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Sketches of a rock garden

I’ve started my garden at Coin Perdu. We are still working on the house, so I am limited to where I can garden for the moment. A rock garden close by the barn we’re living in for the moment works good. It also serves as a little lay in garden where plants can with for their permanent place in the garden. It was hard work, since it is a little grass covered hill that I had to dig out, remove the grass, lay down big bolders, fill with rocks, treat the soil, add compost and all necessary, leave it to settle and then plant some plants.  It still needs work, but for now it is filled with plants loving sun and rocky corners and it has steps that lead up to a little corner on the hill where a bench waits patiently for someone to sit and admire my handiwork…? It is adjacent to the old pigsty, that will soon become my laundry room and the bench will be a welcome repose from all the washing that needs attention on a farm!

The top sketch is of bags with compost and soil and stuff(I don’ t have my own yet!) and some plants from the pepinier(I don’t have my own  hothouse yet!). the second sketch is the rock garden, just competed this morning.

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A sketch from the garden and a walk.

Two sketches from a sketchercise walk by the Loire, where I do my usual thing…sketch with a pencil or pen in watercolor sketchbook and adding a wash at home.

A waterpump in the tiny knotted garden by the Maison de la loire .

The narrow tree lined pathway by the Loire.

And lastly a sketch of my “chicken”  in the garden.

All sketches with pen/pencil in watercolor sketchbook

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Two sketches from Caen, France.

Having the youngest daughter finishing her studies in Caen.., had us renting a truck and taking off in the directionof Caen to empty her apartement and bring it back home. Another chapter finished. She starts in Paris next week for a long “stage” and then we’ll take on another chapter, who knows where.  Always an exciting life when you have kids – it never stops!

Sketch in rotring pen and watercolour in watercolor sketchbook, 15.3x25cm.

When all was packed and we waited for the estate agent to come over for the “etat de lieu” – checking that we didn’t steal the ceiling or the shower etc…I sat on the windowsill of an empty apartment and scribbled a sketch of the building opposite her window, as well as the pigeons of Rue St Martin, trying their best to hide from the pouring rain and the cold. Not much in terms of great sketching, but at least some pen to paper!

sketch in pencil in wartercolor sketchbook, 15,3x25cm.

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Sketchercise walks 27 and 30 March.

We were for a quick weekend at Coin Perdu, starting some work again. but it was raining and we didn’t get alot done. Went for some nice walks though. On my sketchercise walk I took my pen and sketchbook and roughly sketched some dry weeds from last season. The fileds are covered in flowers, especially the bright yellow marigolds, but since it was overcast, they were all closed.

Here are dry Scottish thistlel, some goutweed and young Plantain.

All sketches in pen/pencil and watercolor wash in Sketchercise book, 18x25cm.

This morning on my walk here in Montlouis, the weather was as bad,  if not worse. It is alwasy a few degrees warmer in Correze than it is here. I went for my walk, having a hanglip becasue of the weather. My bones are asking for good spring and summer weather now! I need to be outside now, in nature and in the sun and by the river and bare arms and walking barefoot!

So here are some frustrated sketches from this morning’s walk in un temps de chien(awful , dog weather)!

A daffodil and hyacinth and tulip encountered on my walk, as also an underground water pipe.

A sunny Forsythia in bloom, and a curb and flowerbed near my home.

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Sketchercise walk 22 March.

I’ve started my walking and sketching again. Walking I’ve always done, but now I’ve started taking the sketching stuff along again. I’ve also decided to do it a bit different from now on. The sketches will be very quick. The walking is about exercise firstly after all and stopping too often or for too long breaks my rhythm. On these sketchercise walks I will also only take my sketchercise journal(a lovely watercolour sketchbook, covered in red linen) and a rotring pen or pencil. I don’t want to carry a lot of stuff and I don’t want to fiddle with art supplies. I simply stop and do a sketch while standing, close the book and start walking again. I do a maximum of three sketches and they need to be very quick. Two to three minutes at the very most.

…all sketches done in sketchercise sketchbook, 18x25cm….

The sketches I did this morning were only about two minutes each and only in pencil. I added a wash at home. By making quick notes on the sketch,  it  helps work the memory for when I want to add a splash of colour at home. It works really great.  I achieve a lot…. get good walking in without breaking my rhythm and I get quick “unthinking” , almost blind contour drawing sketches done AND a posting as well! Leaves ample time to get on with the rest of my day and do decent art in the atelier or go out for some good sketching, with decent art supplies.

This is a fallen tree over part of the river which happened with the big storms that passed thr0ugh France about a month ago.

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Sketches from Oslo.

We were in Oslo last week. My first time. I mentioned how much I loved Helsinki, but I fell head over heels for Oslo! It is a lovely city, with beautiful architecture, a warm ambiance, wonderful views, great people…it is wonderful! I can’t wait to go back for a longer and a decent visit.  My next stop will be Greenland!

Time was too pressed to do much, but at least I got to see “the scream”  by Edvard Munch up and close, definitely not one of my favourite paintings. The secret to his work, I think,  is that it should be viewed from a distance. His strokes are sometimes so messy and careless from close by that it bothers and disturbs the eye, but from far, his work has magic and I could even fall for “the vampire“, though I dislike  all kinds of vampire pictures and tales. His dawings and sketches and lithographs also attract me far more than his paintings and there you can really see that he has a swift and sure hand. I especially enjoyed his “Towards the forest” drawings, his alpha and omega series, his “Starry night“, so different from Van gogh. I still can’t really make up my mind whether the art of Edvard Munch “speaks” to me…but Oslo certainly does!

Photos of Oslo can be seen on Salmon-with-a-creamy-herb-sauce-and-a-trip-to-Oslo at Myfrenchkitchen.

All sketches done in pencil and watercolor in watercolor sketchbook.