Alphabetically Speaking in Images

Arles 

Gorgeous city on a Sunday afternoon visit

Bird

Stunned, but recovered and flew away

Cat

Obviously found Frank's oil palette before decorating the
front seat of Frank's car...

Dog

Hazel hiking with me!

   Easter/Easel

Extreme Easter decorating in our little village!

Office Furniture

Frank

Bullfighting family in Arles serves up scrumptious Paella

Who has a  title suggestion for this painting???

Grapevine

Haircut!  Introducing Jorgie's Kool Look

Atop the village of Cucuron at it's hermitage, the tips of pines are bent from the Mistral

The Mistral

It is a ripping wind that comes thru the south of France and sends laundry spiraling on the clothesline until the damp serviettes appear like a roll of paper towels and the dog has sought the smallest space in the house to cower. Sometimes, it is predicted on the weather report and never comes, and you are so busy being delighted by the cool temps coupled with the brilliant sunshine in March that you forget the Mistral wind was forecasted at all. Conversely, maybe you've set out to paint because the weather report looked perfect, and the next thing you know, that Mistral whips up suddenly and your canvas becomes a sail....threatening to carry the whole easel and palette over to the next village. Or it flattens the palette against your shirt, blows the painting face down into the sandy dirt or just spins you into chaos.  Though unfortunate, such forces of nature are pretty incredible so respect is given, we make our peace and then carry on, what else is there to do???

Naples

Naples, one of the many cities visited by Arlo in the past few months....Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Prague, Rome, Venice, Vienna....his bus pulls into Aix-en-Provence tomorrow and I'll be the mom waiting with the big ear-to-ear grin. 

I Think it's a Sign....(photo essay)

...that a coffee at 4am that looks like this is worth getting out of bed for...


...that you REALLY need to find another place to pee...

...that great beauty is possible with simplest of materials....
Bottle cap mosaic by Ghanian artist El Anatsui

...that this is not the hiking route to take, perhaps....
(I took it anyway)

...that Londoners don't treat dogs like the French...

...that it is spring in Provence...

...that Arlo is all over the place...

...well, yes, exactly...

...that Frank's got some work to do...

...that Picasso made enough money while he was a living artist to buy a castle...(I find that reassuring)

...that we won't ever find a cooler cafe in which to wait for Jorgie's school bus...

                 

...that I'm almost back to Marseille...

...that London (Tower) Bridge is NOT falling down...

...that he's an international star...

          

  

...that crashing with the Thier/Gould family in London was a total delight!

...that that isn't just a shower....

One Artist Needed for Frank's Workshop in May! You??!!

Frank is a damn good painter, as you know. In case you don't know, he is an excellent teacher, if you get the chance...he only teaches a weekly class in Rowayton, CT and he teaches a one-week long workshop on the gorgeous Monhegan Island. And that is it. These are the only times one can work with Frank to learn how to paint or to improve their skills....

BUT, this year Frank is offering a workshop in Provence.... in FRANCE, people! It is a painters' delight! THIS is where you want to paint. The light, the landscape, all things French! It just does not get any better that being in Provence, in May, experiencing a very full week of painting with Frank.

There is ONE spot left. So far the workshoppers are all return students and one brand new beginner art student. She has always wanted to take a workshop and after meeting Frank and I, she signed up. She will take off a week from her busy dermatology practice in Austria and do the thing she's always wanted to do.  Are you in that category? Is being inspired by painting in Provence on your list of things you would like to experience?  You will spend a ton of time painting, but there is so much more about this trip to look forward to...meeting other painters and seeing their work process and paintings, participating in art critiques during apero (happy hour), not having to plan, shop or prepare meals, living in the French countryside on a property with a pool and access to hiking trails and vineyards or villages and cafés...

Go to Frank's website for all the details, and while on his site, treat yourself to his gallery of Provence paintings.....

Painting near Puylobier while the earth is awakening

Ahhh, rows and rows of budding grapevines and trees just ready to burst! Provence will be green and flowery when you arrive to paint in May.

Painting near Puylobier during almond blossom season

These budding almond trees won't be harvested until the fall....but what a delight to see in the chill of spring now....

Come to Provence! Paint with Frank!

Any questions, please email either of us at muffysart@sbcglobal.net or bruckmannfrank@sbcglobal.net

après painting! 

One must remember to stand back to look at their painting!

Oh,  the views you will paint!

Find Frank amidst the almond blossoms and buzzing bees!