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!
No comments:
Post a Comment