Sarah Wimperis is Home

Crillion Le Brave Steps, watercolour



Pots on the Terasse, Gouche, small.




The Rode Home, Gouche, small



The Well, Gouache, small

Vine, Gouche, small

I am home, finally, back in Cornwall after two plane flights, a car journey, night at my mums, to collect the dog, and a long drive down to the heel of Cornwall.  My dear Big Dave has made a lovely meal and I have a large glass of wine.  I miss Provence already and am about to indulge myself with a viewing of Jean de Florette.  Can I be homesick for somewhere already?  On my last full day I got up at 5am and climbed part way up the magical mountain, Mont Ventoux, between ancient crags of white bleached limestone.  I placed my right hand on a rock face and rubbed some red sand around it, time travelled, and while I was travelling a bit of my heart became part of that mountain.
I will post more pictures tomorrow, in the meantime I hope you enjoy some small gouache paintings of a very special part of the world.

Artichoke flowers, St Remy de Provence

Yesterday was a very long day and sketching was confined to lunch at La Maison Jaune - but I've not photographed this as yet.

We left the house just after 7am and Sarah was dropped off at Marseilles airport at 9am. I then drove across the Crau Plain and the Alpilles http://www.beyond.fr/sites/alpilles.html to St Remy de Priovence which has its Market on Wednesday. I visited the Market, took lots of photos of yet more provencal food and flowers, had a lovely lunch (sketch to follow), visited the Van Gogh Museum and then visited St Paul de Mausole, the monastery hospital where Van Gogh sought asylum for a year after he became ill in Arles.

See http://makingamark.blogspot.com/2011/06/van-gogh-and-st-paul-de-mausole.html

Back home by 7.30pm - to review the contents of the fridge which need eating!

This morning I had a minor meltdown as I began to realise the whole of France is taking to the road this weekend as the schools break up on Saturday and their "grand vacancy" starts as mine ends.

After 3-4 hours of phone calls and lots of pouring over my Michelin map and red book I finally got sorted. I almost didn't want to look when I came down to the hotel to post to the blogs. however it seems as if I've picked a good hotel and decent places to eat on Saturday evening and Sunday lunch.

For those who know their wine, I'm planning a trip down the Cote d'Or on Sunday morning and lunch at Gevrey Chambertin.

Late Sunday afternoon

Late Sunday afternoon, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

I've had my eye on the wisteria round the door to the dining room since the beginning of the holiday. Late Sunday afternoon I rose to the challenge.

I think it was the rather interesting shadows cast by the chair which provided the stimulation to "have a go".

there won't be a post tomorrow morning as I'm taking Sarah to the airport at Marseilles for her flight home. She's done some 50+ paintings since she arrived so will have a lot to post when she gets home. The oils are now packed and she's now switched to watercolours.

Tonight we're going back to Vieux Four at Crillon Le Brave.

Tomorrow I'm planning a Van Gogh side trip to Arles http://www.beyond.fr/villages/arles-provence-france.html - where Van Gogh painted Starry Starry Night - and St Remy de Provence http://www.beyond.fr/villages/st-remy-de-provence-france.html where he painted a number of his more famous paintings. I'm going to look to see whether the Van Gogh trail is stilll there at the sanitorium where I first found it 20 years ago.

Then there was one. I'm looking forward to seeing posts from Robyn and Sarah posting again from their own computers.

PS. Julian and Ruth - I've just picked up the new modem from La Poste so you can start to arrange the works.

A work in progress

A work in progress, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

I forgot to take a photo of the two sketches I did yesterday so am posting this photo of the work in progress.

It was a very hot day so we had a rather lazy Sunday sketching and painting on the terrace. This one started as a detailed pen and ink sketch which I always find very meditative. This sketch will be called "a quiet place in Provence" and the subject is a wall which changes colour all through the day.

Today we're going to sketch/paint the hilltop town of Gordes - see http://www.beyond.fr/villages/gordes.html

Crillon Le Brave vista

The view from the Terrace, Hotel Crillon Le Brave, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

This is the view from the terrace of the Hotel Crillon Le Brave. We paid a visit on Thursday for Robyn's "treat" meal out. This was the view from where I sat.

Today Robyn is driving back to her home in Italy.

Sarah is sat next to me in the Hotel Relais de Mont Ventoux - and is up and running with Internet access on her iPad. she's going to see if she can upload images via the photo gene options.

Then we're thinking about going to paint lavender near Sault. However there's a road race we need to avoid - the Optic 2000. I was filling up with diesel at the Lavender Garage in Bedoin this morning with a Ferrari and a Porsche and fit young men in racing gear. I don't seem to be able to get away from young men who like fast cars on this holiday!

we' also looking at and we might be investigating the option to post to

Mont Ventoux and the vines

Mont Ventoux and the vines, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

This is a sketch for a pastel I'm thinking of doing. I've christened my new A3 size Moleskine Sketchbook this week and this is the third sketch in it. It's a big view so it seemed sensible to work out how it worked and what colours a involved before I start thE pastel - which might wait until I get home.

Sarah sends her regards but is unable to post following the thunderstorm. I can only post via my Flickr account and the hotel bar of the Hotel Relais de Ventoux.

Today we discovered that there are road works and we have no water so I had a wash with "wet ones" and am hoping I'm not offending the locals!

Fortunately coloud pencils don't need water.

Today is Robyn's last day and she's getting ready to go home in her lovely new car via all the tunnels and viaducts which connect the South of France to the North of Italy.

Meanwhile Sarah is painting a blue chair and lavender.

Artist at work

Artist at work, a photo by makingamark2 on Flickr.

A slight element of trying to emulate John Singer Sargent painting Claud Monet going on here! you can see preparatory pen and ink sketches on Flickr.

This was done before the massive thunderstorm at 3.30am on Wednesday morning. The first crack of thunder was so loud and so long I thought a plane had crash landed nearby. I've not heard or seen such a major thunderstorm since I was last in tropical latitudes.

Many thanks to Ruth and Julian who are trying to sort out the problems with burned out filters/sockets etc from a barn in Oxfordshire.

in the meantime, I get to access the Internet from the Relais Hotel in Bedoin which has kindly allowed me to use their Internet.