Le Vieux Couvent- Frayssinet, France

Le Vieux Couvent- Where Artists Come to Play (and enjoy good food!)

Le Vieux Couvent welcomes all artists

Walk in the gates and expect to be transported... immediately you have a sense of walking into a "Secret Garden".  Every corner is seemingly composed as if to be painted or photographed.  Corinne Campbell and her partner Bill Boychuk, have transformed a compound of historic houses within the small French village of Frayssinet, and formed an artists' retreat.   

This lovely place was conceived as a destination for artists by the warm and welcoming hostess Corrinne. Her husband Bill, and their son also help to manage things. A small and friendly staff helps cook and clean.  

Le Vieux Couvent gardens

Check out a few of my photos from the grounds...Don't you see a potential painting in every one!

Le Vieux Couvent lilies

And have I mentioned the food??  With greens often picked fresh from the garden, Corinne has a mediterranean slant on her French cuisine.  Our breakfast was included each day, with lunch prepared for us most days.  

Prosciutto and Melon with Port wine reduction

The food at Le Vieux Couvent is beautiful and delicious

The bridge at Cahors
The staff even prepared a classic picnic with linens and wine for our market day.  Our picnic was on the shore of the river in Cahors.  Such fun! 

Enjoying a picnic on the riverbank after a morning at the market.

At 6PM we always enjoyed aperitifs to accompany our critique of paintings from the day.  Somehow we were always ready!

Joel arrives with our aperitifs as the bells in the church chime 6PM

Our celebration supper- isn't it beautiful?!

  

Lunch and dinners were always inclusive of local wines.  And I have to mention the French cheese course and dessert.  Yummmmm! 

The cheese course is a regular part of ending our meals...just before dessert!

We actually do more than just eat here too...The art studio is spacious and well lit for artists to set up and leave their materials at their work tables. The room is great for both daytime and nighttime painting (important for night-owls like me!) They also have portable chairs to take with you on location, as well as extra umbrellas and boards for use as supports.  There are lots of large tables, a heater and a sink in the studio.   It makes working in the studio very comfortable.  The extra supplies can lighten your packing requirements too.  

Located in the village of Frayssinet, Le Vieux Couvent is well located for day-trips to many beautiful and authentic French villages in their region of the Dordogne.  This time of year, the poppies are beginning to blossom, but we did not see fields full of them.  However, the iris and jacaranda trees are in their full glory.   Enjoy these photos and let me know if you are interested in joining me for a future trip to Le Vieux Couvent!  I can't wait to return...

These flowers are from "the neighbors garden" at Le Vieux Couvent.  If you're  lucky, your group will get an invitation to take a tour!

Let me hear from you! I read every comment and it means a lot to know you are out there reading.


Rebecca Zdybel
Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor
Art Lessons in all media
Myrtle Beach, SC
rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share any of this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

"Like" my facebook page: Rebecca Zdybel- Artist
Join me on Google+ Rebecca Zdybel Google+ Profile

Carcassone, France

Using Toulouse as my base of operations, I rented a car and drove to a couple of different places.  Carcassonne, is an impressively intact fortified medieval city. It is beautiful to look at and I thought it might be fun to see in person.  I was thinking about setting up from a distance, and trying to paint or draw the exterior fortifications.


I rented a small car, and without consulting me, I was given a stick-shift vehicle.  Thankfully that was  not a problem for me.  I did request a GPS, and that was a life-saver.  The roads were well marked, but I would probably not have been as successful navigating aroundp the countryside on my own unless I had the GPS.  If I had a companion to help me navigate, it may have been possible to get by without it.

According to maps, Carcassonne was about 60 miles (90 km) and so that seemed about an hour from Toulouse.  If you go by car, follow the signs from City Center of the Lower City to 'Le Cite'.  That seems to be the designation they give to the castle area.  I took the "scenic route" on the way there (the one without toll roads), and it was not worth the need to stop and go.  I'd definitely opt to drive the toll road both ways next time.  The scenery was actually better from the toll road.  The took about an hour on the toll road.


I went despite what I'd read on Rick Steve's website. The reviews were not great, and in the end, they were right.  Though it was impressive and majestic to see, it was not at all authentic.  Really, it was pretty much a tourist trap...but, nonetheless, I'm glad I saw it.  If you go, don't plan to spend a long time. A walk through is fine.  The church has pretty stained glass inside, should you want to take a look.  The wind can be VERY strong, as it gets channeled through gaps in the walls.  Plan on wearing an extra layer if it's at all cold.  All in all, it's a beautiful to look at, but lacks soul.  Not a place to hang out.  The wind was so intense, I decided to draw it another time.

Cassoulet is the specialty of every dining establishment. I might eat elsewhere or even bring a picnic, since you can get into Le Cite' for free.

 This is the double wall around the city.  This space between the two walls used to have a moat in between the walls!

If this city were to be attacked, you'd definitely need to plan on starving them out, because there would be no way too break through these walls and moats.  

Though my trip was not as I'd expected it to be, I was happy I went.  Ironically, the hardest part of the trip was figuring out how to get out of the parking garage! It's funny how stupid you can feel when you can't process the words in front of you.  

On the way back, I stopped at Le Grand Round in Toulouse and enjoyed a park, Boulingrin. Beautiful on a weekend afternoon...with Toulouse natives enjoying the sunshine and the gardens there.  I happily painted a little sketch there where I had some sunshine and very little breeze.  All in all a great day.

Here's some photos from the park, and a little sketch from my afternoon spent there...

Let me hear from you! I read every comment and it means a lot to know you are out there reading.



Rebecca Zdybel
Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor
Art Lessons in all media
Myrtle Beach, SC
rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share any of this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

"Like" my facebook page: Rebecca Zdybel- Artist
Join me on Google+ Rebecca Zdybel Google+ 

Albi France- Visit to the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Museum

The town of Albi is an adorable place to go in France.  It is approximately an hour drive from Toulouse.  I went on both the toll roads and the "non-toll road route".  The scenery is not better along the slow roads, so definitely take the highway.  It's about 1.5 Euros, so not much money.

Once you get there, you'll find a quaint and beautiful town which has an impressive cathedral.  Albi was home to Henri Toulouse-Loutrec and his family. It is now the home of the museum which bears his name and houses much of his work.  I am really glad I made the trip.  Parking is easy, and the metered lots near the museum are simple to negotiate with a few coins.  I stayed about 2.5 hoursin the museum, and probably spent more time than most people would need to spend to see the entire collection.


You may not know that his parents were titled and wealthy first cousins who married and had two children.  Henri's sibling died young and it left him as an only child.  Henri had a congenital abnormality which caused him to be at risk for fractures and have brittle bones.  He broke two major bones as a child which left the bones stunted, and caused him to be shorter than normal. He had a problem with drinking and was confined to an asylum for a time.  Upon his release, his parents hired a cousin to be his sober companion and to keep him out of trouble for the family.

 Henri was educated as an artist, and painted in oil, as well as other mediums. He drew as a child, and continued as his career progressed.  I was not aware how many horses he painted, unitil visiting the museum.  He also evolved as an artist and ended up concentrating on portraits.  As a post-impressionist painter, the rebellion of catering to the French Salon had already occurred with the likes of Monet and Manet.  Lautrec lived as a Bohemian and painted among the working class, bar room crowds of Monte Martre in Paris...ptobably painting in the same environment in which he was drinking...


Two things really struck me after viewing this collection:
1. Though Toulouse de Lautrec painted women of ill repute- he did so with respect.  He portrayed them as wormen and as people.  Unlike Picasso and his drawings and representations of wormen (which were almost pornographic in my opinion). Lautrec's paintings and drawings were not nasty in any way.  In fact, they were often sensitive.
2.  Contour drawing was the basis for much of his work, especially in the later years when he produced so many prints and lithographs for the clubs and entertainers who were his patrons.  These are his most famous and reproduced works .  Contour drawing is simply rendering the edges of your subject.  Lautrec ususally did this with bold line work and then painted flat areas of color.  Words were also a large part of the design.

Here's an Idea for you Artists out there :

I've been encouraging my students to think about using contour drawing as a basis for their paintings.  If you haven't tried it, think about doing a simple drawing with a continuous line.  Pick up the pencil (but I'd recommend pen) and try to keep your eyes on your subject.  Look only when you need to, and try to look at your subject more than 80 percent of the time.  You will find that if you draw what you see, and not what you "think" is there, you will come up with some surpisingly cool drawings. This painting began with a contour pen sketch...some flat areas of color and some words, and as they say here in France, "Voila!"


If you wast to paint like Toulouse Le Trec...think about doing a contour drawing,using flat areas of color and perhaps adding words to your painting..


Here's a quick sketch from my sketchbook that might illustrate the idea with my version of Toulouse Lautrec's dancing girls. .  Give this technique a try- You might like it!
 

The Best Restaurant in Toulouse- Fil a la une

Toulose is a hip little town.  It's old, beautiful, and not touristy.  People are lively and friendly, but reserved in typical French style.  A lovely river runs through it and the architecture is old world, but more Napoleonic than medieval...kind of like Paris.  There are lots of restaurants and young people, due to the universities here.  You see a lot of people smoking "roll your own" and generally acting the hipster, but it provides some local 'color".

It's a pretty town.  I like the occasional fountain in the plazas and spent some time painting the statues, fountains, and ornate lamp-posts in the Boulingrin today.  It's a lovely park in the middle of Le Grand Round (a bigger than average roundabout in the City Center).

Best Restaurant in Toulouse! La Fil a la Lune-


This is my new little favorite place to have a bite of dinner and some great wine in Toulouse, France.  Reservations are a good idea, since they are incredibly busy.  phone # 05 62 26 27 14.  Address: 8 Place du Pont Neuf 31000 Toulouse.  Located on the corner of Place Esquirol and Place du Pont Neuf...right at the bridge.

Stroll along the riverfront park at sunset and then make your way to dinner.

Coming here by myself, they have made me feel very welcome every time I enter the door...even special.  Almost like my own version of French "Cheers". And there's plenty to keep me occupied once I take a seat, with lots to watch while sitting here eating dinner.  The owner, Gilles, is an animated and friendly guy who speaks a bit of English.  This has been helpful, as people are not generally fluent in English in Toulouse.  Gilles is a hard working owner, and runs around making everyone happy...occasionally even pounding a bottle down on a table and encouraging everyone to take a shot-on the house!  No wonder so many customers seem happy.

But in reality, it's the food! Not only is it good to eat, but every plate looks beautiful.  I am left wanting to take photos of each dish that passes by me.  The crowd is young to middle age, but I'm pushing the top end of middle age.  Lots of smiles and good vibrations.  Steaks and burgers are the staple fare, and the papas fritte are to die for!  I had the steak...very tasty. They make their own delicious fois gras and serve it on cool slabs of black slate.  Ask for the white wine they actually use to make it, and experience the perfect wine pairing.  In addition, the salads are gargantuan and gorgeous! On this, my third night in a row, I am determined to try one of those lovely salads- 13-14 Euros, but so much food!  Huge burgers from 12-25 euros and steaks are similarly reasonable.Bottles of wine are from 20-30 Euros,and glasses from 3.50 to 6.50.  Great prices for the quality.

One suggestion- Try to avoid sitting on or near the front veranda, unless you are not bothered by cigarette smoke.  (That's one thing about France...so many people smoke in public spaces here.)

Hotel Pere Leon- Quiet and nice staff.  I got a double room and had nice light and space to paint when the day was rainy.  The shower and facilities were clean and modern.  I felt safe on the street at night and there was a safe in the room.  I would not necessarily have breakfast there.  The coffee (a BIG part of my day) was very mediocre.  There seems to be an unfortunate trend inn some of the places I visited where they are using push button coffee dispensers- YUCK.  It tastes plastic.  There were many coffee shops and Patisseries in the area, and I would suggest planning on those in the morning.

If you go, tell them I sent you and have a nice glass of AOC Crozes Hermitages for me!

Toulouse France- a Beautiful City and a New Painting!

I've been enjoying wandering the streets of Toulouse and have a few shots to share with you...

Look at the beautiful light!

This one is screaming to be painted!

Here is a shot I liked a lot.  The light is not so good, but even a so-so photo can make a fun painting. 

Watch how it happens...

I did a little pen sketch...for this one I used a staedtler sepia permanent marker which I like a lot..

Once the drawing was complete, then I put a 

little watercolor on it

As we say here in France, "Voila!"  

I just love painting where I am visiting...

Pen and wash- If you haven't tried it, what are you waiting for?

Tomorrow...Albi and the Toulouse LeTrec Museum.  I'll need to figure out how to get out of the parking structure, drive there, and find my way.  I have a TomTom GPS- so I'm pretty confident I can get there.  Wish me luck!

Let me hear from you! I read every comment and it means a lot to know you are out there reading along with me.
Rebecca Zdybel
Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor
Art Lessons in all media
Myrtle Beach, SC
rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share any of this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

"Like" my facebook page: Rebecca Zdybel- Artist
Join me on Google+ Rebecca Zdybel Google+ Profile

Murphy's Law (and Clues About Murphy's Identity) Revealed

Murphy's Law reveals- I'm a lug-nut short of a full set...

Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong, it will.  

I'm a positive thinker. I haven't really believed in Murphy's wisdom, after all:

WHO IS HE ANYWAY?  

Whoever he is, he must relish the opportunity people like me provide. It just gives him the chance to show off and rub my nose in my non-belief.  Honestly, I think "he" is a "she",  cause in my opinion she's a bitch!

Listen to her..."So you think you can ignore my law, eh?" (Hey, maybe she's Canadian too?)

You've heard the expression- a few cards short of a full deck?  Well, after a day of crazy catastrophes I have that one beat.  Murphy decide to show me a thing or two today, and as a result, I've been informed by a professional that I'm "a lug-nut short of a full set".  What's a full set?

For those of you who don't know, a standard wheel has 5 lug-nuts. I was once like you...blissful in my ignorance, but all that's changed...

Today was going to be great.  It's the first day of my "super-extravagant-gift-to-self-adventure-of-a-lifetime-European-painting-trip".  You ask," Hasn't she done this before?".  Well, as a matter of fact, yes.  But this time it's different.  This time I'll be gone for almost a month and visiting 2 different countries with two different groups. We will be in Dordogne, France and Southern Spain (God willing and the creek don't rise).  After today, I am knocking wood and invoking every good luck turn of phrase I can think of so as not to jinx myself.

I have spent the last 5 days singularly focused on organizing my trip: planning ahead, packing, reserving, sorting, bagging, rolling...basically operating under the assumption that with more planning comes more control...right?  My hope being,that catastrophe can be better avoided if I've prepared well. Can you already hear Mrs. Murphy?  "Mmmmmhmmm, rightie-o..." (yup, defintely Canadian.)

 I woke up this morning feeling ready...everything was done and I was thinking positively that this day would go well.  I was done with planning and just needed to load and go, or so I thought.

I had to clean up my studio, deliver paintings to Seacoast Gallery for my display there, and then get to the airport.  The studio clean-up went smoothly, I washed and used a lot of water to clean all my palettes, and make it tidy to await my return.

Feeling good about myself, I headed downstairs to the main floor and heard noise on the way...water dripping noise...which led to the discovery of an overhead flood raining down from the ceiling underneath my studio!  I dropped everything and ran for towels and a bucket.  Really?!!  Today?!!  Something was obviously leaking, but on today of all days?!  I didn't need this.  The bucket and the towels at least dealt with the immediate problem.  I called my sweet hubby, put him on notice to take care of getting it repaired,  Problem dealt with...I moved on.   I'm a positive thinker, remember?

2 ½ hours till my ride to the airport.

Next up: delivery of paintings to the gallery.  I did not want to leave this to the last minute, but today was the soonest I could hang my work for a new display.  Six paintings needed to be transported, labeled, inventoried, priced and hung on the wall. For those of you who don't know it, displaying your artwork is hard work!

Time was tight, so Mrs. Murphy took the wheel.  I missed my exit on the highway and that mistake turned my 25 minute drive into 45 minutes. I took some deep breaths and tried to stay focused.  As I pulled up to the gallery, I drove into a parallel parking spot...ok, I admit it was not my best parking job. In the process, I bumped the curb with my tire and heard a huge bang...I had blown a gaping hole in my tire right there in front of a bunch of spectators!  Really?!  Today of all days?.  My deep breathing turned into something resembling Lamaze, and I felt myself break into a sweat.

1 Hour 30 minutes till airport time.

I am such a girl. I have no idea how to change my tire, but I do have AAA .  Forever to be known as "the best $75 dollars I've ever spent."  While on the phone with AAA, I received an offer from a very nice guy to help me change the tire.  Since I was pressed for time, I took him up on it.  My knight in shining armor was actually wearing khaki pants.  He was nice guy...an artist...who was very willing and seemed confident.  Certainly he would be my champion in the battle with Mrs. Murphy!

Our first step: finding the spare tire.  This was surprisingly difficult and might have been my first clue.  After unloading the whole truck, all 6 paintings, and 3  suitcases to the curb, we still couldn't find it.  Finally I looked under the back bumper. Voila! (I'm practicing my French here...) There it was! Our 2nd task: Finding the jack and lug wrench (yes, I now know the difference). The mystery of the lug-wrench wasn't solved for another 5 minutes, and believe me I was counting the minutes!

Once we removed a cup holder the mystery was solved, but our 3rd task remained: releasing the tire from under the car.  Somehow that tire was secured underneath the car...Sir Lancelot wanted to use the lug wrench to unscrew something and proceeded to insert it into an opening next to my trailer hitch...WROnG!!!  Sparks flew! Electrical noises ensued, and my knight just about lit up like a Christmas tree!  I could imagine his heart stopping and needing CPR due to electrocution... it was about this time that I decided we might want to leave this job to the professionals.  I thanked him and we parted with his heart still beating, and mine pounding a bit faster....I still had a whole wall of paintings to hang!

1 hour and 15 minutes to blast off...

The good news is that with offers from friends to lend a hand and encouragement from fellow Seacoast Guild members (thanks Roberta,Woody, and June!) I hung my paintings more quickly than I have ever hung 6 paintings in my life!  I did my paperwork and pricing as if I was on Ritalin.

AAA came and changed my tire while I was taking care of business.  When done, the tire technician came into the gallery and had some good news and some bad news.  The good news was that I was ready to roll in time to catch my plane.  The bad news:  I'm a lug-nut short of a full set.  Now do you think he was talking about me or my tire?

Just goes to show that Murphy's law is not to be trifled with, and that all the planning in the world can't anticipate everything.  However, a little positive thinking can win out in the end.  Friends to keep you smiling along the way make a huge difference too.

The fact that I'm sitting here and on my way to France despite everything proves that a little planning can help you keep on keepin' on...even if ur a lug-nut short of a full set.  ;-)


Rebecca Zdybel
Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor
Art Lessons in all media
Myrtle Beach, SC
rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

"Like" my facebook page: Rebecca Zdybel- Artist
Join me on Google+ Rebecca Zdybel Google+ Profile