ART ALFRESCO IN FRANCE - part deux
So we'd immortalised St.Chinian, Minerve and the delightful Nabat le Haut (where the painters were accommodated). After that we had days painting in Olargue, St. Pons and Corniou.
Olargue was to be a full day out but went pear shaped when we couldn't get any lunch there - on a Saturday, what?! - ok we were mostly to blame as we should have planned ahead and bought some goodies from the patisserie before we got started into work, but forward planning was not our forte and you would sort of assume the main hotel/restaurant in the town centre with all its tables and chairs sitting out in the sunshine would be open and serving food. Don't be silly, they were having a 'fermeture exceptionelle' and the other bar café, well they were off for their annual holidays for the fortnight. Pity, it was a lovely day, we were all 'enjoying' the painting/sketching and there was oodles of subject matter.
I went for a intersection of street corners as my subject and the piece I produced was rubbish - and Rena agreed with that - gotta have a thick skin when painting with other artists! So for the following 2 weeks I have been trying to refine and get to what I want to achieve and here is a second/third version? Still not there yet, and I'm running out of raw materials. I need a big square canvas - possibly to be had 50 mins. drive away in Beziers, and big pots of acrylic - most of a days travelling away in my studio in Bushmills. And they say a bad workman blames his tools, or lack of them.
Olargue was to be a full day out but went pear shaped when we couldn't get any lunch there - on a Saturday, what?! - ok we were mostly to blame as we should have planned ahead and bought some goodies from the patisserie before we got started into work, but forward planning was not our forte and you would sort of assume the main hotel/restaurant in the town centre with all its tables and chairs sitting out in the sunshine would be open and serving food. Don't be silly, they were having a 'fermeture exceptionelle' and the other bar café, well they were off for their annual holidays for the fortnight. Pity, it was a lovely day, we were all 'enjoying' the painting/sketching and there was oodles of subject matter.
I went for a intersection of street corners as my subject and the piece I produced was rubbish - and Rena agreed with that - gotta have a thick skin when painting with other artists! So for the following 2 weeks I have been trying to refine and get to what I want to achieve and here is a second/third version? Still not there yet, and I'm running out of raw materials. I need a big square canvas - possibly to be had 50 mins. drive away in Beziers, and big pots of acrylic - most of a days travelling away in my studio in Bushmills. And they say a bad workman blames his tools, or lack of them.
Painting Corniou was good even though it was a dull old morning. We finally stuck together, more or less, either to the side of the bridge -
or on the bridge
NOT a staged photo opportunity. The endless assessments of perspective?
A reasonably productive time was had by all, would have been brilliant (literally) if the sun had shone. George Burch produced a watercolour of the view (left) and there's one of his Nabat le Haut paintings to the right. As revealed at our final meal art exhibition.
My preferable piece (of my work) of the day was 'Chez Maurice'
The final tally.
Paul O'Kane - LOTS about 11 pretty decent 'efforts' ha,ha
The opposition made a poor showing.
I'll call it the 'B team', I'm guessing my companions won't mind, we might just admit to about 11 in total between us, but then quantity isn't everything.
Comments
Post a Comment