Windows of Paris

Window Shopping, 10 x 7,

Oil on Arches Rough Paper

Oh, we have but two more nights in our little apartment.  Yes, it is time to go back home, and yes, we are ready, but...what an experience, just to live here for a month!  Walking walking all over Paris each day, swerving into all sorts of beautiful spots, getting drenched, wearing ski hats and mittens in a snowstorm, and warming on the sunny days.  We went to the Eugene Boudin Exhibit on Tuesday at an elegant musee which was the former home of M and Mme Jacquemart-Andre. It was a wonderful collection of Boudin's work (one of the first "plein air" artists, he painted with, and some say mentored, Monet).  His colors inspired me, especially the luminous skies.

Pecheuses sur la Plage, 

1881, 10 x 15

Trouville,

1891, 11 x 9

Speaking of luminous, look at this gorgeous little painting below which I spotted in a Parisian gallery window,  and check out the antique head sculpture in a nearby window as well...I find both to be so gentle and true.

Another window, a perfect little dress...

And a gallery window on Avenue Montaigne - check out that frame!

Speaking of fancy frames, look at these ornate ones,

spotted through the window of a purveyor in business since 1927:

 Here is a cool sculpture that we saw in a window in Honfleur,

which totally reminded me of a Sherrie McGraw painting I had seen online.

Maria, 12 x 15,

by Sherrie McGraw

Below is the Exhibition Poster on an outside wall of the Musee Marmottan, where we went to see the work of Marie Laurencin, a painter from the late 19th-early 20th century.   

 More fun for me to see were works on permanent display at the Marmottan:  late Monets, lots of paintings by Berthe Morisot, and a few Manet's as well.

I

 And right there, all by itself on a beautiful wall was this tiny piece... 

one of my all-time faves!

Berthe Morisot Reclining (1873), 10 x 13,

by Edouard Manet

I hate to put my work anywhere near these other paintings, but I am just including this as a farewell to Paris and all of the nice experiences and walks we have enjoyed.  We return to "real life," but to me this life has been more than real!  

Strolling, 14 x 11, 

Oil on Linen Board

Packing up my little paintings today:

 Yippee!

This is how I have felt each day here...

Au revoir, Paris

It's About the Butter

After the Rain, 12 x 12

Well, it IS!  We have been in Paris for a little over 2 weeks, enjoying all of everything on our one-month holiday here.  Not a bad bite of food yet, and I have really gotten into the swing of things, in many ways, but especially dining.  Even for breakfast, the creamy French butter is so nice on a piece of my favorite type of baguette, called "baguette aux cereales," which has lots of seeds and things.  And then there is the petite sandwich, which always has butter and jambon with fromage, etc.  Later on, at le diner, usually most dishes are cooked in, sauced with, and taste so good because of:  butter!   It's been said that oil paint is like colored butter, though the few studies I've posted here look like I might have just used butter itself, as pale yellow predominates!

Cler Fleurs, 11 x 7

I am enjoying my mini Coulter easel, as it sets up quickly in our tiny apartment.  The apartment seems larger, though, since it has a huge north window, high ceilings, lots of mirrors, and best of all, just a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower, all sparkly at night!  La vie est belle....

Getting Ready to Paint

Night Time Magic