Hello PARIS!

Paris! What a vast and gorgeous city (duh) Snippets from our daily walks below...through connections made in the 80's when Frank lived in Europe for 8 years, we stayed in lavish style, met up with fabulous humans and took to the city on foot! 

Back on the Seine with his paint box...Frank caught the Pont Des Arts....

Picnicking on the Isle de la Cite 

Frank's office on the Seine. Sunrise sketching.

I had the delight of walking across the Pont des Arts to look across to another gorgeous bridge to locate Frank at work....

Sacre Coeur at night was gorgeous and quiet.....Then we arrived at Pete and Christian's sweet home for dinner and the night took on a very cozy mantle, below...

Marche aux Puces..Paris flea market north of city center. Endless alleys of sellers of all kinds of stuff.. We met  friends and ambled thru an amazing range of things from novelties and high end furniture, not even sure if we made any purchases...then lunch at a Paris brasserie followed by a sunny afternoon walking up thru Montmarte and Sacre Coeur (for a bit of Disneyland-OMG so fricking crowded)

Another morning on the Seine to catch the somewhat illusive sunrise. 

Satisfaction found!  Outside of a church mission called Les Grands Voisins. Amazing...

Friends Jean Marc and Kham led us to a hidden gem of a resto in Paris' Belleville, Le Mistral. 

Sharing a vat of chocolate mousse after a scrumptious dinner with Michael and Jaye at Chez Janou, Paris.

Hello Ladies! at the Musee d'Orsay...Bouguereau (1825-1905)

Italian Grotto in Luxembourg Gardens

     
And these three pics, caught from the quai on the Seine, as the sun set on my birthday...Thank you Paris! We are just missing Arlo...but he is off on his adventures, currently in Prague!

Inside the Jewelry Box, writing this blog, 6th arrondissement..thank you Sascha!

So easy to use the Paris metro....even Hazel grew accustomed to it. 

     

Fresh Paint for Frank's Website.....fbruckmann.com

I love early morning drop-offs for Jorgie's school bus when this awaits! Mt. St. Victoire is silhouetted in the center under the morning sky. Another seeker got out of her car to catch the light as I pulled away in mine...we gave each other one of those silent, "I get it" nods.

And how does this photo of a brand new gorgeous day relate to Frank's website? He updated it gloriously to include recent paintings from Provence and his Studio Still Life series from a few orbits around the sun ago....

fbruckmann.com 

Click it! Check it out! Any prices, sizes, inquiries upon request. Don't be shy!

In other Frank Bruckmann News...we are headed to Paris in a few hours for the school holidays...and will be the guests of friends Frank made decades ago in Paris while painting and modeling and dog-walking and starving.

Wood I?

Today's photo essay is brought to you by the trees, without whom we'd suffer horribly.  There is so much to notice and celebrate....think of all the essential things (air!) they provide for us...and then all the other things that make life gorgeous....

Following a winding path through pine forests above Rognes....

Detail from an old door in Aix-en-Provence...

The gnarly plein tree I seek out every time I walk the dog...

If you were thinking about trespassing in this village ruin, this would stall you for 3 seconds, at the most...We were tempted to steal it and hang it up at home...

       

A pair of "shelters" built simply of standard sheets of plywood. The burnt wood lines evoke veins on a leaf.  They are off in a corner in the Place de Precheurs in Aix-en-Provence. Contrasting against centuries old architecture and being a cool relief, but mostly they were functioning as a partial cover for a young kissing couple.

This gnarly woody vine isn't captured well enough in a photo...so Frank stepped in to translate it for you...onto the canvas....the photo below is a teaser, just a detail from his series in progress of the beloved vine...

Frank is capturing their graceful curves and responses to the wind and weather of Provence. We will post photos of these paintings as his series expands...

Trees, vines, wood, wine....we cannot have life without trees, and we cannot enjoy it as much without the vines! Hug a tree today! 

Perspective

Learning vocabulary in another language is easy. Communicating to people in a language you are learning is a completely different challenge.  I often leave a French conversation wondering if they understood what I was trying to put forth, (or did they understand the exact opposite?). It is frustrating, and I am realizing that this is not a phenomena special to learning a foreign language. 

Reviewing the words I speak in French many times over has forced me to review the words I speak in English with English speakers....and this is my conclusion....communication is VERY difficult...and sometimes I don't comprehend the perspective or intent of the person I am speaking to. My son shakes his head in impatience when I ask him to clarify or repeat...but I don't want to assume any more that I understand the intent of what he means. Nor do I want to fail when communicating my responses. I am very aware that the words I use are often misunderstood, even if my intent may be clear.  Funny how learning a 2nd language is emphasizing what I am still grasping about communicating in my mother tongue...so to all my family, friends, and fabulous people that I have met through community, thank you for your continued patience!

Now, back to what you really came here for...

Frank pulled over near a concrete canal which many would just pass by...this gorgeous landscape only unfolds when one is willing to overlook and leave out the harshness of human construction. A closer look reveals the simple beauty of the hills and valleys; the quaint village in the distance...

View towards Cadenet, 30x40" original oil painting by Frank Bruckmann©

A typical table d'orientation with its 360 perspective from atop a mountain in the Gigondas region

Here is the view in one direction, the Dentelles of Gigondas. Found this place with my weekly hiking group which is comprised of an international crew, mostly French or French speaking Anglo Expats with a few Dutch  and Israeli hikers sprinkled in for fun. They are all my French teachers...so grateful.

this is the coffee/yoga part of Frank's day....

He is looking at grape vines (cep de vigne) differently, painting the energy and motion in their woody, gnarly limbs.  Like painters before him, he is exploring the standstill/movement, the human/inhumanness of their structure.

Whether looking at the bottom of her bowl or from the ruins above our village,
I imagine it's all good...from a dog's perspective....



And, I leave this gem right here for you....

the importance of silliness for its own sake. 

Getting High

Conquering mountains on foot, getting a bird's eye view, painting the apex, getting air while jumping, teens having a beer with us in a plaza, riding a Ferris wheel to look out over the port in Marseille, being at the  top at the Chapel de Notre Dame...all the ways we're "getting high" this month....

Mt. St. Victoire Above Mas. original oil painting by Frank Bruckmann©

Frank spent a few days working on this vista, and all Aix-en-Provence residents see Mt. St. Victoire from varying directions, after all, it is the iconic view of this town and region. But to tie up your laces, pack a lunch and GO is an entirely different level of knowing a place. We spent a sunny gorgeous day plodding up up up last week and I was elated to reach the tippity top where the cross of Provence statue overlooks the surrounding farms, vineyards, villages, cities and the Mediterranean Sea. 

through Cezanne's pines, looking UP at Mt. St. Victoire

Delighted to find a monk's priory and chapel up on the top of  the mountain, recently restored, several volunteers buzzing around who make their 2 hour+ commute on foot.

Visiting Bonnieux with gusto!

Atop Bonnieux, a lovely park and a church overlook this valley.
Sleepy, quaint, gorgeous village sitting up high in the Luberon.

Along the old port in Marseille with Grandma. 

Kids took in the view from the Ferris wheel.

  

Teens in the plaza...Quinn from Monhegan Island
and Arlo are soon off to explore the EU this semester. 

Up high at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Marseille

Unbelievably gorgeous interior

January color....grass still green, some varieties of grapes have leaves still clinging onto the vines. so many curves. love it.

Frank and Hazel scout painting locations for the Workshop in May!
Who wants to come paint with Frank from May 17-25?

Lourmarin at dusk; as we left the cafe it was filling up
with locals watching football.

PAINT in Provence! Frank's Workshop is happening! May 17-25, 2019

PAINT with FRANK for 8 DAYS in heavenly PROVENCE!!!

MAY 17-25, 2019 Rognes, FRANCE.

Painting the village of Rognes, where the market day is Wednesday.

  We've been doing recon for several months while living in this small stone village plunked between Aix-en-Provence and the most charming villages of Provence....and have created 8 delightful days of painting, exploring and tasting Provence's bounty.

Painting at one of the many Rognes vineyards. Picnic lunch break included!

  If you can visualize yourself painting under the blue sunny skies of Provence all day with Frank's excellent instruction and dining sumptuously in a Provençal farmhouse with fellow artists by night,  critiquing paintings whilst sipping locally grown and produced wines, contact us today.  

Here is the link for all those details and travel tips 

Bonnieux, one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France...ready to pose for you!!

With fresh insight into this part of France, Frank has designed his workshop to be YOUR painting paradise. You've always wanted to paint in Provence with Frank, so make it happen!  

Walk 5 minutes towards the village and right into this composition....