SUR LE CHEMIN , EN AGUARON, ESPAÑA , acrylic on canvas

SUR LE CHEMIN, EN AGUARON, ESPAÑA,  acrylic on canvas, painted and exhibited in France in June 2015, 81x100 cm. (32x36")

I started this painting in plain-air, on a hill near Aguaron, where the rooftops really attracted my attention. After 4 hours, the heat, the mosquitoes and some dog barking loud the entire time forced me to stop. I finished it later  in France, under very pleasant conditions: in the garden of "La Maison des Arts", in Pierrefitte-Nestalas, Haute Pyrenees.

LE CLOT, HAUTE PYRENEES, France, watercolor

Le Clot, Haute Pyrénées, France, watercolor, 9x12 in.

While resident artist in Cauterets, France, I was invited to paint plein-air in this beautiful place, with a group of beginner artists, including Theo, a 12 year old artist from the region. It is very interesting the way the French refer to a "beginner" artist, they are called: "artist en herbe" = "artist who has started to grow like grass" (at the ground level, I guess it means). Idiomatic expressions are always funny when translated from or to another language.

Le Clot is behind Le Pont d'Espagne, a beautiful waterfall in this region, up high in the Pyrénées.

FRIEND AND FOE, France, watercolor

Friend and Foe, France, watercolor 15x11 in.

The area of the Pyrénées, in South West France, where I live a few months a year, is blessed by beautiful mountains, and heavenly waterfalls. This Spring 2013, the combination of a particularly heave snow fall in the winter, and a heavy Spring storm at the moment the snow was melting, contributed to springs, rivulets and rivers overflowing their beds, dangerously threatening urban dwellings, and in some cases even carrying houses and personal items downstream.  Water can "Friend and Foe" indeed.

This painting is in exhibit at the Bibliotheque de Cauterets, Haute Pyrénées, France, during the month of September. Opening Reception, Vernissage, is Friday, September 6, 6:00 pm.

CIRQUE DE SOLEIL, FRANCE, watercolor

Cirque de Soleil, France,  watercolor 18x22 in.

This painting will be in exhibition at my upcoming solo show: "Le Mystére de l'Eau", at the Bibliotheque de Cauterets, France, September 3-30. Vernissage (opening reception) is on Friday, September 6, 5:30-730 pm. Come on and join me!! Watercolor above is of the Cirque de Gavarnie, in the Haute Pyrénées, France.

I have recently read: Venise - Aquarelles de Turner,  published by the British Museum. It has fantastic pictures of Turner's series of watercolors of Venice. I read that Turner used to draw non-stop in his sketchbook. When he died in 1851, there was a collection of more than three hundred sketchbooks!