Watercolor Journal Workshop in Santorini

 

We have been so very busy painting, and eating I have had no tine to blog.  Painting sessions are so much fun that no one wants to stop so we paint right up to lunch time.  Then we meet our guides Patrick and Angela in the chosen restaurant along with the fun folks in the oil painting workshop and the photography workshop and lunch takes two hours!  This is the Mediterranean after all, meals are taken slowly and with much wine and visiting.  And Patrick and Angela pick all the best restaurants. 

Then we are back out painting again or hiking around up and down steps taking a jillion photographs for future paintings and first thing you know it is time for wine tasting and then dinner. 

Dinner's too are absolutely delicious and take so long we get home after 10:00pm.  I barely get my photos downloaded into the computer, before falling asleep.  So I apologize for being so slow to update the blog, but we are just having too darn much fun to find the tine to do it!


That is Debbie sitting on the ground painting, Berna with the camera next to me, and I was doing a demo when these friendly folks came up and began watching the demo too.  Pat took the photo.


Pat and Crew painting.  Pat did a really cute little ink and watercolor postcard and gave it to Andre, the owner of the gate she was painting when he brought them water along with his wife's homemade cookies.  Later they got a tour of his lovely home.  He is a retired captain of a cargo ship, spoke great English and told fascinating stories.  Here is another photo with Andre.



Pat and Crew with their new friend Andre.

 

Angela did not want a big lunch so she just ordered a salad.  She was shocked when this mountain of salad arrived!   Meals are a big deal here, literally!



Every evening we meet at some lovely restaurant with a view (check out the end of sunset in the background) for wine before dinner.  Not being a wine drinker I am loving the tall cold glasses off fresh squeezed orange juice they serve here.  That is Debby from Arizona and Berna from Indiana (formally Walnut Creek, California) with me.

 

This was taken near the blue dome church that everyone takes photos of in Oia.  The most sophisticated of the towns on Santorini, not to mention expensive.

 

Our fearless leaders, Patrick and Angela of Toscana Americana, do all the planning and coordinating to make everything run smoothly and make sure everyone has a fabulous time.

My first full day on the island of Santorini

Today was my first day on the island group that we in America call Santorini.  In Greece it is also called Thira.  The island is actually a group of islands that surround a caldera .   Our hotel is in the town of Fira, but I took a local bus north to Oia to explore the town and look for a painting site for my upcoming workshop.  Here are some of my better photos from today's exploration.

Greek Cats

 

The Greeks, at least the ones that live on Hydra anyway, seem to love cats.  They are everywhere, silent, stealthy, they sneak up on diners in the restaurants.  They pick a likely sucker and look up with pleading eyes..  in hopes of a bit of food coming their way.  The waiters chase them away, but they come right back.   So for Susan and the other cat lovers out there, here are my two best cat photos from Hydra.

  

 

Big cat little cat!

A Hydra entry in my Watercolor Journal

Oh I forgot, here is a little painting I did in my journal yesterday.  I did one today too but did not get it finished.  I'll post it when it is finished.

Hydra Greece through the lens of an artist

First let me say, I am not a photographer.  I take photographs  with the eyes of a painter.  I look for scenes I might want to paint, or quirky things that interest me.  I love to paint shadow patterns, so unlike professional photographers who seem to love overcast days, I  love sunny days.  Here are a few of my favorite photos I have taken here on the tiny island of Hydra Greece:

 
Every thing on this island moves by human power or donkeys or
ponies.
 



Here is one thing that has changed since I lived her 40 years ago, there is a vehicle on the island now.  Only one, a garbage truck!  This scene reminded me of the old meets the new, the garbage man is unloading garbage from the donkeys onto his garbage truck.  The truck can only go on the slightly widened old donkey path that goes from Kamini around to Hydra Harbor and then on to the dump around on the side of the island.  All the garbage has to be brought to the truck by donkeys.


This crusty old guy in his row boat seems to be left over from a bygone era.  This photo was actually being directed and staged by a guy with a big video camera on a tripod, I just saw it and jumped up and snapped the photo too.  I can see now I need to photo shop the edge of the guy's tripod out of the right corner.

Retired sea captain?
 

As for what has changed, well in 40 years Hydra is now more affluent as the economy now depends more on tourism and less on fishing.  I was here in 1969 , when the Junta controlled the Greek government and there was no freedom, let alone speech.  Sunday night a politician hit town and made a speech down on the harbor.  About 50 people stood and sat in chairs listening and clapping once in awhile.   And of course there are two ATMs in town one garbage truck, wy-fy and small boutique hotels and satellite TV.  New houses and old ones have been renovated, but all fit the look of Hydra so well you would have to have been here before to know what is new and what is old.

After 40 years I return to Hydra Greece

After 40 years, I returned to Hydra, Greece.  In May of 1969 my friend Christine and I landed here in Hydra to rest a few days.  That was in May, we  left in July of 1969.  While I was here I did a lot of ink drawings, and when money ran low, drew the yachts that came into the harbor and sold them to the owners as their souvenir of their yacht trip to Hydra.  Most rented the yachts, and if I could get 5 marks from the Germans, or 3 pounds from the English, I was in the money.  Hydra town Harbor is the most famous part of this tiny island so here are some shots I took when I arrived.

 
Some things never change, the yachts are still here.
 
From the number of donkeys and ponies waiting to carry the luggage of the tourists getting off my boat, it looks like a lot more tourists come to the island these days.  There are still no cars allowed on Hydra.  The island is too tiny for roads; anyway, where would you drive? 
 
When I lived here most families lived off fishing, some worked in restaurants, small pensions or rented out rooms.  If there were bigger hotels I do not remember them.  I see many more apartment for rent and room for rent signs now.  Looks like this lady has rented a room and is now transporting her guests, luggage for them.

I used to sit on this quay early in the morning before the yacht owners slept off the partying of the night before and draw a yacht.  I still have one of those drawings, its not bad.  I must have had a lot of practice, because I tried it yesterday evening while having a cappuccino at a dock side restaurant and it was hard.  The darn boats move!

Last day in Arles, France

I got behind in posting on this blog due to a lot of photographs being taken, time needed to edit them in Photo Shop and a very slow Internet connection in Arles.  I am now in Greece and trying to catch up.  Here are some photos I took on my last day in Arles and a little painting I did in my journal.  It was a glorious sunshiny day, great for capturing shadow shapes in photos that can become sources for paintings later on.

After spending several hours wandering the tiny neighborhood streets (many not even wide enough for an automobile so perhaps streets is the wrong word) I decided it was time for lunch. 

I went to Forum Square where Van Gogh painted one of his most famous paintings of the cafe at night.  There is a gaggle of cafes in the square now including the one he painted.  It is now called "Cafe Van Gogh" painted yellow and high priced.  It is no longer a good painting subject as there are too many other cafe awnings etc in the way.  In France you own the table until you request the bill, so my plan was to selected a cafe with a view of something to paint.  I chose to paint this cute second story window right above where Van Gogh must have placed his easel to paint his painting.

After I finished my salad I put the plate on the opposite side of my table so I could paint.  A large Japanese tour group walked through the square right next to my table and a lady quickly sat in a chair at the table next to mine and her husband snapped a photo of her pretending to be part of the French cafe scene.  She jumped up and joined the tour group only to be replaced by another wife who's husband snapped her photo, etc. etc..  The kicker was when wife number 4 or 5, sat down then reached over and took my finished salad plate and sat it in front of her as if she had eaten it!

Avignon, Pont du Gard, Arles France

Bill and Sylvia and I have been soaking up the ambience of the Provence region of France.  We are becoming very European in that we are walking and walking and walking.  Glad I brought old comfortable shoes.  We have been doing a lot of photography, but not as much painting.  I have collected many photos like the one below that will make good paintings.   

 

Here is a painting!

In Avignon, Bill and Sylvia went  on a quest to locate a serious cycling shop to purchase European cycling jerseys.  While they trekked to the shop they heard about, I sat in a little square, ordered a cappuccino because when you make a purchase at a European cafe you "own" the table until you ask for the bill.  The tables were empty accept for a few who were lingering over long finished lunches.  

  

Not knowing how much time I had, I chose one single window in the building across the square to paint in my watercolor journal.  The sun shown on the building so I figured it would  not be long before the occupant closed the shutter to block the sun from warming the apartment too much.  I quickly penciled in the main shapes and then mixed a gray and put in the shadow shapes.  Sure enough, a cute little old lady closed the shutter just as I finished the shadows.   But the pencil sketch and shadows gave me all I needed to add the rest of the color and the ink.  

On Tuesday we took the local train to Nimes, and then figured out how to take a local bus to Pont du Gard where these photos were taken.  The bus was a nice bus and cost us less than a euro.

  
Pont du Gard is the largest Roman aqueduct known.  The largest arch is 80 feet across, making it the biggest known to have been built.  Construction began in 38 ad and continued to 52 ad and 1000 men worked on it.  You can walk across it, and there is a lighting system that lights it at night; probably a spectacular scene.  Just to imagine such a feat is difficult.  It was certainly worth the train trip to Nimes and bus ride out in the country to see it.  And now we know how to read the French bus schedules too!

 

Note he cute woven sticks fence to line the path in this National Park.

The people on the aqueduct give you a feeling for its immense size.

Wednesday is market day in Arles, but we awoke to rain.  Oh well, that is why we have rain jackets.  We found the food section most interesting, and purchased a picnic.



Bill buys from the friendly Frenchmen, he has become a fan 0f French bread and patisseries. 





Back in our hotel we waited out the rain painting in the dining room.  Sylvia finished this painting she began in Damme, Belgium.

 

I did this ink drawing in Brugge last week on a cold windy morning.  I began the painting in my watercolor journal in ink thinking that we may end up quitting early and heading somewhere warm, and I could always add the color later if I had a good drawing.   We did quit early, but due to the cloudy sky my photos were not very exciting so I bought a postcard of the same scene taken on a sunny day.  Here is the painting, begun in Brugge and finished in the Hotel l Calendal in Arles using the postcard taken on a sunny day as my color reference. 



When the rain stopped we ventured out in Arles with our cameras looking for the garden in the hospital where Van Gogh was treated after the famous ear incident. 

  

Arles is an ancient town, and the locals work hard to preserve their past while at the same time making the town a nice place to live today.  The Romans built the arena and the ancient theater; both still in use today.   Most of the town seems to show its medieval past however, here are some photos of the medieval ramparts that still encircle the old town. 



A close up of this section of the medieval wall.





This shot is a good example of Arles today, on the left the remnants of the medieval wall, then a modern street with parking and modern apartment buildings and shops on the right.

And inside those old walls people live in charming little homes and apartments that they create in the old medieval buildings.

Exploring Provence France

My Watercolor Workshop with French Escapade in Belgium ended on the 12th of September and my students and I departed in various directions.  Sylvia and Bill Gude and I took the TGV train and headed south to explore Provence France.

 

We spent the night in Avignon, then took the local train to Arles.  I was amazed at the crowded streets and cafes as we walked to our hotel, but when I heard what sounded like cheering coming from the old Roman arena I figured we had arrived during some kind of a festival.  Turns out that day, Sunday, was the third day of the fall festival of Bullgames and real Spanish Bull Fighting.  Bullgames is the French bull fighting tradition where the bull is not killed and competitors (in this case from all the local towns in Provence) each try to be the one to grab a ribbon from the horns of the bull.   Bullgames And the little city of Arles goes craazy!!!!   I shot a video with my new camera of a hilarious drunken French band jamming in a side ally restaurant, but my computer is missing the software to run it, so I can't view it or upload it to my blog.  Darn, it is probably good for a laugh.  Here are a few photos I shot around Arles that beautiful sunny day.



The ancient Roman arena here in Arles where the Bullgames and Spanish Bull Fight took place.  We had no tickets so could not view the games but enjoyed the celebrating outside the arena.  This arena was constructed by the Romans to entertain the people, but  no lions here, just local wild animals like bears and bores.  I find it remarkable that the same area is still used to entertain the people today.

One of the bands in the parade, this one was jazzy!



Spanish Paella was the "special" at almost all the restaurants, and vendors and shops alike were doing brisk business selling bull and bull fighting souvenirs.  Bill noticed a bull carved into the stone on an old building which showed the bull and we assume bull fighting has been popular here for a very long time.



These locals wearing their Sunday church clothes, sit on their favorite bench and watch the celebrators.

 

End of a fun day.

Wrap up French Escapade Watercolor Workshop Belgium

Bonnie's painting of the hotel with Monique's cute car.

OK last evening I goofed when I typed in my blog that Bonnie painted at the hotel when the others painted in Damme. I forgot that Jackie took Bonnie and Bill to see the World War I trenches and museums here in Belgium. Very sobering and they learned things they did not know about that war and the men who fought it and the nurses who helped them.

Now I want to complete my blog about my painting trip to Belgium with French Escapade tour company by posting more of the paintings and drawings my students created. Many are not finished and will get the final touches added at home, but I want their friends and families to see Belgium through their eyes.

First up, Bonnie's work. Bonnie is an early riser, most mornings she had been painting for a couple of hours before the rest of us came down to breakfast. So I have more Bonnie paintings than others, and they are more complete. Bonnie's passion and joy of painting shows in these works.

The bench in the garden at the hotel by Bonnie.

The owners of our hotel are very talented interior decoraters, everywhere you look you see a perfect still life just waiting for painting. Bonnie captured this shelf, even if she did not get it done, its wonderful.

Catherine was our true beginner. She has taken exactly 4 drawing classes and no painting classes prior to this trip, but was drawing constantly. She created a cute watercolor of pots in the garden (her first ever) and a watercolor of the street in Damme, but somehow I did not get photos of them. This is her drawing in pencil of the fountain in the front driveway of the hotel. It is hard to belive she has taken only 4 drawing classes when you view this drawing.

Here is an ink drawing by Catherine, also a first for her. I hope she will continue to draw and paint when she returns home as she clearly enjoys it.

Linda was off to a good start with this painting of the cement sheep, hydrangas and front window of the hotel, but she ran out of time. Hope she completes it when she gets home.

Margaret captured the grey stormy sky and its reflection in the canal in Brugge. We crowned her Queen of Skys.

Here is another of Margaret's grey skys, this one with the bright red sails on the Damme windmill makes for a fun painting.

Sorry about the photo, but this is a light pencil drawing created by Sylvia of the rooster weather vane. The day she drew this the sun was out and it was warm, the next day it flipped the opposite direction with the cold north wind.

Teresa spent two days exploring Brugge on a bicycle, once with Bill and Sylvia and once on her own so she did not paint, but did get some nice drawings done. She did this nice value sketch of the drapery in the corner of the dining room. She also become our waffle and chocolate expert and every group visiting Belgium needs such a specialist in the group!

Bill's creative work is missing from my blog because his medium is video. He worked hard to create videos of all aspects of our trip and you will be able to view them in the future on the website www.frenchescapade.com and on You Tube.

I want to thank my students and Bill for being so much fun to travel with and so good to each other. Like a family they bonded quickly sharing ideas, laughs and chocolate. They rescued one another when a needle and thread was needed, a medical remedy, or a clever idea to solve a packing problem.

And a big thanks to Jackie for her organizing and preplanning efforts which as always paid off with a fun and smooth running trip. Her ability to learn each person's idea of the perfect trip for them and her flexibility to make it work for each one makes her trips very special for all.

Touring Brussels with Jackie of French Escapade

We spent our last full day in Belgium on our Watercolor Workshop organized and led by Jackie of French Escapade. The king was kind enough to extend his vacation making it possible for us to tour his Palace (above) I have never seen so much gold and so many crystal chandeliers in one building in all my life!

There are more Art Nouveau buildings in Brussels than any other city in the world. This one use to be a department store called "Old England" now it houses a fascinating Museum of Musical Instruments.

Jackie with her purchase from the famous Neuhouse Chocolate shop.

The Market Square in Brussels is the town hall and surrounding buildings, most built originally as guild halls. The buildings are magnificent, historically fascinating and the people watching is great.

Painting in the tiny Belgian village of Damme

September 10, 2009 saw 5 of my students choosing to paint again in the tiny village of Damme (home of the windmill we painted the first day). I love this photo because it shows just how friendly small town folk are when they see an artist at work. I have experienced this same reaction in small villages in France, Italy, Bali and in the good old USA.

Teresa chose to take one of the hotel's bicycles and petal into Brugge for a day of exploration, shopping and probably some chocolate tasting. Bonnie chose to stay at our lovely hotel and paint a still life she loves in the dining room, and finish other paintings she did earlier in the week. I'll post some of her paintings later.



Helping Margaret with her painting of the houses on this cute little street.

Here is Margaret's painting. Catherine was painting nearby and did a very difficult drawing of several little houses on this street, but somehow I did not get a photograph of her painting. Maybe Jackie will post it on her blog and I can copy it.

Linda, Sylvia and I found a cute little white house with great shadow shapes across from a little park where we could sit under shade trees. There was a cold wind gusting a lot, so we did not really need the shade.

Here is Sylvia's painting, she is not finished yet, but it is coming along so nicely I wanted to post it anyway.

Linda captured the fun of this scene with her painting.

Sorry I did not get a clear shot of my painting, I am using a new camera on this trip and it appears I need to read the instruction manual more carefully!

Watercolor Artists Traveling in Belgium

Brugge is our destination again today. These buildings date to 13th to 15th century and their step style roofs are typical of this part of Belgium.



Oh dear spell checker is not responding, and I am a terrible proof reader. Same thing happened last night and I misspelled some words in an email. Well I am an artist not a writer, so call it "creative spelling" if I make mistakes tonight too.

Bill, Sylvia and Teresa rented bycicles from the hotel and rode to Brugge, four of us rode in the van to paint in Brugge, and Bonnie stayed at our hotel to paint some beautiful still lifes in the living room. The sun never did come out today, but it did not rain, which would have put a damper on the watercolor painting.

Catherine is the picture of concentration as she focuses on her drawing of an old stone bridge.

Linda also utilizes one of the swan benches as her painting studio.

This is the scene we were painting. It is the old stone bridge that leads to the entrance to the Beguinage where in the 13th century independent women established a colony for unmarried women who did not want to be nuns but at the same time were very religious. The ancient buildings are beautifully maintained today and used by nuns. This scene was difficult to paint; lots of angles, and the grey sky did not provide shadows to help define shapes.

The old buildings here have a very unique architecture and are well maintained. Catherine's radar lead her straight to this chocolate shop (note the sign is in English not Flemish, they know who the big chocolate shoppers are!)

We ducked into this very modern restaurant for hot soup and cappacinos to warm us up. We were not sure why the last supper was on the wall, but we dicided it was an interesting backdrop for a group photo. Best tomoatoe soup I ever had!

I love this view of the canal with the very old houses on the left, but this was taken from atop a very narrow walk bridge, so no place to set up and paint.

It's Tuesday and this is Belgium

We began the day sketching and painting at our beautiful hotel. The day is warm and sunny today, perfect for visiting the beach on the North Sea this afternoon. Teresa is sitting by the pool sketching the solarium dining room.

Bill is the photographer of our group, he is editing photos while his wife Sylvia draws the rooster weather vane above the barbique building. After a yummy lunch we were off to Ostend.

Bonnie stands in another of the world's oceans, this time the North Sea. I have been with her when she waded in the Pacific Ocean on Kauai, and swam in the Indian Ocean off Bali.

Margaret, Bonnie, Me, Teresa, Catherine and Linda, Sylvia and Bill are off exploring somewhere.

Ostend is a resort town these days on the North Sea in Flemish speaking, Flanders Belgium. You can get some idea of the damage that was inflicted on this city in World War Two from this photo. Note the ornate 1800s building in the center with the modern apartment buildings on both sides. Only a handful of these old buildings exist along this stretch of the coast line, all the others are new since the war. Jackie is from southern French speaking Belgium, and her parents liked to come to the North Sea and rent an apartment overlooking the beach just like the apartments we see here for their summer vacations.

You can't beat European beaches for people watching!

Jackie appearing very European in the hat.

Day Two Exploring Brugge

My students and I are on a Watercolor Workshop planned and guided by French Escapade, a company that specializes in small group tours for people who want to really emerse themselves in the culture of the country they are visiting. Scroll down to my previous post to see the lovely country hotel where we are staying and you will get the idea that this is not your typical "if this is Tuesday it must be Belgium tour".



There is so much to see in Brugges Belguim that we decided to spend our first day exploring, photographing and soaking up the ambience in this beautiful city, "The Venice of the North".

The only Micaelangilo statue outside of Italy is here in Brugge. It was commissioned by Sienna, but the people from Brugge paid a higher price, so it came to live Brugge.

Margaret with her lace fan she purchased from a young lace maker who showed us how she creates lace from 72 bobbins. The craft is passed down through the generations, but today's lace shops sell mostly machine made lace to keep the price reasonable for purchase. The young lady had some small doilies for sale that took her 8 hours to make, but because they were small she had to price them at only 8 euros.

A painting everywhere I look.

Bonnie and Catherine after our boat tour, it is very sunny today.



Scenes like this drew us to Belgium for our Watercolor Workshop. Our guide Jackie is from Belgium so we are getting the inside scoop on life in Belgium

Day one exploring Belgium, Damme

My students and I were treated to a tour of the cutest little Flemish village of Damme by our guide Jackie of French Escapade. After lots of photographing, we visited an old flour mill that is restored and now operated by volunteers to teach people how these old mills work. It was amaizing how ingenious the old mill builders were back in the 1800s. Gears, pulleys, levers were used to move the grinding stones, lift the sacks of corn, and lower the sacks of flour. At the end of the mill visit we had a picnic and then set out to paint or sketch the mill. This was a very difficult subject for day one because the sales were spinning all the time, so not only did they move but so would the shadows they made. Most of the day it was cloudy, so no shadows anyway. Here are some photos from today.

This canal leads from Brugge to the North Sea through the village of Damme. People come for the day from Brugge to vist this quaint little village by bicycle using the bike paths along the canal, and by a paddle wheel boat. Of course some came by car, but bicycles seem to be the favorite mode of transprot.

The town hall, built in the 15th century when the North Sea came inland all the way to Damme, so Damme was the port for Brugge, and thus a rich village.

We have Arrived in Belgium

We have arrived in Belgium for our watercolor workshop with tour company French Escapade. Jackie is our guide, painting students are Linda, Margaret, Teresa, Catherine, Bonnie, and Sylvia. Sylvia's husband Bill is a photographer and will be creating a video of our adventure.

I enjoy teaching for French Escapade because in addition to learning painting techniques and have a lot of fun, Jackie makes sure we absorb the culture and learn about the people and their history. Our hotel is not in a big cityWe are on a working farm near a tiny village not far from Bruge. If you are envious of us, you can join me on my next trip with French Escapade in 2011. We have not chosen our destinatiobn for the 2011 trip, so please comment if you have a place you would like to go. In 2010 I will be taking my students to Cortona in Tuscany with a different tour company Toscana/Americana. All my painting trips are small group tours.



Our hotel, has a beautiful sitting room, dining conservatory, pool, sauna and lovely gardens. Jackie and Valery found a wonderful place for their tour groups.

The neighbors; the hotel is on a working farm.

My cute single bedroom, wy-fy, fridge, tv my own bathroom,Iam set.

Sylvia and Bill, she is sketching and he is already editing photos.

Bonnie painting in the lovely glass conservatory where meals are served.

Within an hour of our arrival, Margaret was already painting!