13, unlucky for some

This week there are 13 around the table, so as is traditional at Les Bassacs, Christopher Malcolm has put in an appearance at the head of the table to bring the numbers up to 14.  He is Hazel's bear and is now probably 80 years old.  As you can see he has suffered rot and damage and has been extensively patched up.  I think that he was a Merrythought bear, but he has lost his label and is entirely bald except for some tufts of mohair on his thighs and in his ears!

Oil Painting with Jeremy le Grice week 2

There can be nothing better than a Sunday afternoon painting in the sun and dappled shade of an olive grove in Provence . . .

la petite ruelle à nuit

Les Bassacs at 22.30 tonight

Early morning St Saturnin

Today the group painted above St Saturnin les Apt, looking down on the village over the pea green reservoir.  During the morning ominous black shadows appeared in the water.  They turned out to be large cat fish basking in the sunny shallows.

Choosing a painting spot isn't always that easy . . .

Yesterday was Murs

As a bit of an escape from the heat down in the valley, Jeremy's group went painting in Murs. We parked under the beautiful ancient oak tree at one end of the village where some people stayed to paint, whilst others wandered into the village itself.

Tragapogon Still Life

 

Goatsbeard

David succeeded in bringing home an intact giant dandelion head.  It is still in one piece after a week, and showing no signs of falling apart.

Oil Painting with Jeremy le Grice

Jeremy on the terrace this lunchtime, already a bit sun-burnt from a morning in Roussillon.  The weather is already hot, with thunderstorms threatening in the evening, but not much rain.  Last year Jeremy's group were rained on for nearly two weeks, which is almost unheard of,  so they deserve a bit of a break this time.

Jeremy's wife, the interior designer Lyn le Grice, is staying at Les Bassacs for Jeremy's two weeks, and is  painting in oils for the first time in a long time.  Yesterday afternoon, she set up a still life study of some beautiful roses in the shady kitchen courtyard.  If the weather stays like this, the group will be out painting every morning while the light is good, and spend the afternoons in the studio, not straying too far from the pool.

After the vernissage . . .

John's palette of colours

Fontaine de Vaucluse

John's beautiful colour palette

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning in Joucas

Bill and John discuss the mornings work

Some of the group stayed in Les Bassacs to finish off work, while John took the rest to Joucas painting this morning.

















The view from the village looking over the valley is always a rewarding subject

The view from Joucas this morning

Stormy sunset

The last 2 evenings have been a bit stormy, with much needed rain coming at nightfall.  Dibbs captured the sunset last night with this dramatic photo of the sun going down over the Montagne de Vaucluse.

Orchid in the hedgerow

I spotted this Lizard orchid in the hedgerow on my way to post my letters.  It has strange long middle lobe to its flower that twists as it grows and looks like a lizard's tongue. 

John's week 14th-21st May

 It was nice to welcome John and Sheila back for the second week of teaching in 2011.  They had a week in their French home which is in the department of the Gard before being blown back to Les Bassacs by the Mistral!

The Mistral lasted three days, it cleared the air of dust and exaggerated the greens in the countryside.  There is a fresh note in the air now, but the temperature is still very pleasant, though the pool temperature has dropped several degrees. For the last few nights we have had a spectacular full moon which David managed to capture last night

Poppies

With three weeks of sunshine behind us the poppies have appeared like a rash across the landscape.  The difference sunshine makes to their strength and number is amazing.

before . . .

and after

European Roller spotted

On our way back from Goult on Thursday lunchtime, an exquisitely beautiful blue bird landed on the road in front of the white minibus.  It had wings the colour of turquoise and a rust-brown body.  Christine Kay, who was in the front with me, speculated that it could be a kingfisher, its colouring was so bright, but it was the size of a Jay.  An extensive search online and in our bird book,  has led me to believe that it was a European Roller Coracias garrulus .

They do breed in Provence, but usually around Les Baux.  This is the first one I have seen here, although in the Vaucluse there are said to be 50-70 couples, and on a map of their distribution in the department they are definitely shown in the Luberon. They are a near-threatened species and relatively rare in Europe, although Southern France has a growing population. It was certainly a breath-taking sight.

Glorious weather

Albany's group has had glorious weather all week, sunny, pleasantly warm and a sky with an occasional wispy cloud.  They have visited Rustrel, a new painting spot, Saignon, Goult and Roussillon amongst other locations.  Here is an impression of their week.

Albany's sketchbook and work desk.

Rustrel & Roussillon

Albany's figure sketches

Albany Wiseman's Watercolour Week

Dibbs welcomes Albany and Maria to Les Bassacs

This is our second week of warm sunny weather and it has brought out all the wild flowers in the hedgerows. 

David's photographs of flowers in the hedgerow between Les Bassacs and St Saturnin les Apt

 Today, on the way back from L'Isle sur la Sorgue, David and I were scouting for a good spot from which to paint Gordes, when I came across a clump of small pink flowers that I had never seen before.  As I knelt down to smell it I realised that it was a beautiful pink wild garlic.  

John's demonstration paintings

Here are some quick watercolour landscape demonstrations that John did for the group this week.




























John was showing how to put on broad simple washes and then how to build up over the top.

Ratatouille

I made a mountain of ratatouille this afternoon for this evening's meal.  It is a dish which should be very simple, and when the balance of flavours are right, it is utterly delicious. 

Today, I used the ratatouille recipe from The Provencal Cookbook by Guy Gedda. This is a great cookbook by a great chef, and anything that I have cooked from it has always turned out incredibly tasty, with a really authentic Provençal flavour.

First week of the season

This is the first week of the Les Bassacs season 2011.

The countryside is lush, verdant and full of wild flowers, the sun is shining and the cicadas are making a few tentative chirps.

Dibbs has come to help us out for a second season and has made the transition into work feel much easier. John Raynes is teaching this week, there are many old friends here and today the group were painting in Saignon . . .