You are the Present....

These people...

Christmas and New Year's occasions have brought my mom to Provence! She was thrilled to return to the place where she created the template for powerful memories from the year 2000, when she celebrated turning a certain age in the best of style...having her closest friends and our family together for a golden month in a fabulous French farmhouse in the tiny town of Egalyieres. We retraced her steps to visit the places that meant a lot while recounting and trying to entertain the kids with funny stories. Above, we were back at the chapel where in 2000 she watched Frank and I marry each other, while Arlo swam in amniotic fluid and my brothers, sisters-in-law, 3 nephews (albeit one also swimming)  and 2 besties fully participated in our ad hoc ceremony that was super charged with love and energy.

Frank's found a new painting partner....see below...they've been heading out to capture the light and landscape together...

Jorgie using the roof of the Fiat Panda as her painting studio

Our village of Rognes, France has an annual Truffle Festival and we spent the whole day at the market meeting friends and soaking up the winter sun and later cooked up a delicious truffle dinner with our neighbors....we all seemed to agree that they are delicious...a rarity in the family (having tastebuds that agree) but we are all sort of still wondering how this ugly little mushroom holds so many people completely captive...there were thousands wandering the streets of this little village...

Just a gorgeous cheese vendor....

a "pop-up farm" set in the parking lot below
Main Street in Rognes with the Foussa (ruins) above the village

cutest gingerbread cookies ever (except for
Elina Murarka, that is)

Tricycle musician with sound PA system, mic on trike,
singing corny French and American Christmas
songs that mom and I found totally danceable...

Bon Appetit...Truffles from M.Gerard VALENTIN, truffle cultivator, and the dinner we made...and great neighbors, Minna, Cyril, Anton, Elias. 

Live Creche! We participated in Cadenet's annual event, following the wise(wo)men up the winding streets to the grotto at the top of the village for traditional reenactments, sunset and  hot mulled wine (vin chaud)

Scenes from Christmas Time:

  

The holiday vibe in Aix-En-Provence is palpable. Nights are chilly but people filled with a bon humour....and outdoor cafe heat lamps warm it all up.

Le Petit Bistro, Place Richelme, Aix.

Back at Place Richelme. New friends, the Hayrapets!
A salute to Frank who didn't join us for the festivities....


HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Painting the Neighbor's Vineyard

The leaves on the grapevines are starting to change to their fall color....different grape varieties change differently and at their own pace. Beautiful.

Love this painting and the golden light surrounding....

I painted in watercolor up on this old stone wall as Frank was below, painting the same view in oil paint. This may be the last painting before the leaf change....

a great spot from which to paint!

And speaking of vineyards, a few Sundays ago I observed the annual mass to bless the grapes.  With so many farmers and workers tied to the vineyards for their income and so many of us who need the grapes to keep providing, this is serious stuff!  Afterwards, all unpacked their picnic baskets and ate lunch along with the wine and grapes that were available. It was a charming event...

You can see the clergy and the altar boys in their robes, facing the vineyard and sending prayers towards the vines!

During the blessing, from within the old altar of St. Marcellin, Rognes, Provence, France..
Notice the various shades of grapes on the table for sale by a group of old ladies.

Calanque-ing and Canyon-ing on Weekends

We were invited to join a family at Jorgie's school to their "cabanon" aka, a rustic cabin down on the Sormiou calanque. If you don't know what a calanque is, then you will need to do a l'il research to an earlier blog post of last month....ok, now...in the states, I always laugh when someone says they have a "cabin" or a "cottage" and when you arrive you realize it is much better equipped than your full time home and you are probably underdressed.  Well, had I known we were going to a "cabanon" I would have worn footwear for rock climbing and packed our contribution to brunch in Tupperware, not a glass pie pan to be heaved up and over rocks for the 2 miles from the gate where security mandated we park and walk. Though not at all prepared, IT WAS GORGEOUS! And, our host was unreachable (no wifi, no electricity, running water) and late. We had no idea where to go beyond down to the sea. 

ahhhhhh, this view was startling.....on one side the center of the rocky cliffs open up to reveal the dense civilization of Marseille, the other side revealed the Mediterranean off of the Sormiou Calanque. I audibly gasped when the scene spread out before me...cant prove that, no one heard me, you'll just have to believe….

Heading down to Sormiou, outside of Marseille

Found their weekend cabanon, just beyond this tiny port, it was the LAST house before the sauvage coast! Thrilling!

The cabanon, surrounded with this terrain.....it is crumbly limestone and ancient sandy soil with tons of prickly pear cactus, loaded with their thorny magenta fruit,  scrubby indigenous thyme, rosemary, lavender, sage and others. All of these scents, including the air, sea, trees, and other wafting smells are known as the smell of the "garrigue". It is why the south of France smells the way it does, and it is a thing that will always stay with me.

Inside Frederic, Claudia and Lilly's cabanon, built in 1906 by his great grandfather. they would travel by donkey with building supplies, water, etc. Now a very rudimentary pump from the cistern brings up water.

Prepared to take in the view in his own way, Frank opened his pochade box and painted this gem.
(Margi Rosenthal, is this one for you???) There is a pic of me taking in the view my way....eyes shut, mouth open drooling, with a gorgeous turquoise sea backdrop.

Day Trip...The Grand Canyon of France

Eye-scrubbingly adorable mountain town, "Moustiers-Ste-Marie" which is the gateway to the  Gorges du Verdon...there were waterfalls and mossy slopes and mountain goats and a 16th century cathedral, small streets of endless outdoor cafes, pottery tradition of Faience.... and on the OTHER end of the charm, the first public WC toilettes I've seen this trip which was a hole in the floor with squatting footpads....

Pedal boating on the Lac de Ste. Croix through the gorges. BTW, if you have the chance to pedal boat, one hour is sufficient....my quads were screaming!

Blown away by the scene from above....endless canyon and rocky limestone walls.

This week, we had a special guest chef in our home! Our friend Salam Al-Rawi (from Westville's Rawa) dropped by in his jaw dropping 1964 Caddy that he had restored in Lebanon!.....He has spent the last month driving it through Turkey, Italy, Greece, and into France. After having some minor mechanical stuff mended in Avignon, he piloted that beauty up our dead end street and stayed overnight, but not until we got busy in the kitchen....we fused Chinese rice noodles with provencal grilled zukes, lots of turmeric and other ingredients (that stained my "new" old damask linens from the Acco Decco in Aix-en-Provence, c'est dommage).

 Au revoir Salam, it was great seeing you here, even though you think my romantic notion of  "Garrigue" is bullshit!

A Return to Celebrating ART, and all Things that Bring YOU Joy.

A reminder to STOP, turn off that which is angst producing, and LOOK AWAY, to see what BEAUTY you can easily find...music, art, the great outdoors, food and drink, and your dog....

Look HERE! click to enlarge and read below...

Apples and Pears, 24x30", original oil painting by Frank Bruckmann©

Frank is finishing a new body of work, "Studio Still Lives" for a vast exhibit at the Kehler Liddell Gallery in Westville, New Haven, CT from February 16-March 19th, 2017.

The Opening Reception is scheduled for March 11, 2017, 3-6pm.  You must join us to celebrate beauty and Frank's paintings, and to clink your "glass" with neighbors and fellow collectors.

"Studio Still Lives" shows the extreme beauty of the most common of artists' painting supplies... luscious tubes of oil paint,  palettes with multiple layers of crusted over paint, chock full tabourets, well-worn paint splotched brushes, canvas pliers, myriad solvents in finger smudged glass bottles.  Always incorporated in these studio studies is some sublime addition from nature, a jar filled with apples and pears, an orchid stolen from our living room, a vase of forced bulbs, tulips and...poker chips? Yes,  some friends set up still lifes with objects meaningful to them. What objects are important to you?  Come and see how the everyday stuff of our lives become exalted when painted on the canvas...Bruckmann style.  Or at least to find out what the heck is a tabouret!

"Local Color" at the Island Inn, Monhegan Island

Any chance you will be in Maine this summer??? If so, take the ferry out to Monhegan Island for hundreds of reasons, but this summer Frank has a  huge and wonderful exhibit, "Local Color" which is over 40 paintings from the past 5 years.  

The exhibition opened beautifully at The Island Inn on Monhegan on Tuesday.  Visitors are welcome to view this show during or in between dining room hours. I recommend bringing your own bottle of wine, order the beet/chevre salad and scallops with papardelle, so you can sit and enjoy wonderful food, service and ART all at once. All paintings (except those with red dots) are available for sale through the Lupine Gallery and will remain on display until Columbus Day, but don't wait that long to make your choice! 

fbruckmann.com is a great resource for viewing Frank's work as well.

Frank with 3 of his collectors

Frank with gallery owner, Jackie Boegel