A Painting a Week - No 45

For Sale - 30th April 2010 [SOLD]
Les Paniers du Marché
Size: 21 x 15cm
Price A$90
(postage and handling included)

This week another little bit of French life. Whenever I go to any of the outdoor markets in France, I keep a look out for the stalls selling baskets – they’re always a mass of colour with various types of baskets (panniers) haphazardly strung around the stall, or just heaped on the pavement in piles. They’ve been fascinating me for years now, and finally, I’ve managed a painting (albeit a rather loose one!) of some I came across at the Cahors market.

As I mentioned previously, I will be adding more news to this blogspot about our move to Greece within the next few days, so if you want to know where we're at and what we're doing, stay tuned.

If you're interested in purchasing this painting, please email me at either jackiesinfrance@hotmail.com or jackie@jackiesherwood.com to arrange payment and delivery. Please note that there is now a Currency Converter in both this blog site (scroll down), and my website (http://www.jackiesherwood.com/)

A Painting a Week - No 44

For Sale - 22nd April 2010 [SOLD]
Languedoc Poppies #7
Size: 21 x 15cm
Price A$90
(postage and handling included)

Another little painting of poppies from photos I've taken in our Languedoc region of France. I will be working on some more of this series, and larger, over the next couple of months, so if you're interested, please let me know.

There are poppies flowering here in Greece as well - quite a different red than the French ones, deeper and even more vibrant (as most things in Greece tend to be)! I've previously seen fields of them up in Northern Greece, but down here in the south, there're far too many olive trees to allow for open fields!

I'll be adding more news to this blogspot about our move to Greece, over the next week or so, so stay tuned.

If you're interested in purchasing this painting, please email me at either jackiesinfrance@hotmail.com or jackie@jackiesherwood.com to arrange payment and delivery. Please note that there is now a Currency Converter in both this blog site (scroll down), and my website (http://www.jackiesherwood.com/)

A Painting a Week - No 43

For Sale - 12th April 2010 [SOLD]
Montmartre, Paris
Size: 15 x 21cm
Price A$90
(postage and handling included)

As I said in the email, this week’s painting is another wintery scene, this time from Montmartre, one of my favourite parts of Paris. As well as the ‘artistic flavour’ around the area, with the artists painting outdoors in the famous square at Place du Tertre, I love the steep steps which cut down through the typical Parisian apartment buildings, and the stately rows of trees and lamp posts. Sacre Coeur stands out proudly overlooking the area, and you’re rewarded with glimpses of this magnificent white domed basilica peeking between the buildings.

The area is a mass of narrow streets with shops selling all manner of interesting ‘stuff’ – to the south-east is Boulevard de Magenta with its tiny shops crammed with a strange mixture of mobile phones, various coloured wigs and garish wedding regalia. To the west is Pigalle with the Moulin Rouge and the red light district, which I do admit I didn't venture very far into!

I always enjoy painting snippets of Paris – there’s something about it that calls for me to use a more muted palette than usual, though I guess this shouldn't necessarily be the case in such a colourful city.

If you're interested in purchasing this painting, please email me at either jackiesinfrance@hotmail.com or jackie@jackiesherwood.com to arrange payment and delivery. Please note that there is now a Currency Converter in both this blog site (scroll down), and my website (http://www.jackiesherwood.com/)

A Painting a Week - No 42

For Sale - 6th April 2010 [SOLD]
Avignon Winter Rooftops
Size: 21 x 15cm
Price A$90
(postage and handling included)

Finally, a French winter scene as promised! Its now officially spring here, but as yet very little evidence has appeared in the fields.

I took this photo in Avignon just before we left for Sydney at the end of January. It was a lovely surprise to discover as we arrived there that it had just finished snowing. Needless to say, my camera was busy!

If you're interested in purchasing this painting, please email me at either jackiesinfrance@hotmail.com or jackie@jackiesherwood.com to arrange payment and delivery. Please note that there is now a Currency Converter in both this blog site (scroll down), and my website (http://www.jackiesherwood.com/)

Back in belle france again

Here we are – April 2010 already and we’re back here after a great couple of months in Sydney, with a brief trip to NZ. I can’t believe all that time has gone so quickly. There were so many more people we wanted to see and so much more we wanted to do – but next time for sure.

It is lovely to be back in France again, despite the change in temperature! The day spent in Paris was a stark reminder of how chilly the northern France spring is, and here in the south, after the incredibly cold winter, nothing has quite woken up yet. We’d expected to see plenty of green growth on the grape vines but they are all still lying dormant, though some of the trees are beginning to green up. The almond trees are starting to burst with their pink blossoms - so I’ll be off in search of some for photos and painting.

Its remarkable how difference the light is over here, especially coupled with the flat landscape of rows of vines or rolling hills with the huge skies hovering above. Even whilst the vines are bare, they're a beautiful sight.

My Painting a Week will be back on track very soon – probably a winter scene or two!
The exhibition day in Sydney went really well and it was wonderful to meet those of you who I’d been in touch with via the website – many thanks for coming along.

We only have a couple of weeks here before our drive through to Greece, where we will be setting up base for the foreseeable future. A stint in France is scheduled for September/October, so there will still be plenty of French paintings.

We really enjoyed seeing everyone again and look foward to the next visit and hopefully another exhibition in 2011.