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

Goult and Gordes

Goult is just the loveliest little town.  If you wanted to live in a quintessential French town in Provence this would be the one.  It is small, friendly and oh so cute…it even has it's own windmill.

While in Goult I visited a little antique shop and bought two ceramic flowers of the "capodimonte" variety for my garden.  The shop girl said, "How nice you are buying something for your garden while on vacation." The two pieces of old grape vine came from the vineyards close to Les Bassacs.

Gordes is a great village to visit. The day we were there a giant crane was being disassembled so it took us a while to get into town. They are working on a "6" star hotel…wow! I just loved the sign from the honey shop and the corner stone from a home build in 1826.

Ahh…the flowers of France in the spring!  It is always fun to sketch and paint flowers and the gridded paged worked well for this one.

Robert Bateman 6" x 9" Sketchbook
Pen and Watercolor

Views of Roussillon and Goult

Roussillon is the largest producer of ochre in the world. A lovely village.

Back to Sur le Sorgue for market day.  This page will be added to as it seems a little sparse.

Gould is just the loveliest little village.  A great place to stroll, sketch and let it all soak in.

Lourmarin, Murs and Apt

Finally a few more pages from my sketchbook in France.  Bits and pieces and a little collage over a very out of prospective car in Murs.  6" x 9" Robert Bateman sketchbook with pen and watercolor.

Saint Santurin and Bonnieux

A couple of sketchbook pages from the last couple of days. Having fun exploring new villages and making new friends.  And a Collage page which I think needs more work.

Joucas Vaucluse

Sketchbook page from a little town, Joucas Vaucluce.

 Robert Bateman 6" x 9" sketchbook

 Watercolor and Pen

First day at Les Bassacs

We had a relaxing first day in France.  After breakfast we went to market day and then after lunch I wandered, sketched and settled in.  Managed to get one page done in my 6" x 9" sketchbook.

Market day in L'Isle sur la Sorgue

Last day at Abbondanza

Finished the chestnuts today.

Page done a little at home and a little in town.

Breakfast brioche and cappuccino in Lucca.

A day in Lucca, Italy

Grid page from the gardens in Lucca, Italy.

Page in the works of some chestnuts and leaves.

Sketches from Italy

Today we practiced vignette drawings. The pig weather wave is up the road from here.

Bits from Lerici........

And pieces too!

More from the sea at Lerici

House on the way to Lerici.

On the way back from Lerici.

At the sea side town of Lerici.

Morning in Abbondanza

Kitchen and dining room

Drive up to small house

Side of kitchen house with two bedrooms down on back side

La Selva the main guest house

Sketches from the Museo in Volterra

First days at Abbondanza

Here's a sample of our first few days at Abbondanza in Tuscany Italy.  A little rain but lots of fun!

We worked on contour drawings, painted ceramic plates and have eaten a lot of very good food.

Views of the valley.

Not to mention the cappuccinos!!