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!