Painting at la Fontaine de Vaucluse and in an abandoned Ochre Quarry

Thursday (not sure why publication date is Wednesday because I didn't actually post until Friday????) we spent a wonderful day at the village called La Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, where the largest spring in France is found, and is the source of the Sorgue river. The sun shone, the temperature was perfect and the colours in the fast moving water were intense blues and greens. I love painting reflections in water, and so was delighted to walk, snap photos and feel inspired.

                               

I finally settled on a view.......

                                   

                                   

Friday morning we painted at an old ochre quarry near Les Bassacs. We arrived about 9:15 and the view I wanted to paint had many interesting cast shadows. I tried to paint quickly and get down the darks and some mid tones, but the light kept changing.

I did finish the painting (left) in situ but felt it neede some colour correcting back in the studio, and so the final version (right) is a little different, though the photo is too light, and the painting has a stronger ochre tint. Now that I see them side by side I think I like the first version better! C'est la vie!

                         

Tonight is our vernissage and then last dinner. I am almost packed and already anticipating the next two travel days, to Marseilles and Paris, then to Toronto and finally to Guelph and home. 

Lyrical Dance - Water Reflections Abstract Five

Lyrical Dance - Water Reflections Abstract Five

24" x 24"  acrylic on canvas 

This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

This is another painting based on a detail from a photo of reflections on water. The challenge has been to simplify the detail and create a composition of interesting shapes and lines and then paint it. Sounds easy, but it's not! In the past I have found it difficult to know if what I have created is any good, or where and how to push the design, and when to stop. I am not sure what has changed, but I feel really good about these recent works, and can't stop looking at them - and loving what I see. I have sub-titled this one Lyrical Dance.

Water Reflections, Abstract Three

Water Reflections, Abstract Three

24" x 24"  acrylic on canvas   

This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

Every so often I paint 'water reflections' - based on small details cropped from photos I have taken of reflections.
This composition was developed from a detail taken from this photo - taken on Vancouver Island, a few years ago.

I love the varied and rhythmic shapes of those reflections and the possibility they offer for expressive colour and loose painting. I couldn't resist the pink and blue palette and I am very pleased with the sense of serenity I think the image evokes. It reminds me of summer and warmth.