Tag: Provence

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Art Weekly 169 – Menton Rooftops

AW-169_MentonRooftops31st March 2016

Its been a while since my last Art Weekly, but we’re now back in Koroni and I’m attempting to break the ‘creative block’ and get back into painting. I find it always takes a while to settle down after travelling.

I’ve painted the lovely French town of Menton, near the Italian border, so many times. There’s something I love about the colourful old buildings crammed together above the port – part French, part Italian, and I can never get enough photos when we visit – every one a potential painting! This trip we were only passing through Menton, but did stop off to meet my ex Sydney neighbours, of many years, for lunch – a perfect rendezvous and wonderful to see them!

If you would like to buy this painting, please click on this link to my Art Weekly Online Shop, or if you’d rather deal with me direct, please email me at jackie@jackiesherwood.com.

Menton Rooftops
Price: AUD$ 90.00
Size: 21 x 15cm
(Postage and handling included)

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Art Weekly 160 – Paulette, Cotignac, Provence

AW-160_Paulette-Cotignac-me
1st July 2015 –

A few years ago when I was tootling around France on my own, I spent a couple of nights in Cotignac, a lovely little town in the Var region of Provence. I’d remembered staying there way back in the 1970’s and was passing through the area, so I thought I’d take another look. Cotignac is very typical of the small towns and villages in the area, with lovely shady trees and a fountain in ‘la place’   – so very cool and relaxing on a hot summers day.

There were two beautiful little shops in the town with wonderful dilapidated faded facades, one of which was ‘Paulette’, and the other right next door, ‘Drougerie’. I’ve had the photos of them waiting patiently to be painted for a few years now, so here’s the first one!  Oh, did I mention that old faded shopfronts are another of my passions!

If you would like to buy this painting, please click on this link to my Art Weekly Online Shop, or if you’d rather deal with me direct, please email me at jackie@jackiesherwood.com.

Paulette, Cotignac
Price: AUD$ 90.00
Size: 15 x 21cm
(Postage and handling included)

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Art Weekly 152 – Menton Colours, France

Menton Colours, France

11th November 2014 – SOLD

Menton is one of my favourite places in France, It’s a bustling town on the Riveria and just across the border from Italy, which gives it a wonderful mixture of Italian and French. The buildings, particularly in the ‘Old Town’ have the wonderful coloured facades of Italy, and thankfully the coffee is generally more Italian-style as well!

In February each year, Menton holds la Fete du Citron (the Lemon Festival), the only place in Europe I’ve seen a 5 metre tall Kiwi made of lemons being parading proudly down the street!

If  you would like to buy this painting, please click on this link to my Art Weekly Online Shop, or if you’d rather deal with me direct, please email me at jackie@jackiesherwood.com.

Menton Colours, France
Price:  AUD$90.00
Size: 21 x 15cm
(Postage and handling included)

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Art Weekly No 147 – Marche Provencal, Sanary sur Mer

AW-147_MarcheProvencal-Sana7th August 2014 –

As promised, a painting from France this week. I have so many photos of French markets, but the one near the lovely harbour of Sanary sur Mer is one of the most colourful one I’ve seen in a while. As I’ve said before, some of the larger markets seem to be moving towards white awnings – all part and parcel of the smart and very clever market vans that are ‘popped open’ with everything in place. It does seem more noticable so far in Italy than France, but it seems a pity to lose the traditional coloured umbrellas. I would imagine that the market traders are quite happy though, if they can afford the upgrade.

If  you would like to buy this painting, please click on this link to my Art Weekly Online Shop, or if you’d rather deal with me direct, please email me at jackie@jackiesherwood.com.

Marche Provencal, Sanary sur Mer
Price:  AUD$90.00
Size: 21 x 15cm
(Postage and handling included)

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Art Weekly No 140 – Blue Boats, Sanary sur Mer

AW-140_BlueBoats_Sanary-sur9th April 2014

There is something about the little harbour in Sanary sur Mer that I find quite magical. It’s lined with colourful Provencal style buildings, and tightly crammed with lovely old, even more colourful, traditional fishing boats. Tiny sea food stalls often line the port, selling today’s catch;  each stall proudly labelled with the name of the boat it was caught on. There is also a wonderful daily market under the trees with the usual spectacle of beautifully arranged fresh fruit and vegetables that the French do so very well.

Sanary sur Mer is a small, but interesting town on the French Cote d’Azur.  In the pre-war 1930’s, Sanary became home to a large number of German writers and intellectuals. I particularly like a quote from one, Hermann Kesten;  “If one lives in exile, the café becomes at once the family home, the nation, church and parliament, a desert and a place of pilgrimage, cradle of illusions and their cemetery… In exile, the café is the one place where life goes on”.  How true!  Sadly, following the outbreak of war, most of these exiles were imprisoned in Camp des Milles, a French concentration camp on the outside of Aix en Provence.

If  you would like to buy this painting, please click on this link to my Art Weekly Online Shop, or if you’d rather deal with me direct, please email me at jackie@jackiesherwood.com.

Blue Boats, Sanary sur Mer
Price: AUD$90.00
Size: 21 x 15cm
(Postage and handling included)

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Art Weekly No 132 – Le Marche, Aix en Provence

AW-132_LeMarche_AixenProvenFor Sale – 11th November 2013 –

As you might have gathered from my recent blog, we’re now in France, after a great saunter through Italy. My previous post gives you the highlights of that.

I’ve never managed to get to Aix en Provence, which is strange considering we lived within a 2 hour drive for 3 years. We’ve had a couple of attempts during our past French trips, but it never quite worked out, and once we even arrived there, but couldn’t find hotel.  This time we were determined to at least have a look at the place. We spent the night, and next morning managed to land right in the midst of the Saturday market – a real bonus for me, of course. I was becoming convinced that many of the French markets were abandoning the coloured umbrellas, and leaning more towards the practical white ones, often attached to the side of the ever more efficient vans.  But there they were, in all their glory – umbrellas in every colour, stretched through a large area of Aix.  It was a very crowded market, so taking photos proved a little tricky, and I have plenty of heads and elbows in some of my shots as proof, and although the overall impression was one of multi-colours, when narrowing it down for photos, I didn’t quite capture it as I would have liked, but ho hum….. it was still great. The mushroom stand was just amazing, as being autumn, the cepes were there in all their glory, giant ones this year too.

Anyway, this little painting is actually a watercolour, worked up in my rather heavy handed acrylic method of painting. The trick with watercolour I believe, is leaving lots of nice white paper – something I am still trying to achieve. This one depicts a tiny section of the flower market, but there will be more of these market scenes to follow. Have I said that before I wonder…..?

If  you would like to buy this painting, please click on this link to my Art Weekly Online Shop, or if you’d rather deal with me direct, please email me at jackie@jackiesherwood.com.

Le Marche, Aix en Provence
Price: AUD$90.00
Size: 21 x 15cm
(Postage and handling included)

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A Painting A Week No 128 – A Little Lavender, Provence

AW-128-ALittleLavender-Prov

For Sale – 7th August 2013 – 

Summer in France is always brimming with beautiful flowers, one of the most exceptional being the lavender. Huge swathes of it turn the countryside into patches of purple and its always interesting to see what’s grown alongside, or sometimes, what pops up wildly in the middle of it. I took this photo near Gordes one summer. It was just a small field, but I liked the combination with the pink shrub, which I believe is the Ile de France Butterfly Bush, or Buddleia.

If you would like to buy this painting, please click on this link to my  Art Weekly Online Shop, or if you’d rather deal with me direct, please email me at jackie@jackiesherwood.com.

A Little Lavender, Provence
Price: AUD$90.00
Size: 21 x 15cm
(Postage and handling included)