Much to think about today. I recently watched a BBC television documentary about art on the French Riviera featuring artists such as Cezanne, Renoir, Monet, Seurat, Matisse and several others who used the stunning summer light to create beautiful views of Cannes, Antibes, Nice, and many of the other coastal resorts along the Cote d’Azur. On rather dreary November days in the UK it is lovely to look back on some of our recent holidays in the area and recapture from photos some of the lovely spots we visited either in the hills above the coast or along the shoreline in the area. Although I have taken a small sketchbook with me on some visits I would still love one day to actually sit down with some paints and canvas to try and reproduce some of the views on the spot. I have included below a few photos illustrating the extraordinary attraction of these surroundings.
In my attack of nostalgia for holidays past I have also added to the People Gallery a painting I did many years ago of our son sitting asleep in a pushchair on Bournemouth beach. I may have a few other watercolours lying around of various landscapes we have come across which I may decide to feature in the Places Gallery at some stage.
In the meantime, I have been struggling with a small self-portrait to replace the one which is currently on the website. This has been prompted by the new series of Sky Arts “Portrait Artist of the Year” and the ongoing obsession with Rembrandt’s self-portraits mentioned in my October Blog.