Painting in Belgium

I returned from a trip to my hometown in Belgium, Lasne (near Waterloo) a few weeks ago and managed to get my paints out while my devoted mum looked after the kids. It's an interesting thing painting a place I know so well, but never looked at it with my artist's eyes before because I only started painting plein air landscapes after moving to England. I spent a lot of time driving around looking for a good spot to paint as I was rediscovering it from a painter's point of view. Here are the six paintings I produced during my stay.

I painted this one below from Place d'Ohain. Lovely little square surrounded by a few shops, including the butcher which you can see far right of the painting. It started to rain as I started painting and I got my feet wet, but it did bring lovely reflections on the road so that was a bonus.

Ohain in the rain  10"x8" oil on board
Available here

Here are a few steps below

The finished painting

Detail

One of the place I really wanted to paint was the fields where the Battle of Waterloo happened, situated only minutes away from my parents' house. Such a beautiful place and a big part of my childhood memories. It was so quiet while I painted this, couldn't help thinking about what happened there just over 200 years ago. 

Les champs de Waterloo   oil on board  10"x8"
Available here

I had a great time painting the clouds with freedom. Bliss!

Detail

I did a second one on that day from the same spot but looking towards the old cobbled road. This is the road we use all the time to go to Waterloo. It's very old and bumpy but simply gorgeous. 

Waterloo - La route des champs  10"x7"  oil on board

Detail

Below is an other painting done at the square in Ohain, this time looking towards the bandstand, which is a bit of a local landmark there. I got married at the guildhall just opposite it. A bit of a contrast between my lovely wedding dress on the day, and my stained worn out artist's clothes while I painted this! 

Place d'Ohain  16"x9"  oil on board
Available here

Detail

Below is the road leading to Lasne centre. Very small but lovely high street, full of memories. The painting shows the local bank, the florist where I got my wedding bouquet, the restaurant La tartine, and the old video rental shop where we would rent VHS tapes at the week end (I feel old!) 

Lasne  10"x12"  oil on board
Available here

Detail

Finally, below is a painting of an other cobbled road in the area. I was craving for a big bath of greenery so this surely satisfied me! Lovely light filtering through the branches too. 

Route de la Marache, Lasne  10"x12"  oil on board
Available here

Detail

That's it for my Belgian paintings. They are all available on my website here:
www.valeriepirlot.com/belgium

Lastly, just a quick note about shows:

Two of my Belgium paintings will be on show at the exhibition "Lasne en peintures" which will be held at the Maison communale later this year. My work will also be on show at the bibliothèque de Lasne early next year.

For those in the UK: Andrew Taylor, Bob Child and myself are running our show in Bradford-on-Avon again this year (fourth year now) and it will be 6-8th October.

More info about all this very soon.

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