... more nostalgia...

I have been in love with the imagery and places of France for over 20 years.

It began when I traveled there in the Spring of 1990, with my then boyfriend, my son's father, and now my ex-husband. 

It was my first time ever in Europe, and Paris and Giverny, Avignon, Marseille and Provence swept me off my feet.

Traveling by the seat of our pants, with only a few nights reserved in the left bank of Paris to begin, we trained to Giverny, Normandy, and down into the South and west for 3 weeks. 

I spoke only a bit of french and spanish, and carried my translation book with my wallet. 

I have never forgotten the cold of April, having to buy a "frenchie" blue beret to compliment the best decision I made for that trip, and that was to bring my winter coat!!  Every picture I have from that trip, I am in my royal blue coat, buttoned up with a hat!

I will pull out my images that are probably ruined and faded, thrown into a box and never albumed, never put into the story i planned on writing, my journal entries too are faded and yellow... but they are in a box, and I plan on taking a peek soon..

I need to tell the stories, paint the places that have touched me... I have much to paint; stories within..

The images from my visit to Giverny, the reflections of the gardens, the lilies, the tulips in the ponds are forever etched in my memory, and the pictures i took with the old 35mm then were good enough to be made into posters... not being able to tell which was the real garden and which was the reflection..

I missed seeing Giverny this past trip (last fall, the gardens were closed) and I had dreamed of painting as Monet did standing there in the flesh.. I will go again and realize that dream.

Elizabeth Murray, (there's two artists that inspire me) has gone there too for over 25 years and has photographed this place...


Elizabeth Murray and Monet's Gardens from Elizabeth Murray on Vimeo.


I've had her book in my personal library for about 20 years.

http://www.elizabethmurray.com/
check out her great webpage

(i took time this afternoon to look for my images, uhmmm in the other part of the studio i suppose, in a different box, got sidetracked looking at old pics of ian and brandon as babies).

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