I "thumbed through" my folder of reference photos on my computer today looking for inspiration for my next 30x30 Direct, and came across a photo of the poppies in bloom at Bandouille, the magnificent location of the French painting retreat I attended in 2013. The main house was made of a warm yellowish stone and had these wonderful green shutters flanking each window on the backside, and below each window was a flower bed, a flower box, or a bench, all smothered that June in delicate poppies.
The painting is a bit of a mess—I'm absolutely hopeless at perspective, so the slant of the shutters doesn't match the slant of the windows or that of the walls, and I got impatient with the poppy leaves and smushed them all up. But it gives an impression of the lovely façade and a memory (for me) of its welcoming and talented hostess, Bixxy. Wish I were there right now, painting the poppies in person.
Jackson and M. Graham watercolors in Bee sketchbook.
Ahhhhhhh they were my windows...I wish you were here too.....what a week we had. Love the painting. Bx
ReplyDeleteIt's weird...I was only there for a week, but because of our continuing conversation for the next seven years (!) on Facebook, it feels like a friendship of much longer standing.
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