We have received two late cancellations and so if anyone is interested in joining us on what is always a wonderful week, please contact Camilla at + 140 Now onto my next trip where I will be giving a workshop at the beautiful school in Olhao Portugal starting Wednesday 18th April…. An excellent opportunity for reading, writing, thinking and people watching.Ī rapid watercolour/gouache in my sketch book looking down on the reservoir beneath Caramany….It was extremely windy and cold that day. It sounds like a long day, and it was but given that the trains are so comfortable and everything on schedule….it is a far better way to travel than flying!. After a quick change at Narbonne onto Toulouse, – Toulouse to Paris and Paris to Lorient where Elisabeth and Herve were waiting for me. Other than the initial local train, I was travelling by TGV – the superb French train system which travels at high speeds and for the most part is very efficient.īetween Perpignan and Narbonne – I was able to see the lagoons with Pink Flamingos….what a treat. Perpignan is about a 35 minute drive from Caramany, and so it was here that I caught the first train on my way to Lorient in Brittany. I believe that Late April/May or September/October would be perfect….as I think the summers might be a little too hot for my liking. Remy – Caramany resident – watercolour Vivi – wife of Remy – watercolour I certainly hope to visit Carmany again during a warmer period when I am able do much more plein air painting. I actually enjoyed my first al fresco lunch of the year. – watercolour Seven year old Capucine – watercolour By mid week the sun was shining and in sheltered spots it was very warm.
Rapid sketch training full#
There are 150 full time residents – ( during the summer months this number grows) Through Suzy, I was able to meet some of the locals who not only made me very welcome but also provided in one case a delicious typically French five course lunch, and in another a superb evening meal. I took this photograph overlooking the courtyard to Suzy’s house with the ravine, village and hills beyond. Built into rock, the community sits on many levels.
Rapid sketch training plus#
Initially it was too cold to paint outside (we actually woke to a dusting of snow one morning!) – and so I painted some interiors, plus portraits of the local Caramany people – again an excellent way to connect with people and to learn about a place.Ī very warm spot next to a wood burner (now shown in this picture:) A rapid sketch from open window.
Fortunately Suzy had just installed two wood burners! For the first three or so days it was freezing cold.
I left London just before the ‘Beast from the East’ descended on the UK and Europe.
( On my return trip to Brittany and then London, I travelled by train – more about that in a minute) To get there, I flew to Carcassonne and then a two hour drive to Caramany. On her regular visits, she has managed to organise builders, and much more….and being a hands on person has done a lot of work herself, including building walls…. My friend the artist Suzy Davidson (– has been renovating an old ruin there for the past nine years ….all of this done whilst living in South Africa and and Malaysia. Watercolour – Caramany This post is about my week in Caramany, a small, ancient hill top village – in the Pyrenees-Orientales department in southern France.