Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
Eurostar Bookings open today
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
John Raynes Chinese Connection
John Raynes, one of our regular tutors, is preparing to publish a book on Sketching for the Chinese market. Some time ago he was approached by the Guangxi Art Publishing House to produce a book about sketching and it is now at an advanced stage.
John's book is being published at a time of growth in painting as a leisure activity in China as economic changes have given people more time to pursue their interests.
John has included many of his drawings and watercolour sketches that he made whilst teaching here at Les Bassacs.
John's book is being published at a time of growth in painting as a leisure activity in China as economic changes have given people more time to pursue their interests.
John has included many of his drawings and watercolour sketches that he made whilst teaching here at Les Bassacs.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Autumn in the Luberon
Like most of Europe we have had a beautiful autumn with fresh sunny days and mild temperatures.
The temperate weather in 2014 meant that trees that usually suffer in the summer heat and drought have had their water supply replenished throughout the growing season and as a result the valley has been dressed in fresh green leaves until the beginning of November. Everywhere you go the ground is littered with an abundance of mushrooms, acorns and chestnuts.
Walking on the high plateau above St Jean de Sault, we came across this beautiful sweet chestnut tree and we filled our pockets with chestnuts. Incredibly, there were poppies in bloom and fields of cut lavender which had re-flowered.
We also came across a field of sage with a faint stripe of lavender growing just next to it; simply glorious colours!
The temperate weather in 2014 meant that trees that usually suffer in the summer heat and drought have had their water supply replenished throughout the growing season and as a result the valley has been dressed in fresh green leaves until the beginning of November. Everywhere you go the ground is littered with an abundance of mushrooms, acorns and chestnuts.
Walking on the high plateau above St Jean de Sault, we came across this beautiful sweet chestnut tree and we filled our pockets with chestnuts. Incredibly, there were poppies in bloom and fields of cut lavender which had re-flowered.
We also came across a field of sage with a faint stripe of lavender growing just next to it; simply glorious colours!
Monday, September 15, 2014
Beautiful September weather
We have had the most beautiful, peaceful sunny weather, the first really settled weather of the summer. Mark Cazalet's two weeks saw temperature's at an ideal 29 C with very little wind. David tried a new picnic venue - Brantes which is situated in a dramatic valley behind Mont Ventoux.
The village perches above the Toulourenc river and is a labyrinth of lanes, archways and stone
built houses.
The group also painted at the Abbaye St Hilaire near Menerbes, a religious site first occupied in 1240 by a community of hermits; Carmelite monks. The abbey fell into private hands after the French revolution and is now owned by René and Anne-Marie Bride who bought it in 1961.
The Abbey became a 'monument historique' in 1975 and is in the process of being restored. It is an intriguing mixture of gothic and romanesque buildings. It proved a beautiful place to paint, with its peaceful garden, cloisters and chapel.
and the Abbaye St Hilaire at Menerbes.
The village perches above the Toulourenc river and is a labyrinth of lanes, archways and stone
built houses.
The group also painted at the Abbaye St Hilaire near Menerbes, a religious site first occupied in 1240 by a community of hermits; Carmelite monks. The abbey fell into private hands after the French revolution and is now owned by René and Anne-Marie Bride who bought it in 1961.
The Abbey became a 'monument historique' in 1975 and is in the process of being restored. It is an intriguing mixture of gothic and romanesque buildings. It proved a beautiful place to paint, with its peaceful garden, cloisters and chapel.
and the Abbaye St Hilaire at Menerbes.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Raise a glass to Jeremy le Grice
The Penwith Gallery in St Ives is holding an exhibition of Jeremy le Grice's unseen work from July 12th-3rd September. Private view Saturday 19th July 2.00-5.00 pm.
Jeremy taught at Les Bassacs from 1990 until illness forced him to retire which he did very reluctantly in 2011. He died 9th August 2012 and is missed, but not forgotten by us all at Les Bassacs.
Jeremy taught at Les Bassacs from 1990 until illness forced him to retire which he did very reluctantly in 2011. He died 9th August 2012 and is missed, but not forgotten by us all at Les Bassacs.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Moon rise at Les Bassacs
We have had a week of the mistral which brought the storm clouds from further north skidding over us at great speed and lowering the temperature. Yesterday evening the wind suddenly dropped, the clouds disappeared and we were treated to a spectacular full moon rising over the Perréal Hill, the site of an ancient fort (200 BC) occupied by the Vulgientes tribe.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Starlings
Congratulations to Jane Revitt, a Les Bassacs regular, who has just completed her flock of starlings land installation 'Swoop' at Blackley in Elland, to commemorate the start of the Tour de France in Yorkshire.
The flowing abstract representation of 560 starlings swooping across the hillside links the dramatic patterns made by the birds in their murmurations, with the movement of the cyclists’ peloton. Jane had a trip in a 2 seater airplane to view her work from above and emailed me this picture. Read more about the installation here.
The tour is passing below Les Bassacs on stage 15 which starts at Tallard in the Alpes de Haute Provence, with a finish opposite the magnificent Nimes Arena on Sunday July 20th. We will try to take some photos, though last time this happened the peloton passed by so quickly it was barely possible to make out the riders in the blur! This time they will be going even faster as they will be going down hill towards La Tuiliere.
The flowing abstract representation of 560 starlings swooping across the hillside links the dramatic patterns made by the birds in their murmurations, with the movement of the cyclists’ peloton. Jane had a trip in a 2 seater airplane to view her work from above and emailed me this picture. Read more about the installation here.
The tour is passing below Les Bassacs on stage 15 which starts at Tallard in the Alpes de Haute Provence, with a finish opposite the magnificent Nimes Arena on Sunday July 20th. We will try to take some photos, though last time this happened the peloton passed by so quickly it was barely possible to make out the riders in the blur! This time they will be going even faster as they will be going down hill towards La Tuiliere.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Christopher Malcolm
Christopher Malcom aged eighty five and a half can often be found at the head of the table when there are an unlucky thirteen. The group from California who are here at the moment were off to visit the San Remy asylum that Van Gogh was detained in after he cut his ear off. Not to be left out, Christopher Malcolm dressed up in a tribute to the great man, with bandaged ear, a palette and a jug full of sunflowers.
After everyone had gone he cut quite a tragic figure, bereft but noble.
After everyone had gone he cut quite a tragic figure, bereft but noble.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Horses at dusk
Two of Olivier Augier's Appaloosa horses are enjoying grazing an abandoned vineyard in the fields between Les Bassacs and Croagnes. David took this photo of them yesterday on a peaceful and calm evening just as dusk was falling.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Mistral
Our first two weeks have been bathed in bright sunshine which has been great for painting en plein air. The strong sun has brought out a profusion of wild flowers, especially poppies. They are really astounding in the intensity and vibrancy of their colour. We stopped on the way back from Goult to admire this incredible field near Roussillon.
The tell-tale signs of the Mistral can be seen in the dramatic sky. Though it is difficult to paint in, and sends us chasing around looking for sheltered painting spots, there are compensations. Known in Provencal as 'mange-fange' or mud eater, the drying affect of the wind is said to bring good health. It clears the air of any pollution and dust particles. It is of course the reason so many have come to paint here; in pursuit of that very particular Provencal light.
The tell-tale signs of the Mistral can be seen in the dramatic sky. Though it is difficult to paint in, and sends us chasing around looking for sheltered painting spots, there are compensations. Known in Provencal as 'mange-fange' or mud eater, the drying affect of the wind is said to bring good health. It clears the air of any pollution and dust particles. It is of course the reason so many have come to paint here; in pursuit of that very particular Provencal light.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Spring
We have had a mild spring but with little rain. It has meant the task of getting the house ready for the summer has been much more enjoyable, in stark contrast to last year's cold spring. Then the fruit and wild flowers were at least 3 weeks late, whereas spring 2014 has seen everything well underway.
Last week we spotted our first Hoopoe. They overwinter in North Africa and head north as the mild air engulfs the Mediterranean. This is an exceptionally early arrival this year. David took this photo of a young Hoopoe who spent a long time sitting on our roof top, observing the cats in the garden below, completely unruffled by their presence. It is a very welcome sight with its colourful and distinctive markings, spotted crest and elegant beak which it uses for digging insects out of the earth. Hoopoe's do make it to the UK occasionally if they overshoot their migration routes, because of this they were recently featured on Tweet of the Day on BBC Radio 4.
Olivier Augier from the organic farm at Les Bassaquets has been preparing the large field immediately below the hameau which was formally fallow. Last autumn they ploughed it up and imported some top soil. In January they sowed wheat and this weekend he was out using his beautiful Appaloosa horse to roll the field. He explained that he was breaking the stems of the wheat to make it grow more shoots from the base.
Last week we spotted our first Hoopoe. They overwinter in North Africa and head north as the mild air engulfs the Mediterranean. This is an exceptionally early arrival this year. David took this photo of a young Hoopoe who spent a long time sitting on our roof top, observing the cats in the garden below, completely unruffled by their presence. It is a very welcome sight with its colourful and distinctive markings, spotted crest and elegant beak which it uses for digging insects out of the earth. Hoopoe's do make it to the UK occasionally if they overshoot their migration routes, because of this they were recently featured on Tweet of the Day on BBC Radio 4.
Olivier Augier from the organic farm at Les Bassaquets has been preparing the large field immediately below the hameau which was formally fallow. Last autumn they ploughed it up and imported some top soil. In January they sowed wheat and this weekend he was out using his beautiful Appaloosa horse to roll the field. He explained that he was breaking the stems of the wheat to make it grow more shoots from the base.
Olivier has started a business taking people on trips around the valley in his calèche drawn by his horses Apanor and Alize. Perhaps one of our groups will give it a go!
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Water, water, everywhere . . .
Like the rest of Europe we have had an exceptionally mild and rainy winter. Any brief ray of sunshine sees us out exploring this unnaturally watery landscape. The streams and rivers, usually parched even at this time of year, have abundant water running through their courses.
This stream below Gordes is the remnant of a much larger river that flowed through the lower slopes of the village powering a flour mill and an olive mill. In the earthquake of 1887 it changed its course to become largely subterranean. This had dire consequences as they were no longer able to harness the water for the shoe manufacturing business which was an important source of income for the village.
This stream below Gordes is the remnant of a much larger river that flowed through the lower slopes of the village powering a flour mill and an olive mill. In the earthquake of 1887 it changed its course to become largely subterranean. This had dire consequences as they were no longer able to harness the water for the shoe manufacturing business which was an important source of income for the village.
The
Calavon, the river that flows under the Pont Julian, has today breached
its banks in the famous 'submersible' car park in Apt leaving many cars
marooned in a swirl of mud. Our walk along its banks led us to this
watery dead end, forcing us to hastily retrace our steps.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Marc Chagall in Gordes
Marc Chagall left Paris in 1940, concerned about his possible arrest as a 'degenerate' by the occupying German troops. Although his work had been popular in Germany, by 1937 the new German leadership had begun to mock his art, describing his paintings as "green, purple, and red Jews shooting out of the earth, fiddling on violins, flying through the air ... representing [an] assault on Western civilization."
Packing up his Paris studio, Chagall took the paintings off their stretchers and piled them into a taxi. The Chagall family initially moved to Saint Dyé-sur-Loire, then in May 1940 they moved to Gordes, at the behest of his friend André Lhote who already had a house there. They bought an old mill in the Fontaine Basse area of the village. All his work was transported there and he continued to paint in the studio at the top of the house.
During the winter of 1940-1941 Chagall resumed work on The Madonna of the Village.
He was very happy in Gordes and remarked " There, in the south of France, for the first time in my life, I saw that rich greenness—the like of which I had never seen in my own country." However, Chagall was not safe from being deported in Gordes. Varian Fry, envoy of the Emergency Rescue Committee in France, who had arrived in Marseille with the intention of rescuing intellectuals persecuted by the Nazis and helping them to escape from Europe, visited Chagall and offered to help him escape to America. Chagall initially refused the invitation, but when the Vichy government began interning Jews, he realised he had no choice
Of meeting Chagall Varian Fry wrote;
“Spent the week-end with the Chagalls at Gordes. We passed two truckloads of German soldiers between Marseille and Aix and not another car all the way. We arrived in time for lunch. Gordes is charming, tumbled down old town on the edge of a vast and peaceful valley. It used to manufacture shoes, but when shoe-making machinery was introduced its craftsmen moved away and most of the town is in ruins. The Chagall’s house is the only one in the immediate neighbourhood which had not fallen in. I can see why they don't want to leave it is an enchanted place. Chagall is a nice child, vain and simple. He likes to talk about his pictures and the world, and he slops around in folded old pants and dark blue shirt. His “studio” contains a big kitchen table, a few wicker chairs, a cheap screen, a coal stove, two easels and his pictures. No chic at all, as chez Matisse.
In April 1941, Marc and his wife Bella left Gordes for Marseille on their way to the United States. They crossed the French-Spanish border by train, then continued onto Lisbon, where they arrived on 11 May. In Lisbon they waited until mid-June to embark for New York. They left their daughter Ida and her husband behind in the house in Gordes giving them the task of arranging the transportation of Chagall's 600 kilos of paintings. Chagall remained in America until after the war when he returned to France. He went to live in Vence on the Cote d'Azur alongside Picasso, Matisse and Braque.
The Chagall family retained the house in Gordes, Marc staying there occasionally with his second wife Vava. Ida and her second husband took the house on, living and working there until Ida eventually sold it to its present occupier whom we met when taking this photograph.
Packing up his Paris studio, Chagall took the paintings off their stretchers and piled them into a taxi. The Chagall family initially moved to Saint Dyé-sur-Loire, then in May 1940 they moved to Gordes, at the behest of his friend André Lhote who already had a house there. They bought an old mill in the Fontaine Basse area of the village. All his work was transported there and he continued to paint in the studio at the top of the house.
 |
| Still Life Gordes 1940 |
During the winter of 1940-1941 Chagall resumed work on The Madonna of the Village.
He was very happy in Gordes and remarked " There, in the south of France, for the first time in my life, I saw that rich greenness—the like of which I had never seen in my own country." However, Chagall was not safe from being deported in Gordes. Varian Fry, envoy of the Emergency Rescue Committee in France, who had arrived in Marseille with the intention of rescuing intellectuals persecuted by the Nazis and helping them to escape from Europe, visited Chagall and offered to help him escape to America. Chagall initially refused the invitation, but when the Vichy government began interning Jews, he realised he had no choice
 |
| Chagall on the steps to his studio |
Of meeting Chagall Varian Fry wrote;
“Spent the week-end with the Chagalls at Gordes. We passed two truckloads of German soldiers between Marseille and Aix and not another car all the way. We arrived in time for lunch. Gordes is charming, tumbled down old town on the edge of a vast and peaceful valley. It used to manufacture shoes, but when shoe-making machinery was introduced its craftsmen moved away and most of the town is in ruins. The Chagall’s house is the only one in the immediate neighbourhood which had not fallen in. I can see why they don't want to leave it is an enchanted place. Chagall is a nice child, vain and simple. He likes to talk about his pictures and the world, and he slops around in folded old pants and dark blue shirt. His “studio” contains a big kitchen table, a few wicker chairs, a cheap screen, a coal stove, two easels and his pictures. No chic at all, as chez Matisse.
 |
| Visit by Varian Fry, Bella and Marc in the garden with Madonna of the village |
In April 1941, Marc and his wife Bella left Gordes for Marseille on their way to the United States. They crossed the French-Spanish border by train, then continued onto Lisbon, where they arrived on 11 May. In Lisbon they waited until mid-June to embark for New York. They left their daughter Ida and her husband behind in the house in Gordes giving them the task of arranging the transportation of Chagall's 600 kilos of paintings. Chagall remained in America until after the war when he returned to France. He went to live in Vence on the Cote d'Azur alongside Picasso, Matisse and Braque.
The Chagall family retained the house in Gordes, Marc staying there occasionally with his second wife Vava. Ida and her second husband took the house on, living and working there until Ida eventually sold it to its present occupier whom we met when taking this photograph.
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