Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Geraniums on the patio

We stayed in a wonderful town called Vence (pronounced Vaance).  Our hotel was up on a hill that had view of the mountains and on a clear day you could see all the way to the Mediterranean.  The owner of the hotel was into gardening and had many plant vignettes, old trees etc. to paint.  On several occasions before we'd leave for our daily outing adventures we'd sit around the property, drink coffee and paint little scenes.  This was one of those days.  I loved the cracks in the old pot holding the geraniums. 

Friday, July 26, 2019

Bell Tower Tourettes France

This was an interesting town.  They are the Violet capital.  Every year there's a huge violet festival where the entire town is decked out in fresh violets.  I bought violet bath soap which you cannot find anywhere else in the country.  Love the subtle fragrance.  Also bought violet candy made with fresh violets which are dried into a semi-hard candy.  Very tasty.  Beautiful little town off the beaten path.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Grimaldi Bell Tower

This was a fun paint out day.  This castle was located in a small medieval town in Cagnes-sur-Mer.  I was happily squatting on someones front door step painting away when a guy on a motorcycle pulled right up and parked in front of my face.  I could reach the back of his bike from where I was sitting.  Yikes.  I politely asked him to park somewhere else (in English) he politely replied there wasn't anywhere else left in town to park (in French).  I was almost done anyway but that ended my painting session.  Later I discovered he worked in a little shop where I went to buy something.  He was so embarrassed and probably afraid I'd give him a tongue lashing, he couldn't look me in the face.  Guess I'm pretty scary.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Ancient Olive Tree

One of our side trips was to Renoir's home and garden.  He bought many acres of land to save ancient olive trees, most over a thousand years old.  Not only was his home massive and beautiful, it sat on a hill that had a view all the way to the Mediterranean.  I sat outside and sketched this ancient olive tree loving all the textures and knotted wood. 

Monday, July 8, 2019

Bond . . . James Bond

I forgot to post this from my previous France/Italy/Monaco adventure.  This is a sketch of the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo where they've filmed numerous James Bond scenes.  During the day it's pretty slow but you can't walk thru the door without thinking about Bond.  There was a big billboard right inside the door advertising Buddy Guy coming soon to play at the casino.  Small world.