Time to reflect & realise that this whole web site event has gone so fast that I even left out the painting we did before the last two, which was a poppy field in Fox Amphoux- hence a few poppy pics on the gallery! It is also salutary to think that 3 whole sessions have passed already, & am now pausing to check if everyone wants to continue the weekly sessions or make them every two weeks during the summer. There is also the opportunity to use another room, starting in July on a Wed afternoon, so it depends on how many keen artists there are around, & general energy/interest levels-all still to be decided, watch this space.

Sadly, as a non techi person I still haven’t quite cracked turning up on time & in the right room on zoom yet L, so was the last to arrive, finding a room full of eager artists waiting for me- paper, paints & brushes to the ready. Luckily I had thought to send tips on colours & brushes etc in advance, so we could get cracking straight away. I’ve also learnt to practise the same painting by myself so I can ‘show’ what they are aiming for as we go along.

At the request of one of the easyarters to ‘do’ a building we were tackling an old bastidon in Sillans-la-Cascade, from many years ago when it sat in an olive grove, & before it became razed to the ground to make way for a brand new function room. I had painted along with some friends sitting in the field before this old building with its rickety stairs covered in greenery, & very peaceful & tranquil it was, back in the day. So off we went with a blue sky, background mountains, sunny fields etc-we are in Provence J,  although sadly it is raining as I write. Then we tackled ‘the building’ with a soft wash of creamy walls, dabbed with spots of rust to merge in as an impression of old stone, some dabs of bluey- grey, as for the the mountains, to shape the windows, doors & shadows, some delicate scraping out to make the window frames, some greenery for the staircase & along the bottom of the house, before tackling the wall, which some students made into a bridge. Strangely there is a bridge nearby the real bastidon, so whatever each person makes of the initial picture still works. Once all is dry the roof can go on- again some random strokes to depict an uneven roof, & finishing off the wavy tiles with an equally wavy line of deeper rust. A final flourish of mixed greens to finish off the big tree, & some more random lines of earth/green for the foreground & all is done.  

Of course, it takes a lot longer than that to paint than to describe, & everyone is intent on their own painting until I persuade them to look up, & show us all where they gave got to- then heads down again- the time flies by. Given that we have one student from London, 3 from Provence, & one all the way from Australia, where it is apero time, it is lovely that all are absorbed in producing a painting in real time, courtesy of the internet. This little venture seems to be popular, & we already have another fellow artist wanting to join in July – currently ‘stranded’ in Australia because of Covid 19, she wants to learn how to  paint some of the lovely beaches she has been stranded on- hard life!

So, on we go enjoying ourselves, despite the restrictions & vagaries of zoom, watch the site for the next project & join in as & when you can- à bientôt.