Les Bassacs Vineyard

Les Bassacs Vineyard

   10" x 12"  - acrylic on canvas paper - SOLD

Our morning painting in Murs was followed by a late afternoon session down one of the laneways from the house where we stay in Les Bassacs. The light was much better than earlier that day and I found the views more interesting - winding pathways, olive groves and vineyards. I had been hoping to paint or at least try to paint some sort of vineyard view and I had several to choose from. After a false start, I changed locations and completed stage one fairly quickly as the light and day were waning. I finished the final painting in the studio and was really happy with it. The vines and branches were a challenge but I will definitely try this subject again in the future.

Below is the actual view and stage one, and some other views I could have chosen.

Friday and Joucas

The good weather returned on Friday and we spent the morning in the village of Joucas painting. I found a spot just below the walls and streets, beside the winding road that leads up to the village. From that vantage point I had a choice of three interesting views, and the challenge became one of how to choose. After far too long thinking about this, I finally decided on the one that put my back to the sun.

                             

All week I have  been trying to see, mix and paint the actual colours in the Provence landscape - something I rarely do because I don't do a lot of plein air work, and I quite like a more expressive palette. As I worked out my composition for this painting however, I decided to simplify the tree and building shapes, and try to make it all more abstract, and play with colour.

I was able to complete most of the painting in two hours and then another hour in the studio to tidy it up. Not much like my earlier work this week, but perhaps more like me.