In the Studio: Let the painters paint!

    This week while the majority of the students at the Lacoste campus adventured in Paris the Painters remained behind to a mostly quiet week of intense studio time! Quiet, save for the hurricane force winds.

Intense fútbol scrimmage

Roussillon Ochre Factory

 The painters took an excursion to the quaint town of Roussillon, a short drive from Lacoste, for a tour of the Ochre pigment factory and a workshop. For only 17 Euros we learned about how the pigments were created, the binders they use and a workshop with creating paints from the local pigments, sap binding and egg tempera.

Pigments!!!

Emily painting with a cheese based paint

Sujay and his clouds

The painters out for glaces! 

Path to Bonnieux

     Just down the little white path from Maisson Basse, the new artist residency in Lacoste, France at the Savannah College of Art and Design are a few lovely views. Julie Ferris and I took a stroll with our pallets in one hand and our new French easels over our shoulders. Here is just the beginning.

What incredible greens!

First plein air session for this one.

Julie at work!

Look at the Skies!

On a trip out to the chateau above Lacoste the landscape painting class learned to look at the skies, clouds in particular. Using Strathmore oil paper we created several panoramas of the sky. 

"Nooks"

     This piece is about reacting to what is there and noticing the nooks and the cracks, the things that normally go unnoticed. The length of the thread is continuous throughout the piece as it continues from wall to wall and interacting with objects such as jars, branches and other found objects. These act as events throughout the life of the installation.
     Physically the work does impact the space in any way, it simply weaves in-between, in and out, through and around the stones and walls. Spatially the materials will complement and responding to its location by accentuating and creating contours based on the behavior of the rock.
     The yarn is a parallel to the line of thought; this piece can be experienced meditatively as the viewer follows it from one end to the other or with an interest in the actions and reactions. It is the details and hidden treasures that excite me about this space and this is what I would like to bring to the attention of others so that they may appreciate the grand history of this area and the little (and often overlooked) beautiful things about this picturesque town of Lacoste, France.

Rise to Meet the Sun

The Landscape painting class met a new challenge today, an unexpected beautiful beast, the sunrise. These early morning risers set up on location just before daybreak in a small courtyard behind the little church in Lacoste, France. The sun broke the horizon just after 8am but due to the gloriously lit clouds it was not visible for almost an hour after when it burned away the airy forms of moisture.

Jullie Ferris, voted to have one of the most successful first sunrise paintings on this crisp morning explained her intentions for the work, “My goal is to capture the variations of light and color as the sun rises over the mountain.” Her layers of dark grays, pale blues and bright oranges were arranged beautifully to convey the stimulating layers of hue and tonal contrast.

Many of us began facing the direction with the most interesting composition and color in the beginning, towards the North though the sun actually rose to our right just over Bonnieux on the other side of the valley. Inspired by the words of the French Author, Marcel Prouce we shall to look at and see the world as he does. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

Please visit this quater's Lacoste Painting blog. 

Professor Sandra Reed demonstrating a few helpful techniques

Immerse yourself in the landscape

It's already two weeks into my program in Lacoste, France! I now have some work to show for it. Here is a peek of what I have been producing in my landscape class!