A Gallery of Photos: To France to Paint (Again): Vaison-la-Romaine

This is the third in a series of four, inspired by my recent trip back to France. Our local watercolor tour group had such a fine time there last year that half of us (five of us) put our names on this year's list of participants and returned to our base town, Vaison-la-Romaine, in Provence.  As lovely as ever.

Each day we were driven out to different neighboring villages where we set out folding chairs (or sat on stone walls), balancing paints and drawing boards on our laps, always opting for the shady spots since the temperatures reached the low 90's.

When traveling, watercolor materials are quite easy to transport--much better than oils.  You don't need an easel.  You don't need to figure how to carry home not-yet-dry paintings.  You don't need to take paints in tubes.  All watercolor requires is a brush or two, a small travel kit with small pans (as they are called) of paint, a small container for water, and watercolor paper--whether in loose sheets, tablet, or a spiral book.  As well, a light-weight drawing board of a size to fit into one's luggage comes in very handy.  (Mine is not quite 14" x 17.5"  See below.)  Plus some acid-free artist's tape (to tape down the paper) if you so desire along with some loose paper towels to sop up drips.  Of course, a pencil and eraser for quick, light sketches.  To my mind, that's all you need.  The less, the lighter.  And then it's all carry-on-able; none of it needs to go into checked luggage.

All that's really necessary to take

Light-weight drawing clip board

My rendering of the following photo

The Vaison-la-Romaine cathedral's cloisters

My travel journal's quick sketch--a view of Vaison's Roman ruins

Scenes taken during Vaison's weekly market.

Plus other Vaison scenes:

A wider view of the cloisters

I took the above photo during dinner at a local restaurant where, because of our numbers, the tables were set up directly outside the restaurant on the sidewalk.  As I looked up from my dinner, I was struck by the color of the sky, the last vestiges of light before absolute night fell.  I decided this beautiful deep blue was best described as lapis.  It was magical.

A Gallery of Photos: To France to Paint (Again): Abbey Gardens at Fort St-André

This is the second posting of four featuring the photos I took (plus some art work) of both the Avignon area of France as well as the vineyard country around Vaison-la-Romaine.  In other words:  Provence.  This was a 10-day watercolor painting trip in September with a group from our local art school.

The scenes here are all from an excursion to the nearby village of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and the splendid 14th century Fort St-André there where one finds the gardens of a former Benedictine abbey.  The fort and gardens are across the Rhône River from Avignon but close enough to offer good views of each other.  Here, one finds terraces, pergolas, vistas, sarcophagi, steps leading off up to what appears to be an old chapel, water lilies, and various flower beds.  A wonderful place to explore or sit and reflect.  The bus ride from Avignon (on a #5 bus) only takes about fifteen minutes.   (This was my fourth visit.)

View of Fort St-André from Avignon

The old chapel

View back to the Palace of the Popes in Avignon

My friends and I stopped for lunch at a little cafe on the grounds.  I ordered what was billed as a grilled zucchini sandwich on charcoal bread.  And that's just what I got!  It was delicious.

Of course, I took my travel sketch book with me since I take it everywhere.  Here is a quick sketch of the pergola, made just before the shade I was sitting in turned to full sun in what was nearly a 90-degree day.

And these three paintings are from earlier visits--one plein aire and two painted later from photos I took.

View of the fort from the neighboring Carthusian monastery dating from the middle ages

Cypress and olive trees, plein aire

These photos and paintings are my property and may not be reproduced by anyone else.