Corey's Cups...

I met Corey at a French cafe...
Photo by Corey Amaro

I was Googling at 4 AM and out of 1,300,000 French cafes I found this cafe picture. I went to look closer, left a comment and returned to bed. A few minutes later I heard a ding. She responded. Back and forth emails flew. In Provence it was 10 AM - a more reasonable hour. Then and there she dared me to start the blog I'd been tossing around in my head. She sent me pictures of her cup collection to tempt me to come visit.

About a week ago I looked at those cup pictures and thought, maybe I should paint them?
We met in Paris last trip. After some arm twisting, she brought along this rose teacup - a great eye for cups. Sometimes I help Corey with spelling. And she helps me with life choices. That's what friends are for.She found me this little demi-tasse at the Paris Flea. You can meet some nifty people hanging out in an online French café.

 

Pages From My Sketchbooks

Any artist worth their salt

earns their bones filling a gazillion sketchbooks with doodles

I made these when I was in my bookmaking phase.

Delacroix's Le Voyage au Maroc sketchbooks are one of the best sources. When you're considering starting a sketchbook.
It's both a diary + sketchbook, drawn and written daily records of his Moroccan travels.
 

I treasured this picture of J.M.W.Turner's leather bound sketchbook. Many of his sketches can be seen in the Tate's Turner collection in London, where Turner donated much of his artwork. In the US is the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, CT. You can actually touch a Turner sketchbook! But make an appointment first.

A Turner-esque page from my sketchbook

Multi-doodles done in Poppi, Tuscany

I love to put down blobs of color and then create a little scene on top

Sketchbooks provide the chance to make quick summaries of what you see. Like a quick camera snapshot.
Spontaneous notation is what it's all about.
Often sketches are more personal, more interesting than the final finished painting.

More color blobs + grape picker doodles

Chateau doodles.
The thing about sketchbooks is they are private.
You can be as casual and messy and experimental as you like.
No ones going to see what you do...
Well almost no one.
 

Some of the sketchbook paraphrenalia you can "collect" in the name of sketching! There are endless art supplies out there waiting to tempt you, and every bit as luscious as any patisserie shop offering.

more SKETCHBOOK posts:

More Candy Stores

Daffodil Sketchbook

My Venice Moleskine

Wine Tools...

Carnets de Couleur

Moleskine à Table

Moleskine de Voyage #3
Carnets de Voyage #2
Carnets de Voyage

My Bologna

Picking Grapes in Alsace

I really only got to pick grapes one time.

At the October harvest in Riquewihr, Alsace, one of the most beautiful harvests anywhere. And that was only because Ed Lauber of Lauber Imports put in a good word with one of his vineyards. My 'payment' for standing around holding grape shears in blistering hands, sitting at the long vineyard table and sharing a huge luscious lunch. Alsacian grape picking is a family affair. Everyone knows everyone else. And every member of the family shows up to help with les vendanges.

At Regaleali Vineyard in Sicily I just watched, as the pickers

sing, chat and pick the grapes in a most leisurely fashion. You can take cooking lessons there with the Countess Anna Tasca-Lanza.

I only imagined these Tuscan grape pickers. I was never there at harvest time. Tuscan vineyards are some of the most beautiful and idlyic.

In Napa Valley, California, the grape pickers don't walk.They run or race to get the job done.

More imagined grape pickers, this time in Burgundy where

they used to carry big straw baskets/paniers on their shoulders.You can sometimes still find these at French ebay.

You'll find all kinds of wine-related goodies on ebay.fr I should know. I spent hours looking for so-called still life objects. I've got a kitchen closet full of taste-vins to prove it!

Imagined 19th century Bordeaux pickers.

More imaginary grape picker doodles.The figures are more fun to draw than the grapes.

I'm much better at wielding a paintbrush than a pair of grape shears/secateurs . Some passerby on La Route du vin in the Medoc insisted on taking this quaint picture of the artiste at work.

Street Artist

One thing I've never tried is be a street artist. But it surely looks like fun! Here's an easel set up at the Piazza del Duomo in Florence. This artist has his bike handy so he can take off for lunch or at a moment's notice. He's painting onsite while waiting for sales. He's got a sweet little economical painting set up.Note the water bottles under the tray for watercolors and drinking.Isn't every tourist tempted at sometime or other by these artists? I bought this tiny watercolor of the archades at the Santa Maria Novella church. This painting is just 2 3/4" x 2 3/4". I went back to find him on another trip but impossible.A Parisien print dealer along the Seine. I'd LOVE to set up my portfolio like this and sell some watercolors in Paris.

Here's another street artist I can't resist. Especially the crepes with citron.

Being a beach artist isn't so bad even if you don't make any sales.

Macaron Architecture Lesson...

It's funny but a year ago I had macarons on the mind too.

On August 17, 2006...

Pierre Herme Macaron photo by Fanny Zanotti of Food Beam

And then I read about

Fanny Zanotti's 6-week stage at Pierre Herme on Food Beam!!!

Fanny goes into delicious detail of what goes on behind the closed kitchen doors at PH...
She tells us of the bucket where all wrecked macaron lids end up = a sort of circular file.

How we would love to get our hands into that bucket!
I also learned from Fanny that the baked macaron lids are called coques - meaning shells..

Immediately I thought of CLAM shells!
Am I alone in seeing the resemblance?
Two lids containing a delicious filling...
I was reminded too of when Barbara Bleu (shown here) and I went to Bofinger
and shared a plateau a coquillage - a yummy melange of shelled goodies.
Clam shells were also used by 18th century British watercolorists
to hold their paint splodges when they painted outdoors.
So clams + macarons + watercolors are all kind of related
if you see what I mean...
After all, a lot of architecture comes right out of nature.
I can only think of the macaron/clam combo at the moment,
but I'm sure this is the case...
So the next time you're about to bite into that macaron...

Think CLAM please/S.V.P.

PS!

Dorie Greenspan has written a wonderful history of the macaron

you can chew on, while digesting this clam-mac thought...

Chanel on my mind

I stopped by Merisi's Vienna late last night

and thought Ah Ha! There is my post for tomorrow!

Merisi has shown the Chanel windows on Kohlmarkt 5 in Vienna. As has Paris Parfait on rue Cambon in Paris of course. I thought I'll show Chanel on 57th Street in New York!

tra-la

I had BIG plans to be out in front of the windows at 8 AM!

The best laid plans of mice and men are paved with good intentions on the route to Hell. When I got there at high noon, I might as well have turned my back to the windows

and just shot the street traffic

Still Chanel must be given her due. Black and white is usually a sign of Spring on the way. But Mme Chanel was never one to follow the crowd.

And these haircuts make me want to run out and get bangs
Tout a suite! I had a haircut like this as a kid and stick straight hair.Something happened along the way and the sticks are wavy now.

The scarlet lips are fun too

Ruching and pleats on white chiffon shirts...so Chanel! As are chains and chains of pearls and logo whatnots...

This L.L.Bean-style boot kicking the pearls around is a bit of shocker! Is there a Chanel store in your town?

Please run out and take pictures, preferably not at High Noon! Be sure and let me know.