Day 28 of 30

Paris Transport

8 x 8

Acrylic

There always seems to be at least one bicycle parked outside every cafe in Paris, even in the rain.

Day 25 of 30

Bikes and Umbrellas

8 x 8

Acrylic

France has so embraced the bicycle that you will find them everywhere including window boxes, this one funny enough with an umbrella for protection.

Day 19 of 30

Yellow Boat study

8 x 8

Acrylic

Another boat from Collioure, largely unfinished as I put a two hour max on the project to keep it fresh and spontaneous.  I may work on some of these at a later date. 

Day 18 of 30

Cafe study

8 x 8

Acrylic

This is a scene in the old town area of Nice where the streets are narrow and full of shops and cafes.  I could spend days wandering through the passages checking out all the wonderful food and products.

Day 17 of 30

Boats at Collioure

8 x 8

Acrylic

The colors of the Mediterranean are so intense and saturated, fun to paint but hard to get that kind of light translated using pigment and paper.  Next time maybe darker with the darks.

Day 16 of 30

Rainy Day in Milan

8 x 8

Acrylic

During our few days in Milan we noticed that almost everyone carried an umbrella and if you didn't carry one you were sure to have two or three umbrella salesmen chasing you down each block.  One afternoon we sought shelter from the rain at a cafe and watched the traffic go by including many cyclists carrying umbrellas.  It's ironic that living part time in the wet west coast Vancouver weather I have rarely owned and almost never carried an umbrella and have never ever seen anyone cycling with one, in fact it would probably be frowned on here.  Europeans ride a little differently though and with great skill.  

Day 14 of 30

Gordes

8 x 8

Acrylic

We decided one day to go explore the famous hilltop village of Gordes and not only did we pick the most spectacular approach giving us the most amazing views but we also lucked out on getting a parking spot right up in the village.  I was almost in a frenzy with my camera collecting many resource photos.  This view shows just the beginning of the layers of buildings climbing up the mountain side. 

Day 12 of 30

Lafare Vineyards

8 x 8

Acrylic

Another scene in beautiful Provence but this could also be in the Okanagan, British Columbia.  How lucky I am to be able to visit one and live in the other.

Day 2 of 30

Fig Study

8 x 8

Acrylic

Today's project involved again a process of determining values and choosing color temperatures, very basic methods and yet so elusive sometimes.  My subject was the fig tree outside the door to our room at the incredible Le Grand Jardin in Lafare, France where we spent much of July. 

French Countryside

La Cote-St-Andre SOLD

9 x 12

acrylic on canvas

Here we are back in France again and what a joy it has been to take walks in the countryside, slowly taking in the views and seeing a possible painting every where I look.  This is a scene on a climb above the little village we are staying in.  La Cote-St-Andre is gorgeous, full of beautiful architecture and quaint shops but the best thing is the Michelin rated restaurant at our Hotel France.  The chef has been preparing the most incredible dinners all week and the best part is they are gluten free.

Day 21 of 30

Mont Blanc study

6 x 6

Acrylic on Canvas Paper

My first trip to France involved cycling in the Alps where spectacular views of Mont Blanc could be seen.  Beautiful alpine villages with as many goats and cows in the streets as people.

Day 20 of 30

Malbork Castle

6 x 6

Acrylic on Canvas Paper

Poland is an amazing country full of beautiful architecture but what I remember the most is the 13th century castle Malbork, the largest castle in the world.  The design in astounding in that it has heated floors, secret passageways from kitchen to dining halls for transport of food and bathroom facilities that are removed from the living space and act as escape routes.  It is enormous and I can now see how a city can thrive within the walls.

French villages

Village Water Tap

18 x 14 

oil on canvas

Rained out on our plein air outing but managed to come close to finishing this French scene today in the comfort of home.  Though I'd rather be out since it should be warm and summery I do have a huge backup of French and Italian resource photos from our cycling trips.  This village tap was a common and welcome sight on our travels through the Alps, Pyrenees and Dolomites enabling us to keep our bottles full.

Jail for the wealthy

Day 11 Jail

6 x 6

acrylic on canvas

San Marino, a tiny republic state within Italy has three towers in it's hilltop city of the same name and the above painting is of a jail for the wealthy in one of the towers.  For a sum of money one can enjoy the view for your final days on earth although you have to put up with a wet floor when it rains!

What I've learned so far...

Day 10 Castle Tower

6 x 6

Acrylic on Canvas

One third of the way through Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days Challenge (see sidebar) and I'm still hanging in there.   A few things that are becoming clear:

I'm an oil painter - acrylics are only for speed and ease of correction but will not be my medium of choice.

I can easily stay on track with a simple daily plan and minimal distractions.  This involves choosing the subject to be painted the night before and getting the preparations done so that in the morning I can immediately get to work.

I'm going to have more than minimal distractions - that's life.

I like to paint bigger, much bigger.

I'm not a daily painter  - there is way to much else to do in life and I want to do it all!

A beautiful city in Italy

Day 9 Urban Colors

6 x 6

Acrylic on Canvas

Bassano del Grappa is one of the most beautiful cities I've seen and everywhere you look is a gorgeous scene begging to be painted.  I've got plans for some larger paintings but in the meantime here is a little corner down a lane that caught my eye.