SNOW ANGEL

digital painting

No, it's not a child's drawing, it's my 1st attempt to digital painting. I 've used virtual paint, a brush,with a glass of water to clean it, a pen, an eraser and so on;
It is a small figure, 10cm high, made of cloth, with string to hang it, which accompanied a gift that had been offered to me , and then I kept for a long time.

For a while, I wanted to go back to the drawing and illustration.I don't know if I can, but I wanted to try, and I like that..
I think it's not finished, it needs improvments , but...

Irish landscape

oil on canvas paper 8"x10"



 It's been awhile since I had painted a landscape. I find something, or someone, is missing, a sheep, a cow, but what a challenge to add, if it's not there!
So, there is a lot of  green ..
It was painted for the Virtual Paintout december challenge.

Swedish clogs

oil on gessoboard 6"x6"

I loved wearing these shoes, long ago -I guess, in years 70-. It was just before the platform shoes (it made you 10cm , at least ,higher) and bell-bottom trousers ...

Seaview

oil on gessoboard 5"x7"

Grand Piquey is a small village, near the Cap Ferret,in the Arcachon Basin.Painted after a picture of Marion B.Overcrowded in summer, I presume, it's of course ,available now for quiet lovers.

Three in a bowl

oil on gessoboard 6x6



 These days, I saw a lot of pears in painting, of course, is the season and I wanted to put me there, too ..
I often go to the food blog of Dominique,( Take a look, it's worth, if you love French cuisine),  where I draw ideas for my paintings, because of her fantastic beautiful pictures.

blue clogs

oil on canvas board 5"x7"

I noticed these blue clogs, hung on the facade of an oyster shack in the Arcachon basin, where we spent a few days early, and photographed by Marion B. The colors, for once, were not complicated, cerulean and white for the majority.

Reflexion

acrylic on wood, 14"x15"

Just back from Paris, it was a week that I did not paint. I found this painting I had done in acrylic and gave my daughter Camille at Christmas 2006, so it's not a novelty! My daughter is still in migration, between Paris, London, and since more '1 year in Barcelona, it does not imply anything with her.
So I installed these 2 women in my bathroom, where they are a most beautiful effect, (although I now see faults that were unknown to me at this time), against a wall rather dark gray.
It was a reproduction of a painting by Henri-Edmond Cross, a neo-impressionist 1816-1910.

Days in Paris

For a week, I am again in Paris, after over 35 years-of work- spent here. I am going to definitively draw a line on this past, selling my apartment-which it’s not on the picture;here is the Boulevard Malesherbes, in the 17th district;in the afternoon, we went there to a concert at the Salle Cortot ,with  the pianist D. FRanc Nohain, who played Shumann & Chopin;

Yesterday, we went to the salle Gaveau,
rue de Miromesnil, to attend Shani Deluka  a famous pianist who wonderfully played Mendelssohn, Chopin and Beethoven. So, it was a musical week end, as I love it.And I won’t take my brushes before next week, because  the preparation for the moving, and so on takes all my time..
But this has nothing to do with the painting...

Pomegranate

oil on canvas paper 8"x10"

This painting was done for PADT November challenge.It was not as easy as I thought, at the beginning, and I had to struggle! as usual…

Apples

oil on linen 10"x14"

This painting was done for Studio Atelier November challenge.
I chose to crop the original picture, keeping those 2 apples, because the other ones didn’t look exactly as apples( for me) , and it was hard enough to have only those 2!

ORANGE SLUSH



oil on canvasboard 5"x7"



 This painting was done for Rookie Painter challenge;from the beginning, I didn't like the short foot's glass ,and I had to struggle with it. On the another hand, I enjoyed  painting the spoon, even if it was hard to find the right depth .I add a recipe which fits with the painting, for a light dessert, for hot days!

Ingredients,for 4 people :
40 cl of orange juice ( 3 oranges)
70 g of powdered sugar
15 cl of water
2 teaspoons syrup grenadine (or sugar syrup)
Preparation: Using a vegetable peelers, remove the skin of an orange. Chop coarsely, file in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil. Rinse under cold water. Drain again.
Combine the sugar, water and orange zest in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil 1 minute. Cool cover. Strain through a fine strainer syrup.
Squeeze oranges. Retrieve the juice and mix with the syrup. Pour into a dish of 1 cm of thickness approximately, put it in the freezer for 1 hour.
Add 1 teaspoon of syrup grenadine . Stir with a fork to break the slush before it becomes ice (woo!is it correct?hard to translate...). Put in the freezer.
After 30 minutes, complete with the second spoon coffee grenadine (or sugar syrup).
Still stir with a fork.
Put in the freezer for 1 hour.
The slush is ready.
Bon appétit!

Happy Halloween

Here is something very funny, a CARD  (click)that a friend sent to me.Enjoy!

lazy morning



oil on canvas board 5"x7"

 This was painted for Rookie Painter ;
I like  windows, there is always a  part of mystery in them, you never know what to expect beyond.
The hard part for me was the bed: I did not know whether to describe, let in the dark, put colors .. This is a study, but I intend to continue on to another topic

HEAT WAVE…



oil on paper 8" x 10"

  
It’s my last contribution to PADT.
The hard thing for me was this translucent bowl, even the shape was not easy.So….

HUTS ON STILTS

                                                                          This painting was done after the blog of Marion B., Du côté du Teich   , a talented photograph who daily puts wonderful pictures of her environment.I like those  log cabins perched on stilts,typical of the Basin of Arcachon. They are located east of Bird Island, in the town of La Teste-de-buch;the huts on stilts have the characteristic of seeing their environment change several times a day. According to the tidal cycle, the stilt huts are anchored in the sand , or  the bottom of their stairs can be in the waves, too.These 2 were built in 1883, their first   mission was to serve with oyster farmers,so  they did not really need comfort, and nowadays they are  only for the view..

a picture, representing them in their environment.

oil on paper 8" x 10"

leaves



oil on paper 5"x7"

This is my submission to Rookie Painter  Here is a poem
about the fall.

L’automne Paul Verlaine (Poèmes Saturniens 1866)
Les sanglots longs
Des violons de l’automne
Blessent mon coeur
d’une langueur monotone.
Tout suffoquant et blême,
quand sonne l’heure,
Je me souviens
des jours anciens
Et je pleure.
Et je m’en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m’emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la feuille morte.

The following  is for the sound!
As it is not easy to translate a poem, I chose to record my  voice.I have had trouble assembling this,it  is a test, I ask your indulgence! After the word "fin" look at below, in the other videos,the poem is song by Charles Trenet, a famous French singer (1913-2001.

Madame Tutli-Putli (2,continued)

As I announced in my previous post, here is the version integral of the  short Film. Everyone can interpreter, at his convenience!It’s a remarkably well done film, which required more than 2 years of work, when they spent  14 hours  a day, in a dark room , without week end, that is admirable for young people.I traveled on this train last year between Toronto and Winnipeg for 2 nights. The dark night, this string of big fir trees endless here makes the atmosphere heavy and murky.

For fans of thrillers!

Madame Tutli-Putli (1)



oil on canvas paper 7"x9"

 Do you know her? She is a puppet, the main character of a marvelous short stop-motion ,directed by 2 young Canadian, from Toronto, I think,Chris  Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski .They won an award at Cannes’s festival for the best short film, in 2007.
”Madame Tutli-Putli boards the Night Train, weighed down with all her earthly possessions and the ghosts of her past. She travels alone, facing both the kindness and menace of strangers. As day descends into dark, she finds herself caught up in a desperate metaphysical adventure. Adrift between real and imagined worlds, Madame Tutli-Putli confronts her demons and is drawn into an undertow of mystery and suspense.”
I love this animated film, and for a long time have been willing to paint the puppet.

château Yquem



gouache on strong paper 10"x7"


A small  quick gouache of the entrance of the Chateau d'Yquem, in Gironde, where the harvest just completed. It is said that it will be a good year, for Bordeaux wine, but maybe the 2009 will be better…

an apple a day….

oil on canvas board 5"x7"

the doctor away!
this painting was done for Paint and Draw Together challenge;it was hard for me to find the right shade of red, I hope it will!I quite like it.

les carrelets perdus

We live on the edge of the estuary of the Gironde, and fishermen have these squares, mainly for fishing shrimp. Unfortunately, the storm Xynthia came here in February 2010 and won several small  houses on stilts , like this one, below.

An old barn




gouache on board 8"x8"

 

Here is my contribution for Adnw this month. I took the gouache that I had long abandoned, with pleasure.

AND YOU? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?

OIL ON CANVAS BOARD 6"x6"

 This painting was done for Paint And Draw Together ;at the beginning, I struggled with  black and Prussian blue colors, and it was  a total mess;I put the painting in a dark corner, got rid of this blue which  dirties everything,(maybe I was heavy-handed) and forgot it;2 days ago, I saw Nancie Johnson’s puppy and was amazed of what she had done;it encouraged me, I took it out of it’s shade and went on until the end;there I used French ultramarine , instead.

The title referred to an Iroquois hair, –at a certain moment it should have it-but now it seems quite classical!

Orange

oil on canvas board 5"x7"

It was for Studio Atelier last challenge;I wanted to avoid the details,for giving a kind of surrealistic appearance;well, it’s a beginning!

Crème au citron

This painting was done for Rookie Painter September challenge.When I posted it, it gave me the idea of making a crème au citron with a meringue topping, it’s very fresh and light.

oil on wood 5X8

These are the ingredients:

-milk(2 cups)
-eggs (2)
-sugar(4 soup spoons)
-flour(4 soup spoons)
-lemons(2)
Bon appétit!

-Beat 2 egg yolks with sugar until light and pale to form a ruban.Add flour, pour gradually the boiling milk

over mixture.
2-Put the pan on the stove, stirring constantly, until the formation of small bubbles and a light cream.
3-Add the juice of 2 lemons to the cream, put in 4 ramekins and leave to cool, then refrigerate for 2 hours.
4-Beat the egg whites until stiff, add sugar vanillé on meringue.Spread over the ramekins.Put 8mn oven to 200 ° c, then brown under the grill.
It may take a few cookie crumbs in the bottom, it will be crisp.

Ontario peaches

oil on canvas board 6"X6"

I started to paint those peaches this morning, the  last day to post it to Rookie Painter;I had bought 3 peaches at the market, but only 2 hold on this small plate.I was in the verandah, there are not windows, only screens;after a while, 2 people paddling in a canoe hailed and whistled  for help;when we got down, it was in fact a small motorboat with gas missing…

A moment later, suddenly, a storm came;for 20mn everything was upside down,wind, rain, I was obliged to put inside peaches, brushes, paint…

When I was able to put again my painting on the easel, of course the shadows were not the same, I did not remember the place of the peaches… Pictures are so convenient!
Maybe it’s not finish, but it will be the object of another painting…

HEP! TAXI!

I painted this for ADNW with pleasure, but I don’t know why, I had to struggle with the snapshot,and the result is not quite good.Well, there was also some distortion, because I have to paint after my screen(here, I have not a printer), and it is hard, in a sense, when I’d wanted to enlarge it, a part was missing, and so on..The more difficult for me was that left light.But I liked the yellow color.

So,we would come from the same branch?

oil on canvasboard 6"x6"
This one was painted for Paint & Draw Together 's August challenge., I like to think they could be people wondering if they are from the same dynasty and coming from the same branch on the fig tree.

HUGUETTE

 

pen on paper 8X8in

H. is a charming Briton woman who has been living in Winnipeg for about 30 years;she owns a nice cottage  high perched on a small rocky island, not far away from ours, on the lake.I have to say that for 20 years there was no cottage at all,(she slept in a tent) until the day she met a bear face to face, and decided to have a solid roof!

I took this picture when she came for dinner , and drew it by on a stormy day.
When it was our turn to go to hers, the lake was completely raging, I thought we were on the Titanic,maybe it was my last day, by miracle we could arrive and land, and by the way offer her the drawing, .

HANG UP

5 X 7 in Oil on canvasboard

In my retreat, I don’t paint so much.We had’nt running water for 18 days, so many things had to be done inside in priority, our Internet connexion was low, but everything is getting better, now.I can watch your painters’ blogs, and sometimes it is hard to leave a comment, so don’t be offended, I don’t forget you!

CHERRIES

Those Little cherries were painted yesterday, just after  our arrival here, on the Lake;
I  had to buy them , at Safeway, in town, our Internet connection was not activated, and I had not the reference picture;I painted them in the afternoon, and had trouble with the shadows, after a while, of course,they changed, because it was a very sunny day...at the beginning, the shadows were weaker than the cherries, but at the end, completely the opposite;it's a lesson, nextime I won't paint a still life outdoors.
I am not sure the photo is as good as usual, but I ‘d like to participe to the Rookie Painter challenge!

EN ROUTE TO CANADA

Oil on canvas board 5X7
Very soon, we are going to navigate on the Lake of the Woods, and I have to remind me of the way to join our island!this year, I had to pass my boat license,I was able to have the examination on Internet, but they forgot to send the  card to my home, in france, so I only have temporary one, waiting for the right one in a few weeks.
Hope I won’t be arrested!

Streetcar

oil on canvas board 5x7in
This was for ADNW june challenge.At the beginning, I thought it was  quite easy, and, at the end, the completely opposite.Maybe I should have stop and redone it, I am not sure I’ll have the courage to correct it!

PEGS IN JAR

OIL on canvas board 5x7in
This painting was done for Rookie Painter, and was  nearly harder for snap it than paint it!
The blue is too strong, too present.
I was curious about tis one,  experimenting  the transparency of the jar.

On the road again

oil on canvas paper 9,5x12in
I painted this landscape for Insoiration all around Us, run by Dana Marie.
I am not satisfied with the sky, I have to work on it further.
I

where?

Coming back home after  spending a week in Paris:

  No...are you  kidding? It’s the best joke I’ve ever heard!

Really, look at this one!...
(she keeps an eye on the Musée d’Orsay‘visitors )

Hotel des Marronniers, rue Jacob,the courtyard.:please, keep those pigeons away, they like to rest on my shoulder!

Fully booked! sous les ponts de Pariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis.......(old song)
but, on the other side ,they live there.....

A table!I am hungry! What are we having for lunch?

Sorry?…no, I did’nt know her personnally…

5x7in oil on canvas board

It was an accident…
It could be the beginning of a thriller, as I like them.
In fact, this painting is my submission  for PAINTANDDRAWTOGETHER last challenge.
We were asked to give  it a title and imagine what did happen to the other strawberry.

My new song…

 
6x6 in oil on canvas board
This painting representing 2 little ceramic birds is my submission for ROOKIEPAINTER challenge.

l’Algarve

Et voilà, nous arrivons en Algarve, où nous passerons une semaine à la Quinta das Espargosas ,dans un  superbe appartement, très spacieux, avec (2)terrasses donnant sur la palmeraie de Mike, le proprio, et la campagne, avec vaches à clochettes.

 



If you are interested by this trip, you can see other posts on EN GIRONDE , and you have a translator.