This “Juice box” is a small business run by a young woman selling fresh fruit juice around Cannes and Nice. This picture is a commission from one of her relatives as a present. I hope I captured the joyful energy of this young lady offering a fruit juice to a cute little girl ! I am known to do paintings of old vintage car so this commission was very much in my comfort zone. I was very keen to paint such a beautifully renovated vintage French van !
Mary Poppins left her bag in the Hangar art centre during a watercolour class for the greatest pleasure of the students ! The bag and umbrella were put in the middle of a table with a white background. I added a bit of colour and texture to the foreground to contrast with the sleek and shiny leather effect of this vintage bag.
From my sketchbook : The other day, at the hairdresser’s , while waiting for my hair to be done, I was given a nice cup of tea served in an interesting tea set : The teapot and the mug were catching my attention because of their colourful texture as well as the reflection of the handle in the wooden framed mirror. I took a picture for reference as I did not have my sketchbook with me.
This MG has a particular personal story for me as I was driven in it to the Town Hall first then to the church in a hilly Provençal village on my wedding day ! I did a painting of that particular church in my blog last year if you want to get the feeling of the place … At the time, the MG had a warm yellow ochre coat and later, after having been sold to a member of the family, was transformed with this beautiful British Racing Green colour which makes it even more appealing. I took a picture of it in the sunshine and you can see the reflection of the sun in the changing green tones. I like the effect of watercolour in its shadow still imbued with light. Doing that painting was a real travel in time for me and reminded me of a very happy event indeed…
I love the smell of fresh coffee beans being ground in an old coffee grinder like this one which reminds me of my childhood.
The appeal for this subject was to have different textures made with watercolour techniques like stipling for the ground coffee and the effect of old metal with its reflective characteristic.
I did a quick painting of poppies without preliminary drawing just to use the last 20 minutes of a watercolour session… The result is obviously sketchy but was fun to do.
The Place Des Arcades in Valbonne Village is buzzing with people having a good time and enjoying the unbroken sunshine. This scene is from the terrace of the Café Des Arcades representing the buzz in the village in an early Spring weekend. You can almost hear the sound of people chatting and enjoying themselves. Not only a sunny spot to sit and have a meal or a drink, this place is a major meeting point for all the Valbonnais and the visiting tourists all year round.
