My grandma's kitchen

A couple of months ago, it was my grandma's 90th birthday. She is such an incredible woman and she still has more energy than the whole family together (and God knows she has a big family!). As a present I gave her a little painting I made of her kitchen in her house in Belgium. This is sacred place for the whole family as this is where my grandma prepares the Xmas dinner, makes her own cranberry jams, welcomes visitors with a hot chocolate after long walks outside, or has her breakfast staring at the window. Every object in the room has a story and this is a place where you always feel welcome. 

La cuisine à Malèves (The kitchen at the Malèves house) - 10"x12"   oil on board

Detail

For those who follow my blog, you might remember the two paintings I have done of my grandma's garden and sewing room. Click below to have a look at those previous posts:

http://valeriepirlot.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/my-grandmas-garden.html

http://valeriepirlot.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/la-chambre-couture-de-bonne-maman.html


I'm moving house tomorrow so maybe I'm posting this now in the hope that my new home feels as warm and homely as my grandma's place! I might not be able to paint for a while as I need to set up my new studio in the loft room - all very exciting really. I'll do a post about it when it's ready.

La chambre à couture de bonne-maman, Malèves - (My grandmother's sewing room in Malèves)

During my last visit in Belgium I paid a visit to my grandma Odette. She lives in the belgian coutryside in a lovely restored farm that is full of character and has an amazing garden. I did a painting of her garden on the spot (see my previous post here) but also took a few photographs of certain rooms for future painting references. I just finished this one that is my grandma's sewing room:

La chambre a couture de bonne-maman, Malèves
(My grandmother's sewing room in Malèves)
14"x18"    oil on board    

This - I have been told - is my grandma's favourite room; where she does her sewing activities (you can see her sewing machine under the protection cover behind the door alongside patterns and fabrics lying around), some of her writing, and where she has the best views over her sunny garden. I also have the memory, as I was only around 6, of her sitting at that desk doing a watercolour painting for me - and remember thinking "how cool is that??".

I started from the reference photograph and did this drawing to get the composition and values right:

The reference photograph

I also applied a photoshop filter to the picture to get a feel how it would look like as a painting and to simplify the information:

Detail

There are many reasons why I like to paint, and one of them is to be able to capture a landscape or place at a precise moment in time, like an emotional visual souvenir of what this place/room looks like today - afterall who knows what it will look like in 100 years? When I look at the painting I suddenly remember the smell of wood, fabric and dry flowers in the house, the sound of birds and wild pigeons in the garden and the sparkling light of the sun falling on all the little ceramic objects and glassware on the windowsill.

I will give this painting to my grandma for Christmas (at 89 she is still cooking the traditional turkey for the full family - around 35 people in total!) and I don't think I'm spoiling the surprise because, as cool as she can be, she is not familiar with the whole internet / blog world...(yet?)