Au fil de l'eau: April 2009

'Aller au fil de l'eau' means to go with the flow. It is also, appropriately, the name of the café in the small French village where I live. On the terrace, the atmosphere is relaxed, life seems to mosey along no faster than the river that slips lazily by. In spring and early summer, conversations are often accompanied by a chorus of croaking frogs. Creating this blog is some kind of commitment to take brush or pen or pencil in hand every day and make art. As Julia Cameron says: "...creativity is not a marathon event that we must gird ourselves for, whacking off great swaths of life as we know it to make room for it. Creativity is not aberrant, not dramatic, not dangerous. If anything, it is the pent-up energy of not using our creativity that feels that way". Not making art is like trying to stop the flow of the river. I surrender to the flow and watch where it takes me.

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

Green Strawberry

It was an exciting moment for my daughter and me when we noticed that our two strawberry plants were starting to bear fruit. My eye was caught by their broad, fine-veined leaves shivering in the breeze and the dangling fruits bobbing about like the nodding heads of elves. Line & wash on Canson Montval Torchon watercolour paper.

Sunday, 26 April 2009

Lilacs & Mailboxes

The inspiration for my first post was the profusion of lilacs growing all over the village this spring. The style is quite loose for me, which is what I was aiming for. I often like to draw into watercolour with black ink but in this case I was glad I resisted the temptation.