Moments and Memories of France

Fancy Chickens were on a table cloth I saw at  Market in Saint Saturin les Apt.  I took a picture of them and then sketched them in my sketchbook.  Of course, by then I had non buyers remorse.  Luckily the next trip to L'Isle sur le Sorgue they were at market and I bought a length.  I also bought the little stone carving.  She is about 6" tall and was so calm and peaceful I just had to add her to my French women collection.

In L'Isle sur la Sorgue our drop off is next to the School of Music so this year I sketched their sign to add to my memories.  There are nice bridges that cross over the canals and I decided to capture part of one of the bridges.

Before coming on the trip I bought everyone in the group a Blessing Bell with a Fluer-de-lis design.

Bonnieux is a very hilly but beautiful little village. We found the rusty old bike hanging on a wall in corner which was quite fun to sketch.  We sat and had a great snack at Le St. André Café where I sketched the Place De La Liberté.  Of course we found the Post Office for our stamp and time for more lavender on the page.

Another collage done with Jackie Long.  I started this one and got a little stuck after the black and color were glued down.  Laura and I had gone to the bakery in Apt for our snack and we each got a bread bag and it was the perfect addition to finish the collage.

Robert Bateman 6" x 9" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

More from Provence……

A few little eye catching things from Menerbes.  Interesting mailbox and door decorations, more lavender and of course a latte with a little biscuit. The frog was an etched design in the glass of a shop front.  I decided to make him very regal in red.
A frog playing a french horn!

The little window with a jug of fresh daisies, which lasted over a week, in the dining room.

The contraption is actually a lavender still which collects the lavender oils. This one was just hanging out in front of a shop in Rousillion.

"Where are we going today" road signs!  They're always a great addition to a travel journal. A new "old" key to add to my collection, ceramic flowers from the cemetery, Latte stain from Café de la Poste,  Jackie had bubbling lemonade, "Pschitt" got to love the name!  In Goult one little house has a great front window which is always decorated in a super fun ways. This time with a small Vespa!

Here is a picture of the beautiful golden Ochre Hills by the mines.  One can always find interesting signage, and another fun mailbox.  The little purple plums were so delicious and quite fun to photograph and sketch.

Robert Bateman 6" x 9" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

A Little Trip to France

My friend, Marj and I took another group to France for two weeks of art fun!  I'm finally taking time to post some of my sketchbook pages.

First day of sketching with Laura outside at Les Bassacs.  We picked a stem of Lavender and got up close to sketch it.

A little windmill and a bit of a stylized grape vine.  Ardi brought a very cute French stamp from home which we each got to use in our sketchbooks.

I sat right down in the dirt between rows of grape vines and sketched this 30 year old vine.

I decided to add the sprig of Lavender every couple of pages to have a Lavender trail through my sketchbook.

This is the first of a couple of collage pages that I did with Jacki Long using collected papers of Provence.



Robert Bateman 6" x 9" sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor