We took a long walk up the hill to the top of Montmarte to visit Sacre-Coeur. A beautiful church, great view. Also lots of shlock along the way up there – t-shirts, fridge magnets, pizza, beer, guitar players singing beatles songs, street musicians by the dozens selling “magic string”. Way too touristy in spots. Reminded me of the wharf at Santa Cruz. But it was a neighborhood we wanted to see since it was just an 30 minute walk from the apartment. The only art I saw for sale was motel room crank em out acrylics. Awful. We’ll see the real thing later in the week.

It was nice and sunny. Sun also predicted for tomorrow as well. We sat out and had two cups of tea (for $12) and ate our own granny bars we brought with us. We did pass the Folies Bergere, next to a bunch of synagoges on Rue de Richer. Also saw the Moulin Rouge, and passed through the red light district with many prostitutes selling their wares.

We are due for rain for awhile starting on Wednesday, and that’s when we’ll head inside to the museums. Now we are heading over the to the Monoprix (supermarket) to do battle with the crowds.

EVERYONE here smokes! The air, even outside, is filled with it. I’m wondering if the rate of cardiovascular disease and lung cancer are higher here than in other places.

So far the French have been quite pleasant, even though I scream tourist with my cowboy felt hat, plastic map and camera. Tres bien!

Had a great walk along Seine and saw all the usual sites… Notredame, Louvre, Tulieries, Ilse de St. Louis, watched ice skating, a giant carousel, break dancing, expat jazz band, and on and on…. + about 20,000 people all sunning themselves. Rebecca had a crepe sucre, made to her specifications and I ate my Atkins bar. She looked very French in her new black suede cap. We walked the whole day. The underground is saved for another day. I mean the sewers of Paris which are ruputed to be tourist worthy (on a cool day!) Took a jillion pics but still can’t post them without more hassle. Maybe I’ll have time for that later. So far all the French people we have met have been fairly kind and courteous to us, speaking English after Rebecca begins in French.

Last night a very engaging young fellow by the name of Philippe visited us at our apartment at 21 Beranger. He helps dwellers who reside there get oriented. So we had an enthusiastic discussion about the washer-dryer combination, French politics, operation of the cable/DVD/TV, early history of the French impressionists, the phone system, nuclear power in France and the problem of radioactive waste and a variety of other arcane subjects too numerous to mention. Philippe came with a top hat and quite fancy wastecoat (vest) which I think he wears as a guide in museums or the opera house or in other venues. Quite a knowledgable and humorous guy with a great personality. He is definitely an asset to those who rent here.

Today we visited the Marais (Jewish Quarter) which was only partially open because it is shabbat. However there was a long line at the falafel place and the delis were very crowded. I took many pics but cannot post them here because the computer in the apartment, while certainly adequate, is quite old with no USB ports for uploading from my camera.

It’s quite cool here, even for us Vermonters. Windy and in the mid 30′s I guess. Not really a problem. We’re about adjusted for the time lag. Looking forward to a bit of art making and viewing in the coming week. What we notice most about the different culture is the diversity (great,) number of folks who smoke (less great,) super food (grand!!,) high prices (because of the value of the dollar).

After getting bumped, losing a day, lost luggage and other unpleasant events, we made it to Paris. Very long two days. Check out Delta complaints online before you get a ticket with them. The flight itself was smooth, but getting on and getting luggage were both difficult. Gotta get some groceries and some sleep.

So it’s finally time to depart and ANOTHER storm of 6 or more inches of ice/snow and sleet is about to hit delaying flights, both departing and connecting.   Just the reason we wanted out of here.  The joys of living in New England.  Will we get out on time?  Flying these days, even in good weather, has become mighty unpleasant as most of you folks know.  Slowly the difficulties mount … charging more for an extra bag or a few extra inches of leg room, no meals, soon to be followed by charges to use the bathroom?  Or maybe just for the TP for a few months, and then to unlock the door later.   TSA takes your water and then the airport sells you a bottle for $3 once you pass security. All that being said, I’m glad they aren’t flying if the weather is bad.  Good to cancel.  But sometimes when flights are cancelled and consolidated, I believe it’s just to save money.  Oh.. Boo.  So the planned post from Paris will be delayed perhaps?  Stay tuned.   In the meantime I’ll draw/paint at home from a photo of a French village.

Am off thinking about a self portrait in my old age and youth, to combine them somehow in a single composition and see what I see in myself that might remain.  Nothing of the physical except perhaps a bit of a pattern, or a ratio of parts.

I’m suggesting you take a look at a review of Tad’s work in 7 Days here.   It’s too short, but that’s all the space reserved for such pieces.   It’s a nice review and worth  taking a look at.  I’m fortunate to have him as a teacher.  I’ve got to get the time and $ to do more, and get off my current plateau.

Above is another (the 3rd) layer on a variation of the Corot painting noted in a post from two days ago. It all happened this morning. In this layer the sky went on first, followed by the foliage. I’ll let this dry and either grind down or continue on top. It looks a lot better in real life than in this image, and I think progress is being made.

Had lunch with Tad Spurgeon Monday and we had a good conversation about many things. The more I interact with him and continue to paint, the more I see how flexible the process of oil painting can be. The back and forth in it are almost as much (or more) as occurs in revising written text to a final polished manuscript. Feeling confident that this process always gives good results (or almost always) is SO helpful in keeping motivated and on track. Applied to any artistic endeavor, it is a wonderful way to create. I hope to illustrate this in with my own paintings in an exhibit at the Catamount Gallery in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, later this year.

Tad is offering classes at the Shelburne Art Center in coming months. For details go to his web site. He’s giving an extended talk and question and answer period on the 9th. I plan to go.

Met with Lorna Peal on Tuesday to discuss our upcoming two day class for teachers on “Writing and Drawing to Learn Across the Curriculum”. This class will focus on a process approach to active learning pedagogy. It will occur on July 7 and 8, and is offered by UVM for one credit ( a total of about 16 hours of work).

This is a series that was done a few months ago. The flower was a fake from the the fake flower store (photo of the set up is at the bottom.) The light was coming from the right, throwing a shadow on the background The drawing was done from life in graphite and white chalk on blue paper before I began the painting.  I did this in order to get involved with the values and the shapes.  The final painting involved at least 10 layers.  Tad gave me a lot of help as it developed.  We had lunch today and a good conversation.

Below is a painting by Corot. I’m beginning a variation of this work with a value sketch on a canvas panel covered with a quick drying wash mixture of yellow ochre with a touch of red earth. I used some Damar medium to get this to quickly dry overnight. I then drew a quick shape sketch in black ink, followed by a quick value painting over this using only red earth mixed with walnut oil and lots of marble dust (see the picture below). I’m mixing the marble dust right into the paint/oil mixture on my glass palette. This will be a complementary warming color in the shadows of the green foiliage. The yellow will mostly disappear in much of the final work, but will appear in many spots as a unifying warm color.  You can see something like it in the original Corot in the earth tone of the land and in the clouds and horizon line.  I’m getting used to many layers going on, one after the other, as edges, shape and value change as the painting develops. Fuzzy/blurry will evolve to more sharp detail where it is needed. I’ll try to post stages, but may not get to the end before travel time arrives. One thing you may notice is that I left out the foreground figure on the path out. I can always put him in later if I want.