out the scaffolding that covered a big part of the outside because they are doing renovations...just my luck. lol ("Chateau Chenonceau" 4 x 6 watercolor and ink)

Katherine Tyrrell was in France at almost the same time as I was visiting. She has wonderful sketches, photos links, and video links on her two wonderful blogs. Check them out if you have the time.

www.travelsketch.blogspot.com

www.makingamark.blogspot.com

Loire Valley - Part I

We rented a car when we were leaving Paris and headed to the Loire Valley. Our accommodations were upgraded to Le Cardinal, a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house in Amboise. It was beautiful! The first painting "Le Porte Rouge"(4x6) is of the front of the house. I just loved the red door! Our first morning brought some rain, so I hunted up a few things to do a still life painting and "Le Bon Vie"(4x6) was created. When it stopped raining I found a spot on the other side of the Loire River with a view of Amboise. "Chateau du Amboise" (4 x 6) was painted from the front seat of my rental car. I did miss having a painting chair with me!!

Painting Monet's Garden - Day 2

Since the trip was so easy to do, I left my husband back in Paris when I went back to Monet's Gardens alone. I figured I could paint more if I didn't feel guilty about him getting bored. The garden wasn't as crowded as the first day, but every so often big tour groups would come through. The day was beautiful and I was in my glory! There were just so many lovely spots to stand and paint. I made sure I painted another version of the view of Monet's House that I had sold the first day. A woman from Taiwan came over to look at the paintings. We started talking and I showed her all the work I had done there. She wanted to buy a painting too and had a hard time deciding between two of them. She searched through her bag, but apparently she had left some of her money with friends and only had enough to buy one of them (the first one posted of the water pond). She was so excited about buying it, and took a photo of me with the painting. I gave her my blog address so she could see the other paintings I've been doing, and my email address because she promised to send me a copy of the photo she too when she gets back home to Taiwan. She was at the beginning of her trip and was going to be gone for a month.

Painting at Monet's Gardens was really special and emotional for me. It definitely was the highlight of my trip, and lived up to everything I imagined about it.

Katherine Tyrrell was in France at almost the same time as I was there. Check out her sketches, photos, and videos of Monet's Garden on her two blogs.

www.travelsketch.blogspot.com

www.makingamark.blogspot.com

Painting Monet's Garden - Day 1

Wanting to visit Monet's Gardens was the reason I started to plan our visit to France. It was going to be my birthday celebration (a big birthday). Monet's Gardens in Giverny is about a 45 minute train ride from Paris, so it was very easy to do. I wasn't sure if they would let people paint there, so I took along my postcard sized watercolor paper, my field kit of paints, watercolor pencils (just in case I couldn't use paints), my waterbrush, and micron pens. When I got there I was so emotional that I started to cry...it was just so perfect!!! My husband said it was his second favorite place to visit ever. The grounds were gorgeous, even that late in the season, and nobody stopped me from painting. There were a few people doing quick sketches, and then a class of teenagers came with their watercolor materials. They were all over...sitting on the bridges and on the paths. For most of the paintings that I posted here I was standing while I was painting. I did find a bench to sit on to paint the one of the house, and sat on the ground to do the last one of the flower beds leading to the house.

While I was painting a couple came over to talk to us and wanted to look at my painting. They were from Hawaii and asked if I had done any other paintings there. I showed them the ones that I completed earlier in the day. They wanted to buy one of them. I really didn't want to sell one since these were my souvineers of the trip, but they were very persistent. They were at the end of their trip and said they would rather buy something beautiful and original than something from the gift shop. They bought the one of Monet's house with the flowers in front of the windows. I felt like a real Parisian artist!!

Next I will post my paintings from my second day at Monet's Gardens.

Artists & Friends Gallery Show

Right before I left for France, I did a show at the BAFFA Gallery in Sayville, NY with a small group of local artists. Here are photos from the show. The first one is of myself in front of my wall of art. The other artists are Marion Marino, Lydia Peterson, Laurie Samara-Schlageter, Doug Broadhurst, Carol Musac, Carol Corbett, Alma Pancir and our fellow artist/organizer Marianne Thorvaldson.

Paris Scenes (Posting #8)

Here are my last two 4 x 6 paintings done in Paris. "In Front of the Master" was sketched in the d'Orsay Museum, which has a wonderful impressionist collection. It wasn't easy to sketch the people. They usually moved on before I got anything done, but there were a few who stayed put looking long enough for me to get their shape down. I didn't think they would allow me to paint in the museum, so I added the color as soon as I got outside. "Restaurante Le Consulate" was painted in Montmartre. I was attracted to the colors on the building. The man sat there well long enough for me to sketch and paint him. That is the good part about painting Paris cafes and restaurants...people sit for a very long time. Next I will post my favorite part of the trip...stay tuned!

More of Paris (Posting #7)

These are the last of my 4 x 6 paintings done in Paris. "In Front of the Master" was done in the d'Orsay Museum which has a wonderful impressionist collection. "

More Paris Highlights (Posting #6)

Here are a few more 4 x 6 paintings from Paris. "Paris Shadows" was done of a window across from our apartment. I loved the morning shadows. In the middle of the Luxumburg Gardens is a huge pond where kids sail these huge boats that they rent. They use long sticks to move them along. "Sailing in the Park" shows that scene. There are so many wonderful views from the bridges in Paris, and "View from the Bridge" is one of them. "Tuileries Garden" was done in this lovely park with all kinds of fountains and statues. You can never run out of painting opportunities there.

Paris Life Paintings (Posting #5)

Paris has such life to it. I loved wandering the streets to find new spots to paint. There is a square up near Montmartre that is filled with artists painting and drawing. They paint portraits, draw cartoons, do silhouettes, and have easels set up and are painting and they are busy selling their work. It has such atmosphere! I tried to capture that in the painting of the Paris artists. These are 4 x 6 and are titled: "Caroussel Below Sacre' Coeur," "Montmartre Village," "Paris Artists," and "Vendors Along the Seine."

L' Tour Eiffel Paintings - Posting #4

The Eiffel Tower is something that I had to try painting and sketching. It is so massive that you sort of get lost in it when you're looking at it. Our rental apartment in Paris had a view of the tower, so I was able to paint it at sunset and at night. The titles of these are:

"Alnog the Seine" 4 x 6

"Night View of the Tower" 4 x 6

"Tour Eiffel" 2 1/2 x 3 1/2

Along the Seine (Posting #3)

Here is my third group of paintings in Paris. There are so many bridges and so much along the Seine. I had so much fun painting there. In order these are : "Tour Boat on the Seine," "Photographer's Dream," and "A Walk Along the Seine." All are 4 x 6.

Dining in Paris (Posting #2)

Here is the second installment of paintings done in Paris. These were done in ink and watercolor. The cafes and restaurants all have such character there. In order these are: "Parisian Lunch," "Paris Europe," and "Clair de Lune." My problem was always finding someplace to sit and sketch and paint. Often I ended up standing and leaning against a building.

Paris Flowers (Posting #1)

I am back from my month in France with lots of paintings. These 3 were done in Paris. The flower markets and stores were just gorgeous!!! In order they are titled: "Flower Market", "Cler Fleurs", and "Les Floralies." I could have painted every flower store in Paris! These are all 4 x 6 which I find is an easy size to deal with when traveling. I'll be back tomorrow with some more. I usually painted 2 small paintings a day, so I have lots to post.