So there it was, my first trip away from the family since the baby's arrival, 3 nights and 4 days in total. I left the house before dawn wondering what on earth I was doing, but as soon as I arrived there and picked up my brushes, I forgot I even had kids! I had the best time ever and there was the loveliest bunch of people, including our amazing host David Bachmann, and other talented artists David Pilgrim, Haidee-Jo Summers, Tim King, Michael Richardson, Tony Dakin, John Stillman, Mo Teeuw, Karl Terry and Andrew Roberts. I painted quite a lot considering the short amount of time, probably because I knew that back home with the kids, opportunities to paint would be much more rare!
Here is below the first painting I did a few hours after I landed:
Back at the villa, I managed to produce a little 5"x7" oil sketch before dinner. So many beautiful views to paint just from the garden of the villa...
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| Luz 16"x9" oil on board Available for sale here |
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| Detail |
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| The painting in progress |
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| Last light of the day, Cama da Vaca 7"x5" oil on board Available for sale here |
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| Doesn't get much smaller than that! |
Next day, we headed to Arrifana to capture the beautiful cliffs. The sun wasn't properly shining but it was a very luminous day which made all the colours stand out. Looking at my paintings from the trip, I think my style got a bit bolder and more abstract which reflects maybe my current busy life: when time is limited, I try to capture the essence!
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| Sunny cliffs, Arrifana 10"x12" oil on board Available for sale here |
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| Detail |
Below you can see Tony, David P., Mo and David B. producing masterpieces. You can see Karl in the distance, being all adventurous painting on the cliff...
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Here are a few steps of the painting:
Although our stomachs were rambling already, most of us managed to squeeze a last little painting before lunch, just looking towards the other side of the cliff, with the harbour.
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| Harbour, Arrifana 10"x8" oil on board Available for sale here |
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| With Tim and Mo |
In the afternoon, after a lovely lunch at a local restaurant, David, Tim and I painted a beach close by. It was rather windy but we had a great time painting. It was hard to capture waves that won't stop moving!
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| Monte Clerigo 11"x14" oil on board Available for sale here |
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| Detail |
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| Tim and David. And my easel in the middle |
Finally, when we got back at the villa I saw Haidee and John painting in the garden. During these kind of trips, it doesn't matter how tired you are, if you see someone painting, you have to join them because you don't want to miss any painting opportunity! I did a quick study of the palm trees with the view. It is very rough and simple, but I quite like it for that reason.
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| View from Cama da Vaca 10"x8" oil on board Available for sale here |
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| Painting with John. Or rather chatting and laughing with John and painting inbetween! |
I'll post soon the following paintings of the trip. All my paintings are for sale on my website www.valeriepirlot.com with worldwide shipping and free shipping to Europe. By the way I also have a newsletter when I send infos about shows and I will send one soon so if you want to receive the updates please enter your email in here www.valeriepirlot.com/mailinglist
