Layers of Paris- painting

Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches

This is where it all kind of 'started.'

more chimneys

Ever since I arrived here I've been intrigued by the chimneys on the roofs of the houses in the village. The all unique and different shapes and colors and how they change their looks in lights that change most frequently throughout the day.
The chimneys fascinate me beyond description.

Chimneys of France

Cafe Malongo

A 35 minutes sketch at a cafe called Café Malongo on Rue St Andre des Art, where we had un café au lait almost every day at while in Paris. It seemed to be a very popular cafe amongst the locals, students and adults, yet carried a very pleasant and relaxed atmosphere.

Layers of Paris

The first big excursion this quarter was to Paris. We left Lacoste at 6:30am and we took TGV from Avignon and in less than three hours there we were, in the heart of France. We were there for four full days to see the city, it's history, experience both classic and contemporary art first-hand, and had many cups of coffee and good food.
It's wild to look back and remember my first experience of visiting the same city by myself four years ago and observe how I see things and think differently now, and yet realize that certain things never change.

Fôret de Cèdres

A view from one of the peaks of the Luberon mountain. Ceder Forest is located just beyond Bonnieux, approximately 20 minutes from Lacoste. We took a short walk about the forest and sat down and sketched. From the peak, we could see the back side of La Sainte Victoire, Cézanne's mountain.

Layers of Lacoste No.2

Another'layer'sketch. It's again the view from the terrace of our studio.
(Pen and Iink wash, 15 x 19 cm)

Green field in the valley

A small color sketch from the second week in Lacoste. Our painting group (approximately three of us) took a casual bike ride down to the valley one morning. The foreground is raws of grapes. Going down was like being on a roller coaster, nice and easy, but coming back up was the hardest thing ever. I felt as though I burnt all the energy necessary to get through the rest of the week.

Lacoste

A pen sketch of Lacoste from the valley below.

layers of Lacoste

January 12, 2008
A view from the terrace of our painting studio in Lacoste, a small village in Provence.

Ever since I arrived here I have been seeing and strongly intreagued by the 'layers' that appear to be here, there, and everywhere around. Roofs, gates, hills, fields and clouds over the land, they all seem to form layers and bring the landscapes here together.