'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.

Sunday 3 May 2009

May Day Muguets


I'm finding that the commitment I've made to post my artwork on this blog is really a great incentive to keep working. I can feel myself loosening up with each piece of work; not necessarily in my painting style, but in my attitude to making art. It's true what they say, that the way to shift a creative block is to just create something, anything, regularly, preferably every day.

My latest is another plant study: for May Day in France it's traditional to give lily-of-the-valley ('muguet' in French) for good luck. A friend brought us a beautiful specimen in a slim terracotta pot. What prompted me to draw it was the curving forms of the leaves. The final result is basically a watercolour with some pencil drawing on top to emphasise the plant's graceful lines.

3 comments:

  1. beautiful! J'adore le muguet!!! J'en veux dans mon jardin!!!
    MD

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a lovely custom. Lily-of-the-valley is a delightful plant (I also have some in my garden). You have captured the delicate flower bells and elegant leaves. The yellow with red check base seems to add balance.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a really informative knowledge, Thanks for posting this informative Information. Quality Tiles

    ReplyDelete