High Places

Painting below Mt. St. Victoire

Mt. St. Victoire rises from the otherwise low hills and is like a beacon for miles. When driving into Aix, it will suddenly appear, stricken by light, or as a husky darkened form contrasted by the glow of the morning sky. Often I gasp, as it's majesty surprises me over and over....as it makes itself known repeatedly....

Just wanted to prove that Frank is not exaggerating the light!

Painting in process....

On a weekend drive over the Luberon Mountains we visited Fort Buoux near Apt and Bonnieux. The magnificent ruins provided 360 views and signs of ancient life, including sarcophagi dating back to the 9th century, it was great to wander and wonder. At the top are deep trenches, vaulted cisterns (minus the tops), and other signs of building, both of shaped stone and carved in the solid rock itself. The view from the end, out over the deep valleys is magnificent and one of us couldn't handle the vertical drop which was severe and gut wrenching. We descended on a "secret set of stairs" which were utilized during attacks. Unbelievably steep and slippery, we could barely handle rambling down, and imagined how people under siege might retreat in full armor, with weapons or holding children! 

Family hike up to the Fort Buoux in the Luberon

Very well intact ruins...fun to imagine who what when and how

View down to the Aiguebrun River from Fort Buoux 

Standing above the trenches

           

Daisy Crown
Happy to find the field of daisies on the way up! 

Secret Staircase for hasty retreats

You want us to walk down THERE? it was steeper than it looks. I was looking for a belay rope!

At the tip top...don't look over the edge!

  

Back in Rognes...where we have our own set of impressive ruins!

Something the Fort didn't provide....lovely outdoor cafe in the  brilliant
winter sun! Drinking coffee at Le Rancard, Rognes, France.

Chateau Beaupre as a painting site.

Frank and I visited the local vineyard, Chateau Beaupre, in Rognes and got permission to paint on their grounds....what a  treat...so lovely and spacious...great trees, grape vines and fields, architecture, easy parking, wine.....a very muddy stream/trench that Hazel enjoyed fully.

Hazel entrenched in our vineyard visit

"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

Painting from Sunrise to Sunset on Monhegan Island

Back on Monhegan, but this time it is a family venture, and for the rest of summer. With endless vantage points, it IS possible to paint from sunrise to sunset.  The sun has been rising at about 5:09am, so in order to catch it, you have to first get out of bed around 4ish.  Next you need to make coffee, then do the hike to the back side of the island, sometimes in the dark, so you can make it to your spot, without tripping and dropping all your supplies, paint as much of the background in, and wait for that reddish-orangeish sphere to appear on the horizon.  The color of the sun changes so quickly, as well of all the effects of the rising sun on the rest of the landscape, that you just have to decide which colors and values work the best, and then go for it, before the light changes everything all over again!

Frank has managed to repeat the above procedure, many days in a row. I have gotten myself up to join in on the fun and felt triumphant. Nothing like the feeling that you have the island to yourself in the early morning...just you, your paints, crashing surf, the endless squawks of the gulls and that incredible briny smell of the ocean mixed with herbal bug repellent.

Capturing the Sunrise, looking at Whitehead, Monhegan Island.  July 2012

Painting Commission, finished and installed

Here's  the view of the road in front of our house from our winter season on Monhegan Island, ME that Frank painted for a client's mantle piece. The room it lives in has walls of grayish/tan wood, so this really stands out amidst the neutral tones of furniture and other decor.

"Snowy Road" 34 x 62. original oil painting by Frank Bruckmann.©