Painting Provence with Tess #2 in Roussillon

My watercolor teacher, Tess, took my class to a pretty hilltop village called Roussillon. When I visited ealier, I was fascinated with all of the warm colors of the landscape and buildings. It is noted for its large ochre deposits found in the clay surrounding the village. Large quarries were mined there from the end of the 18th century until 1930. Now mining is prohibited in order to protect the site from being ruined. :-) And tourism has become an important source of income. Imagine that!

Le Sentier des Ochres

Usine Mathieu, an old ochre factory, now a workshop museum

A scene we painted from the cafe across the street.

I like this studio!

Painting the rocks along the path.

My Sheep Linocut

I happily and finally finished my sheep linocut! I struggled with how to cut out the sheep's fleece but I think I came up with a pretty acceptable solution.
I used two separate linocuts as a background for color and printed the sheep black on top.
Next I'm thinking of rabbits!

5" x 10"

Putting ink on the plate

All ready for printing on the press

Painting Provence with Tess

Sleep has escaped me in the very early hours of the morning since my return from my painting adventure in Provence, France a few days ago. So here I am, finding it a good and quiet time to add something to my blog. When I visited Provence a few years ago, I saw why some of our most famous artists loved painting there. The landscapes and the light are so alluring. When I saw a workshop on line, it seemed just right for a visit to the area. There went my resistance! My workshop was located in the commune of Venasque. We spent time both at the house painting and at several villages like Roussillon and Les Baux.

I loved staying here! I called it a chateau (more fun) but I think it's actually a country home.

Painting lesson at the house

Honeybee Festival at Norfolk Botanical Gardens

In Norfolk, Virginia we have a wonderful garden and I go there whenever I get a chance. This past Saturday was the annual Honeybee Festival and it was my first time attending. There was a lot of information on bees and beekeeping. There was local honey and beeswax candles for sale plus food and a lot of wandering around the garden. I had to check out the butterfly house and garden. It was hot out there in the full sun! But I saw quite a few butterflies. Taking photos of them is really a challenge since they are very busy in the afternoon.

Plants to attract pollinators for sale

Food!

Bee Info

Can't forget butterflies!

A fritillary in the garden

The star of the show

The maze in the butterfly garden, shaped like a butterfly

The Wind Point Lighthouse

I enjoy stopping at lighthouses whenever I get a chance. There's something romantic about them (I love reading stories of  sea adventures and travels)  This one has been in use since 1880 and assists navigation around Wind Point into Racine Harbor on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. It's 108' tall and is one of the tallest and oldest still serving on the Great Lakes.

The Fog Horn House

A nice view

The Wells Theater Solarplate

Since I like drawing buildings (and art friends were busy making suggestions!), I thought I'd draw and make a solarplate etching of another one that I like in Norfolk. This is the Wells Theater, home of the Virginia Stage Company, a professional theater company. It was built in 1912 (pretty old for us!) and is a great example of Beaux-Art neoclassic architecture. Many of America's leading performers appeared  here in its early days. It has quite a history which I won't got into here but I'm glad  that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
I learn all sorts of things when I do artwork!
When you draw something, you see more! Yikes, the details.
I drew it on glass and exposed it with light onto a light sensitive Solarplate. From the plate, I made a print.