Meet Madame de Pompadour. While resorting our house, our temporary “bathroom corner” in the barn is fairly rough. Think old wagon wheel rim, huge old zinc tub, old wooden ladder for towels, old white linen for a curtain, 2 old wooden doors attached to another for a screen and an old mirror. And Madame Pompadour. She adds a bit of fantasy and romance to an otherwise rustic, country corner. She stands elegantly next to an old long mirror. It befits her.
I came across this funny gadget in the store the other day. It looked interesting so I bought it. At home I tried it out. I read the instructions. It sounded easy enough and harmless. When I stepped onto it, a few numbers started running in a large display window. When I stepped off, the numbers disappeared. I checked the instructions again. Apparently those numbers tell you your weight. I know I am very light. So I started thinking this thing must be broken, cause those numbers didn’t make sense. I took off my shoes, because shoes are heavy which may have explained those numbers. The numbers didn’t move. I stepped off again and took off all my clothes. I know fabric is quite heavy too. Mince! Those darn numbers! This was starting to get tiring; all the stepping on, stepping off-business and my back started hurting from standing and from holding my breath. So I pulled closer a chair. Placed it behind this thing. Made myself comfortable and put my feet on the gadget a foot on either side of the display window. And there you go, it worked! I knew I was light! This is a great gadget! The instructions just have to be corrected. I’ll write a letter.
..Step on , step off..
watercolour and nib pen with J; Herbin ink in Daler Rowney sketchbook, 21X29.7cm
I first considered sketching my seductive love handles in a mirror and I even started, but in fear of having my grotesque image become viral on internet, I thought the better of it. So I stuck to an ordinary door handle. On the stable door. Our 2 year old filly loves this handle and discovered that it is a great scratching tool for her nozzle and head and everything which can reach so far. She also discovered that she can open it. She fits her nose right under the latch and with a quick swift she lifts and pushes at the same time, making the door swing backwards. And then of course she just casually steps out as if this is normal everyday routine and hits the road. Fortunately the door has swollen now from all the rain and gets stuck at the bottom. She couldn’t yet figure that one out. To her utter dismay, I might add.
..Dumêla and the stable door handle..
watercolour and nib pen and J. Herbin inks in Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook, 22.9×15.2 cm
à demain avec “something with an interesting label”.
Ronelle
Whenever we receive one of these official “Republique Francaise” envelopes, proudly printed with la Liberté Egalité Fraternité, my stomach turns a knot. Even though I love la Republique and la liberté it stands for! But these envelopes always mean trouble. Or most of the time at least. It is either taxes coming your way…and who doesn’t hate/fear those? Or it is something you did which you shouldn’t have done. Like speeding or some other infraction. And so we received one of these proud, but dreaded envelopes a while back. In its usual, very formal and polite but nonetheless slighly accusing tone, it stated that the driver of the vehicle.. bla bla bla….bla bla bla.. ran a red light. That of course meant mon chéri. I started on my tantrum, throwing my hands up at this obscene amount we now have to pay and en plus...lose 4 points on the driving permit for a whole year! Zut!! I, being perfect and all, started lecturing mon chéri about responsible driving, paying attention to the signs and manners of the road. Until he frowned and pointed to the date. Zut!! He was in the States on that date! It meant he was far from that red light. It meant that I was the one who ran this red light. But that is of course impossible. I mean, really… being perfect and all, me? Oh c’mon….impossible!
..envelopes..
nib pen and J. Herbin inks in Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook, 22.9×15.2 cm
à demain avec “something with a handle”
Ronelle
Urgh, curtains. Those lovely, but awful things we hang in our homes to dress our windows. Beautiful to look at, awful to maintain. They gather dust, their hooks and ties break, they get stuck after after many openings and closings, they fade like I do with age, they have to be taken down to be cleaned, they knock over every thing in a home like mine where a closed window doesn’t exist…need I go on? But nonetheless, me too, I have some curtains. While we live in the barn , restoring our home here at Coin Perdu, I have curtains serving as little closets under the wash basin, hiding those pipes and other uglies. Old kitchen towels bought at the brocantes serve as little curtains everywhere. They can be washed and rehung in a jiff, they are pretty, cost next to nothing and serve as playground for the cats. They suit me just fine, these miniature versions of a curtain. I’ll probably just move them over to the house later….along with the make-do bathroom sink which is concocted from an old wooden ladder lying around when we moved in. Our lives get simpler and simpler.
..curtain..
watercolor and dip pen with nib in Daler Rowney sketchbook, 21X29.7 cm
until tomorrow
Ronelle
“A favorite food,” says the list of the art group EDM for this month of May.. Only one favorite food? That is a huge punishment! I can draw a favorite food for a whole month and even beyond. How then to choose between all my wonderful favorite fruits, the colourful vegetables, the meat…(yes, you Greenies, I love my meat!) And then there are fish and shellfish and how about a slice of cake? Or a cookie. And dessert. I never skip dessert. I won’t even mention chocolate and that first cup of coffee in the morning. Only one favorite food?
However, I can sometimes play by the rules and this time seems appropriate enough to do so. So one favorite food it is. I confess my weakness for macarons. Those beautiful, sensual, romantic and utterly delicious delicacies our patisserie in Beaulieu so shamelessly flaunts in the display window. By just looking in my eyes, they know I am there for a box of macarons. Yellows and purples and pinks and reds which vary between red fruits and blueberry and strawberry and lemon and vanilla, chocolate, coffee, caramel and my big favorite, that green one, the pistache. I love them all. I leave the patisserie on an euphoric cloud and with my precious macarons gently tucked next to each other in a quaint box and artfully tied with a pink ribbon. All that is left now, is to nail this sketch, so I can retire with my box of macarons to my favorite chair in my favorite corner…..sigh. I rest my case.
..macarons..
watercolor and dip pen with Sennelier indigo ink in S&B alpha sketchbook, 22.9×15.2cm
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I can totally understand why there are nutcases walking around hugging each tree they come across. sometimes I am one of them. Cause a tree is not just a tree. It is a friend, it stirs our emotion, it is a refuge, that safe place under/or in its branches where we hide from all that scorches us..the sun, the world. The olive tree is all of that for me. I do hug my olive trees and talk to them, touch them, stroke them, care for them, love them. They make me think of sunshine and heat. They makes me hear the cigales. They bring me the scent of lavender and wild herbs in the fields and I see colourful vegetables drizzled with the golden oil from its olives, glistening with crystals of fleur de sel. That is my olive tree.
..olive tree..
watercolor and Prera pilot fountain pen in S&B epsilon sketchbook, 14×21.6 cm
à demain
Ronelle
Africantapestry 