Confinement, I hear you say? No I have not regressed to using Jane Austinesque language to tell you I am with child! It’s the French word for ‘lockdown’.
The advent of Covid has brought many changes to our lives, unfortunately most of them negative and in some cases tragic.
The ‘pause’ button though has given many of us the chance to reflect on the important things in life. To enjoy the ‘moment’, appreciate our natural environment with the seemingly more boisterous birdsong and prolific flora, to discover or rediscover what makes us happy.
Our March trip to La Belle France was cancelled and we were not able to return until the beginning of July. I had regular online chats with my French neighbour, Hélène, to keep up to date with how lockdown was playing out in France…
Apart from keeping busy with shopping for relatives, volunteering in the village to help out vulnerable residents and spending a bit more time in the garden, I really needed an outlet to take me away from the incessant stream of depressing news on both sides of the channel.
So I started sketching , joined a couple of online art groups and I started to rediscover my ‘artistic’ side.
Over the years I have dabbled in photography, oils, acrylics and water colours. But throughout lockdown I have discovered the immense joy of drawing everyday objects or immersing myself in drawing Provençal scenes.
I hope you like them!
Love your art
Thank you Nadia, that is very kind.
Your watercolours are charming! A few years ago I spent 10 days with a friend in Aix and I have yearned to return. I travelled around Provence with her and knew this was a place where I wanted to live. Alas, my husband has been diagnosed with dementia and I’m now 70 years old and I fear I will never be able to return to France. I can now live there vicariously through your musings and artwork. Thank you so much and please continue your work.
Hi Patricia, thank you for your lovely comments. Sorry to hear about your husband. Hopefully one day you will be able to return and rediscover this beautiful region. I find that when I am not there, reading novels set in the area, writing my blog and expressing myself through art all help me to feel closer to the country that has my heart!