Thinking France...

I feel as though I'm cramming for an exam! Now that there are only four weeks before departing for France, excitement is growing and I can't seem to get my fill of maps, info and images the web offers. What a wonderful, vast resource... a real window on the world. I plan to blog right through the whole of it, as often as I can. I regret not journaling in the past and the few notes I've made during times of importance (to me) are very meaningful when I come across them.

The groundwork: a group of six artists (having met on the Internet and sometimes elsewhere) will gather at the residency Cat'Art, Centre d'Art Contemporain in the village of Sainte Colombe sur l'Hers (department Aude in the south of France) on March 30 - April 24-7. A mutual artist friend lives in the area and suggested this residency. Working when and how we please, there are no demands to produce anything in particular. We'll just relax and absorb the rural countryside, make day trips to castles, villages, caves, beaches... most which are well off the beaten tourist path. This is not Provence! But nearby cities such as Toulouse, Carcassonne and Perpignon will satisfy any urban needs that might arise during the month.

Personally, I'll leave all familiar art materials (and habits) at home and focus on the old fashioned eye-hand coordination of drawing and sketching. I will, however, take a wide assortment of markmaking tools and may include a small watercolor palette. The idea is to recapture old skills that have languished much too long... and hopefully to bring them into my current studio environment when I return home.

This is one of the views we'll enjoy daily... I can hardly wait!