Am I a painter because I paint?

Or do I paint because I'm a painter? This little conundrum was spinning around in my head today.

This am it was fresh and cool, I drove a short way to the town of Bou, on the Loire and painted this painting.

In the pm I drove back to St Jean de Bray and there I had a long debate with my self: will I or won't I paint. And in the end, after a lot of agonizing, I decided to settle down and give it a shot. Well. I opened up my box o brushes, and lo, I had forgotten to put my washed brushes back in my kit. That left me with no sables, a few large bristle brushes that I'm not using much, and one "black sable", a large round with a decent point that's a little coarse, but softer than bristle. Was this setback going to tip the scales, even after I had fought hard and won the interim battle? No, I took it as a challenge, and here it is. I'm happy with my effort.

By now I should know the only painting session I've ever regretted is the one I never sat down to do.

First light, last light

Determined to beat the heat, I was out the door this am at 6:30. By 7:00 I had to drag my feet a little until the sun was up, but at least I was on site and ready.

I painted this view, looking the opposite way down the canal:

As forecasted, the day was hot but windy, boding change. I spent the mid-day hours perfecting my advanced Sudoku skills and hanging around with friends and family. In the evening I went back to Combleux and did a really fast painting in the dying light.

Here is what the sky looked like when I was done:

BEAUTY!!

Canals

If last year's painting trip was about silos, this year it's the canal d'Orleans that's capturing my attention. The canal runs along a section of the Loire river and what I saw today was more than just picturesque, it's a world class feat of 19th century engineering. The "Pont-Canal" in the town of Briere.

These pictures don't do it justice, but picture this: a LONG bridge that spans the Loire and its canal below, and on top of the bridge, instead of a paved surface, it is a canal, yes, full of water, over the water, it's just a wonder to behold.

And here it is from canal level:

It was sweltering hot today, and I finally settled down to do this quick effort at around 6:30 pm.

That was after a long hot day touring around in my car to scout out other sites. Here are some views from the canal at St. Jean de Bray which I hope to get to tomorrow, in the cool of the evening, preferably.

The (angst-ridden) picturesque

The shaded canal, the antique barge moored alongside, pretty little bridge with a lock just beyond...and waterlillies in the foreground for good measure. What's a painter to do with this over abundance of the picturesque? Run screaming in the opposite direction, turn my back to it all? but I've been spinning around all morning, the sun is getting high in the sky...and here is a shady, quiet corner, it's just so....so...taboo. What a weird dilemma. Yes, it is cliche piled on cliche, but I've been known to paint a light house or two. And in the end, it's all about the sincerity of the moment, and who says painting reflections in the water, not to mention those waterlillies, is easy? So I sit down to the challenge, and spent couple of hours completely engrossed in this scene. The result? Well, I don't sit in judgement. I just do the best I can do at the moment: sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's not; sometimes it flows off the brush, sometimes it's kicking and screaming all the way. Here it is:

and an earlier incarnation:

Here's the view from the opposite end. It really was a beautiful spot. Why does painting sometimes have to be so complicated and angst-ridden, when there is simple beauty in the world, just waiting there for my pleasure to behold, if only my chattering mind would let me. Like I said, kicking and screaming.

Combleux

Seeing as we are stuck in a very warm weather trend, I decided to get up EXTRA early today, and I was on site painting at 8:00 am this morning, fresh and cool. The next town over is Combleux, and it has some beautiful canals with locks, and a great open view of the Loire river.

The air was still cool, so I strolled around and settled down in another spot nearby to paint this view:

Then, feeling ever so pleased with myself, I treated me to a nice lunch, here is the view from my table, notice the beautiful pale blush of the Loire Valley Rose. Yummy!

"J'ai la flemme"

"La flemme", that's what I had yesterday. Kids use this phrase a lot, it describes a feeling of apathy, laziness, of just plain old phlegmatism. It's been getting hotter and hotter, and I just couldn't rouse myself to paint until around 5:30, when it had finally cooled off a bit. And in grand phlegmatic style I moseyed back to the church view I've been fixated on, but managed to find a slightly different angle on it.

I shook off the "flemme" and had a pretty nice time out there in the warm, still evening air.

Mon cherie is here

Mon Cherie arrived this morning, and tomorrow is dedicated to food and family. Here's a picture I painted this am, above, and views from the next town over, Combleux. I'll be painting there next, maybe Sunday, after Jean is gone away for a week with his kids "en vacance". May post some food pics tomorrow!