Yes, friends.  I have been making art.  We did have a few distractions . . . a rental car that broke down with no replacement for a number of days . . . access to bank accounts that didn’t work the way they were supposed to . . .  and then no sooner did we get to Saint Remy than my right shoulder froze for a few days and just when it began to feel better I tried to sit down on a chair and landed hard on my tail bone.  That’s the coccyx for you medically literate folks.  The tail bone still hurts, but the car and banking problems are solved and we are now winding down our art odyssey.

Since I haven’t posted since the first of September, I decided to post paintings and drawing from the last two weeks at Montcabrier in one post, before the final post of art from Saint Remy.

Behind our studio in one of the patios, we found a wonderful old fashioned rose bush, which inspired both of us.  I worked on these through the last two weeks when we weren’t out doing plein air work and I was looking for distraction from the ‘nature morte’ that I spent most of my time on while at Atelier de la Rose.

Atelier de la Rose

The study above was the last of this series where I was inspired to play with graphical design, something that I don’t do a lot of.  I liked the result.  Below is the rest series; soft pastel sketches and one oil pastel.

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We did a lot of plein air sketching, returning to some scenes more than once.  Below are mostly those sketches; the Chateau Nozierers vineyards, the Chateau du Bonaguil, the Eglise Pestillac, and the view from one of the patios.

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We returned to Saint Evit where I spent time sketching, trying to see the endless angles and shadows, and finally a quick color sketch through the eyes of Redon.

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This scene is from the Pont du Touzac.  An ink pen drawing and then a studio painting experimenting with oil pastels, with the addition of soft pastels in a few places.

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And the Morte Nature – the final charcoal sketch of the the full still life and the soft pastel painting of the same.  This was the first time I’ve given more than passing thought to still life’s.  I learned a lot in the process about studying a subject, understanding what it is that interests me, what it is I want to express, and the importance of working with line.  In other words what is it that I see.  Seeing.  That’s the thing.

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