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EDM-art 12 & 13: Steps and latest purchase.

I visited our children in Toulouse this week. La villa rose, it is called, because of the typical red brick of the architecture. The fountains, quite different to those in Paris, have a charm that entices you to sit on the steps and eat your sandwich. Or watch the people go by. Or sit opposite the fountain and watch the people sitting on the steps. Life is always interesting around a fountain.

..la fontaine a la place de la Trinité.

watercolor and dip pen with Sennelier ink in S&B sketchbook

escalier fontaine0001

..coffee tables next to la fontaine on place de la Trinité..

watercolor and dip pen with Sennelier ink in S&B sketchbook

coffeetables0001Opposite the fountain is a tiny shop with  the very appropriate name, La Fontaine De Boulou. This is where I spoiled myself with something summery…a large necklace and an even larger ring; I love large jewellery and since I don’t have loads of jewellery I figured it was time for a splurge.  These 2 pieces are from the createur Parisien, Dominique Denaive who makes gorgeous  jewellery. Now I am waiting for the occasion to wear them…” Mon cheri, will you take me to dinner?…”

..necklace & ring Dominique Denaive..

watercolor and dip pen with Sennelier ink in S&B sketchbook

bijoux

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EDM-art 10: Turn it on, turnit off.

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

scale

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EDM-art 9: An interesting label.

I find labels fascinating. So much so that you will often find me in the alcohol section of the supermarket. That is where the most interesting labels are to be found. I don’t even drink alcohol, except for my glass of red wine in winter or rosé wine in summer and champagne when I feel chic. I can spend a whole morning in  the alcohol aisle scanning top to bottom, browsing the beautiful bottles and the labels, like you would books in a bookstore and yes, I do sometimes succumb to buying a bottle of “I don’t know what‘ just because of the label. Especially the beer bottles. The labels are fantastic! When I am asked to buy beer, I always choose the bottles with the prettiest label, irrespective of instructions as to which brand I should buy. After all, isn’t it good to test new grounds?Then it turns out at home to be the most awful beer.  As if I care, I don’t drink it! Now I am not asked to buy beer any more.

..2014 Mille et une pierre rosé wine from our area..

watercolour and J. Herbin inks in Daler rowney sketchbook, 21X29.7 cm

label on rose winesee you tomorrow with the theme…something you can turn on/off..

Ronelle

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EDM art 7: Envelopes.

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

envelopesà demain avec “something with a handle”

Ronelle

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EDM art 6: Bristles

Some time during my school years I read a book on Frans Laarmans, an office clerk who decided to quit his job and start his own company. Full of optimism he started planning; his office equipment, all the tools he needed such as printing paper, letter heads, pens, everything he thought a successful busniness should have in his office. He was so frantically busy setting up all that office, that he never got around to what is really important, his business. This book made such an impression on me. So when I walk into an art store, picking up another watercolour brush or oil brush, or pen, I stop and ask myself…do I need it? Will it really turn me into the legendary artist of the 21st century?  Well, you all know THAT answer, because we are all at some time or another a Frans Laarmans, acquiring  one art tool after the other.In the end it comes down not to the amount of bristles you have, but to doing what needs to be done. But maybe…just maybe that Kolinksy brush in the art store will make my art soar…

..bristles on an art table..

watercolour and dip pen with ink in Daler rowney skatchbook, 21X29.7 cm

bristles-brushesà demain

Ronelle

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Every day in May – (1)a favorite food and (2)a tree.

“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

macarons0003

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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

olivier0001

à demain

Ronelle