#55 / Stormy Skies over St Cannat

#55 / Stormy Skies over St Cannat

My better half is the lucky one in our relationship – she doesn’t drive. This inevitably means she sees far more of the everyday beauty which surrounds us (which I equally inevitably miss as she points it out to me a kilometer or two further down the road as the engine flies), from a multi-coloured arrangement of used oil tins in the backwoods of a Cycladic island to a double rainbow over the industrial district on the edge of the river Severn. This time we happened to be sitting in a 30-minute tailback, equating to a kilometer and a half in real-time, desperately trying to collect our son from school before the garderie shut up shop and he was left sitting in a car park, and so I was able to share in the simplicity of the colours and composition: the golden fields, the dark sap green forest of the horizon and the blue, blue sky. Apparently, this is what ‘Black Earth’ Russia, and the northern Black Sea coastal region is like, but unfortunately I have yet to get my visa…

 

#18 / Matryoshki

My son is back to school this week after a two week holiday and this morning we went swimming with three children from our tiny school and thirty from the school in the village, If you've ever seen 'Être et Avoir' you'll have seen what kind of school my son goes to. Having been occupied with the swimming this morning, I had to paint this one after lunch. Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be teaching in the school in the village and will have just enough time (depending on the whims of our internet connection) to paint and post before I head out. 

We have lots of Russian bits and bobs about the house and I’ve always wanted to try to paint one of these Matryoshki. This is my first attempt. I will try again in the future. Next time with a little more success...