Hello!
It’s been a while since my last post, but I have been very busy here. Surprisingly, much of my daily activity has been school-related. It is art school nonetheless, so it is enjoyable – most of the time. I’ve had a tad bit of difficulty in discovering the amount of focus necessary for a four-hour landscape painting session (for example) within myself. I suppose the six credits will be worth all of this though.
Oh yeah, and the experience of attending art school in the south of France.
Today, we did landscape painting. We took a bus out to a beautiful area where each student found his or her preferred motif. It’s been so hot and muggy out these past few days, and I haven’t been feeling well. This was a huge test of my self-discipline, and I almost gave up many times. I spent a long time staring at the beautiful scenery in front of me. I wish I had brought my camera so I could show you just how amazing us artists have it here. We just had “The Color Talk” the day prior, so I carefully mixed up my color palette and started to paint. I walked away. I returned. I added a few strokes here, and a few strokes there. I looked at my painting in somewhat disgust. What am I doing here? I can’t paint. I walked away again. This process continued for over three hours, until finally I was content. My professors, Alain and John, really enjoyed what I produced. I’m happy that I stuck with it, even though I’m not as thrilled with my product as they were. The students at Marchutz will be returning to this same spot tomorrow for more landscape painting demain. We’ll see if things go better this time! I’m excited to learn, and I feel improvements each time I return to my practice.
I haven’t talked much about my other experiences at the art school, but we have been moving fast and touching on many topics. Last week, we ventured out of Aix to discuss architecture. We visited a small beautiful, but simple, town, as well as a monastery. It was a long day, and words cannot describe the beauty we witnessed on this day- so I’ve included some pictures. We have another excursion this week. It begins early in the morning, after a long night in Aix at the fête de la musique (ending at 2AM), but I’m determined to get as much out of this adventure as possible (this is the third of six weeks eeek!)
Anyways, until next time!
Kelsey
It’s been a while since my last post, but I have been very busy here. Surprisingly, much of my daily activity has been school-related. It is art school nonetheless, so it is enjoyable – most of the time. I’ve had a tad bit of difficulty in discovering the amount of focus necessary for a four-hour landscape painting session (for example) within myself. I suppose the six credits will be worth all of this though.
Oh yeah, and the experience of attending art school in the south of France.
Today, we did landscape painting. We took a bus out to a beautiful area where each student found his or her preferred motif. It’s been so hot and muggy out these past few days, and I haven’t been feeling well. This was a huge test of my self-discipline, and I almost gave up many times. I spent a long time staring at the beautiful scenery in front of me. I wish I had brought my camera so I could show you just how amazing us artists have it here. We just had “The Color Talk” the day prior, so I carefully mixed up my color palette and started to paint. I walked away. I returned. I added a few strokes here, and a few strokes there. I looked at my painting in somewhat disgust. What am I doing here? I can’t paint. I walked away again. This process continued for over three hours, until finally I was content. My professors, Alain and John, really enjoyed what I produced. I’m happy that I stuck with it, even though I’m not as thrilled with my product as they were. The students at Marchutz will be returning to this same spot tomorrow for more landscape painting demain. We’ll see if things go better this time! I’m excited to learn, and I feel improvements each time I return to my practice.
I haven’t talked much about my other experiences at the art school, but we have been moving fast and touching on many topics. Last week, we ventured out of Aix to discuss architecture. We visited a small beautiful, but simple, town, as well as a monastery. It was a long day, and words cannot describe the beauty we witnessed on this day- so I’ve included some pictures. We have another excursion this week. It begins early in the morning, after a long night in Aix at the fête de la musique (ending at 2AM), but I’m determined to get as much out of this adventure as possible (this is the third of six weeks eeek!)
Anyways, until next time!
Kelsey