Watercolor journey with the course Roman Architecture by the Yale University.
I continue the stay-at-home travel Art + Roman Architecture + the city of Rome with Yale’s course Roman Architecture https://www.coursera.org/learn/roman-architecture. Rome, Palatine Hill, Romulus Founds Rome, Roman Architecture. 2-1.
Romulus founded the city of Rome and on Palatine Hill and archaeologists still find the remains of that village and houses from which the Roman Empire began to expand. It is difficult to imagine that on this huge passage there was once a small village, which was dug into a wonderful city, my beloved Rome. According to the legend, Romulus founded the City of Rome, on the 21st of April in 753 BC. Romulus village had huts made of wood that thatched roofs. There are similar huts in a small village in the Maya Riviera near Cancun. Anyone who will visit this place might imagine that they are in a future city of Rome of the 8 century BC.
The Palatine Hill is the oldest inhabited one in Rome. Actually, the name of the hill comes from the name of the goddess Pales – the patroness of cattle. The hill has long been a place for grazing pets and worshiping this goddess. The first permanent settlements appeared here in about 1000 BC, judging by the archaeological artefacts appeared on the Palatine. There is the Palatine Hill’s archaeological museum with the Romulus House with the model of huts in the village of the Iron Age.
Several years ago I was in the Capitoline Museums in Rome, near the reproduced images of the Romulus village at the Palatine and Capitoline Hills; I stared in these pictures with fascination to find more information. Who would have known that in a few years I will learn about the Roman architecture and I will have the opportunity to understand why I was so delighted?
All roads lead to Rome- Alain de Lille
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
My favorite art store in Toronto is Deserres at Spadina Ave
Rome, Palatine Hill, Romulus Founds Rome, Roman Architecture
Year of construction- 753 BC
Address: Rome, Palatine Hill, Piazza S. Maria Nova, 53V
Tools used for my painting Watercolour Charvin Ruby red and Emerald,Derwent, Albert Durer and Faber Castell watercolour pencils. Paper Acquarello Fabriano cold pressed watercolour album, 22×30 cm (9 ×12 in.)
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I continue the stay-at-home travel Art + Roman Architecture + the city of Rome with Yale’s course Roman Architecture https://www.coursera.org/learn/roman-architecture. Introduction. Bathing, Entertainment, and Housing in the Roman City. 1-4.
This lecture is about “Bread and circuses”, this allegoric phrase said by Juvenal, the Roman poet. Pompeii, the Italian city that was buried in volcanic ash following the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, gives us the sense of what life was like almost 2000 years ago. You can imagine the daily life with bathing, shopping and housing during the eruption of Vesuvius in ancient Roman times.
My painting for this session is about the ancient bakery – an arched brick oven with a view of the millstones in Pompeii. The millstones have square sockets in which wooden beams would have been placed. In fact, all modern ovens still retain the design of those ancient ovens that became a prototype.
If you go to Pompeii, imagine it as an inhabitant of Pompeii, maybe visit a bakery nearby, where you could buy bread, then go to fast-food Thermopolis, an old-aged “McDonalds”, and to a public fountain to take some water. In those days, kitchens, baths and running water were not available in the houses; therefore everything was public including the bath complex, stores and bakeries with paintings on the walls. I don’t know … I still prefer modern comfort, but seeing the beautiful design of public fountains, bakeries, it’s really great to plunge into the past, at least for a short while.
All roads lead to Rome- Alain de Lille
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
My favorite art store in Toronto is Deserres at Spadina Ave
Painting – Pompeii Via Provinciale Ripuaria, 53, 80045 Pompei NA, Italy.Roman Architecture. Year of construction-79 BC.
Tools used for my painting Watercolor Cotman sap green and mauve +Van Gogh siena paint), Derwent, Albert Durer and Faber Castell watercolour pencils. Paper Acquarello watercolor Fabriano grana grossa rouch album, 22×30 cm (9 ×12 in.)
This part as an addition of my month of October daily sketches.
City of Toronto has the winter period, with snow, wind, when you might sit at home and enjoy the view from the window, with ice skating and the festive atmosphere of Christmas and New Years.
All paintings in this post were done in previuos seasons.
Ontario Place, Toronto, winter. Oil painting. Very far away is …yes the CN Tower, you might see this 0.5 km height landmark almost from any point in the city.
The winter season of Toronto Music Garden downtown is very nice and shining neighbourhood with lots of lights, and a view of CN Tower. There are couple bright yellow summer beach chairs near frozen Ontario lake, waiting for the next summer season.
Queens Quay West street and Spadina. The streetcar is in hurry to the next year! This imaginary art includes the Toronto tram that is coming for next New Year with Christmas sled dears with gifts is in the air. The bucket of champagne is on the trams’ way. Happy Holidays will be welcoming … especially this year:)
Another Toronto Music Garden’s warercolour painting. The snowman is sitting with CN Tower background and the silver christmas ball nearby. It was completed in previous winter when we had lots of snow even on the south of Toronto, nearby of Ontario lake. Not very often snow in this area of the city.
Maybe it was a family that had fun time together, playing in snowballs and making the snowman.
A beautiful frosty twilight of the downtown of Toronto with a view of featuring of the Financial district and its high risers, CN Tower and Thompson Hall. I added a gold powder to the painting.
The romantic holiday painting with the beautiful night view of Toronto, featuring cheerful downtown during the holiday season. Clock countdowns minutes to the New Year, Champagne is ready.
…and winter sunset skyline of Toronto downtown with CN Tower and Rogers centre. My dream shows lots of Christmas balls up in the air with my favorite places in Toronto – CN Tower, Rogers centre, Zoo, ROM Museum, Thompson Hall, Union station, AGO Museum, Pearson airport balls. Everybody can find their interesting places and buildings in the city.Watercolour painting with the landmarks and museums of the City on the christmass balls, impressionism
Blooming branch with flowers,drops of water. Impressionism.Still life
Hope that my posts about Toronto show the beauty and welcoming city:)
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
Tools used for my painting Watercolour used Charvin and Van Gogh brands, Derwent watercolour pencils and Faber Castell artist pens. Paper Strathmore Watercolour and Mixed Media albums, 15×20 cm (6×8 in.)
This the last part of my daily “travel and art” journey of my home city Toronto in the month of October. This post is about my neighborhood and the local piece of nature called the Music Garden.
This painting is mostly for fun:) Honestly the main subject is the bright yellow street note for the pedestrians to be careful – “Sidewalk maybe slippery”.
I used to go this way every morning to my office. Not this year…Almost all locals are working from home except our essential and frontline workers, thank you! This is the bridge on Spadina avenue at Front street.
The garden is still blooming, very warm autumn this year.
I did photo of some daily sketches this month, some editing tasks in my art “office”:)
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
Tools used for my painting Watercolour used Charvin and Van Gogh brands, Derwent watercolour pencils and Faber Castell artist pens. Paper Strathmore Watercolour and Mixed Media albums, 15×20 cm (6×8 in.)
There are abandoned buildings with modern city’s buildings as background. Paintings were done as mixed of watercolour pencils, watercolour paints and acrylic, above added oil to add some texture for bricks.
I added cum clouds for peaceful sky and keep the interest in the scene to substitute buildings’ pipes that do not smoke anymore.
Recreated the historical district, currently touristy place with preserved spirit.
Canada Malting Site .It is one of two remaining silos in Toronto’s Harbourfront in Ontario, Canada. It is almost 100 years.
The museum and house Sir William Campbell is a vibrant public space where members of Toronto’ communities giving life to the words “freedom of expression.” Painting was done as combination of fountain pen with watercolour paints.
Toronto CN Tower, its reflection on the downtown’s builfing , the landmark of the city for the last 45 years , it is old enough at least for our young country and city:). CN is originally referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower.At more than half of a km (555 m) the CN Tower held the record as the tallest building, tower, freestanding structure for over three decades.
I decided to be original and painted this famous building CN Tower not directly, but as reflection of the standing high risers nearby to the tallest landmark in Canada:) I added deep blue with nice raspberry colours for some romantic feeling. The early dawn’s colour painting was done in the morning, before work hours.
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
My favourite art store in Toronto is Deserres @Spadina avenue.
Tools used for my painting Watercolour used Charvin and Van Gogh brands, Derwent watercolour pencils and Faber Castell artist pens. Paper Strathmore Watercolour and Mixed Media albums, 15×20 cm (6×8 in.)
My “travelling and art” journey in my city of Toronto, and the next chapter is some… weird sculptures:) The idea is to enjoy a city and study its history and architecture while walking around the city and making sketches.
“Between the eyes” Toronto street sculpture, Ontario. We know how the smile of the Cheshire Cat looks like from the book Alice’s Adventures popularized by Lewis Carroll. My guess that the sculpture shows how the Cheshire Cat’s eyes look like:) I added some silver powder to my painting with sea-colored and raspberry paints for the buildings on Yonge street.
Another weird and funny statue is “Rising” in downtown of Toronto, at University avenue. I would say that it is a combination of an animal …maybe an elk or.. a deer or… an elephant in combination with the branches of forest’ trees. The “Rising” like the Atlant carries on himself the whole colossus of a high rise building. I added spicy brown color to the wall that gives some warmth to the cold silver’s colour of the statue.
The next interesting composition called “Fair grounds”, consists of four pairs of stainless chairs in the middle of a street Wellington W. at John st. One pair of the chairs is “looking” in the same direction, representing a “familiar/family” relationship. The 2nd pair is “arguing” as they are set back to back, just like when two people don’t want to look at or talk to each other. The 3rd pair is “friends”: they are set facing each other, just like friends who sit down to have a chat. And the last pair is set near each other but they are looking in different directions – just like “strangers” would.
Some of these chairs are elegant, some are simple, and each has a unique style, just like people… Next time you walk by these, have a seat at this unique composition. It’d be interesting to see which pair of chairs you would chose: “Family”, “Arguing”, “Friends” or “Strangers”?:)
And adding the bright sketch of Red canoe. Why I am adding this drawing to the post with the weird statues? Because this red boat is standing on top of my neighborhood’s hill!:) Nice warm weather is helping for outdoor art. Enjoying the sun and fresh air and local sketching exersises!:)
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
Tools used for my painting Watercolour used Charvin and Van Gogh brands, Derwent watercolour pencils and Faber Castell artist pens. Paper Strathmore Watercolour and Mixed Media albums, 15×20 cm (6×8 in.)
Ontario Place is an artificially created island park in downtown with recreation area, on the territory of which there are venues for various festivals, an IMAX cinema, a Budweiser concert stage, well this year they are quite empty..
It has a small marina with snow-white yachts, and many pleasant paths for walking and cycling.
Lovely sunset in Ontario Place and its lonely standing windshare. It reminds me about its famous windmills near Amsterdam, or Cervantes Don Quichotte mills in Spain or a flour mill of my grandgrandparents as per our family’s legends in Belarus. Yes, I am missing so much our annual vacation in Europe, hope that this “stayhome” will be over soon…
Toronto’s fall is very soft and warm, so you can enjoy all this beauty, leisurely walking through numerous the local parks and the picturesque waterfront of Lake Ontario.
Beautiful maples, painted in bright red and gold, are planted along the Ontario lake’s parks.
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
My favourite art store in Toronto is Deserres @Spadina avenue.
Tools used for my painting Watercolour used Charvin and Van Gogh brands, Derwent watercolour pencils and Faber Castell artist pens. Paper Strathmore Watercolour and Mixed Media albums, 15×20 cm (6×8 in.)
I hope to have a chance to enjoy a truly cozy Norman village again sometime in the near future. It is especially beautiful in the evening while taking a leisurely stroll along the main street, admiring the old farms, going to a small restaurant, having a glass of crisp apple cider with a slice of camembert.
I recently found that the word daisy is the french word marguerite , and in the Greek means “pearl.” The word “daisy” comes from Old English daeges eage, meaning “day’s eye.” Our word, “day,” comes from the word “dawn.” The term “day’s eye” refers to the way the flower opens its petals in the morning and closes …
Early summer morning, just before the sun lights it up, the moist grass appears almost black in the shadow.Watercolour painting of marguiritues, its called shasta daisy.
In my opinion, the ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ is wrong. it should go: “he loves me, he loves me dearly, he loves me tenderly, he loves me passionately, he loves me…” This way, your mood is guaranteed to be good, and the daisy is pleased that it was not in vain that she sacrificed her beauty to resolve your heart’s doubts. “Guess the right way, love and be loved”. And believe the daisy, because it will always confirm that … your person loves you!:)
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
Giverny. address 84 rue Claude Monet 27620 Giverny
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
Links
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
Even a regular #Mondaymorning could be enjoyable and relaxing, especially when #workingfromhome. This is a view from my home in downtown Toronto, with a dark rye sandwich with salmon, a small cup of coffee – what else could an artist need? And a watercolour painting on another morning…
Paintings with oil pastel. Coffee aromas come in all different flavours: fruity, caramelized, sometimes nutty and even burnt; it always energizes me. I take a few moments every morning to enjoy my coffee while watching the vibrant young Toronto get about its daily hustle and bustle
A cup of coffee and flowers, what could be better in the morning..? Adding some bright and delicate colours to the grey downtown city landscape #Toronto. Wild summer flower bouquet in a vase.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
My favourite art store in Toronto is DeSerred. Address is 130 Spadina ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Below is my favorite art bag with the travel brush, small watercolor paint box and album for sketching. A silk scarf is just for beauty…or you might use it as a mask.. it’s up to you:)
I painted the picture below in the late afternoon at #Toronto #downtown, on #Ontario lake before another #downpour this evening. It was quiet in the park – that perfectly calm feeling before the storm – with only lightly swaying boats creaking in rhythm on the waves.
The scent of ozone signaled stormy weather so I ran away just before the rain started pouring- but I captured the atmosphere – see there are actual rain drops in the painting? I love summer storms 🙂
#Ontario #Kawarta #lakes -This watercolour was done directly on the boat on a warm summer evening as my husband was fishing 1 foot away from me in the same boat 🙂
I aimed to catch the soft evening hues of the little cottage on the shore, and the surrounding green leaves and and the monochrome stones. The lake and two birches on the high lake shore reminded me of my motherland, the far-away #Belarus.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
Summer is here!!! Do you like to go to the local markets when you are travelling? I love it! My favorite one in Rome is close to the Vatican. It is called Mercato Trionfale, address is at the end of this.
Our family stayed in one of Vatican area hotelsand we went to the Mercato Trionfale market often. Berry shopping was our favorite.
For this post, I gathered bright paintings from the market – only Italian and only berries.
I love cherries, especially Italian ones. For some reason, I associate the aromawith my parents’ summer house when there was a plate on the table with bright juicy cherries, sometimes sweet and sometimes sour. The aroma of cherries reminds me the feeling of a summer breakand leisurely summer evenings at the cottage. Cheries’ aroma and taste are so tender, joyful, feminine, just likesummer itself:)
My daughter sent me this photo with a view of their breakfast in Positano, Italy, above theMediterrenian sea with berries, fruit and orange juice. I wish to visit this place, so I added my art travel tools, the sketchbook and my favorite Staedtler pencil to this painting – e voila – it’s like I was here as well. Hope my dream will come true one day…
Grapes. Two interesting facts about them: they are also berries, and apparently, they have been around for 65 million years. Would youlike to know why grapes are different colours? The funny ancient legend says that grapes appeared on Earth a very long time ago, its parents were Earth and Sun. At the time of the grapes’ birth, it didn’t take them a month or two to ripen, as it does now; it happened very quickly – from morning until dusk, and those that had time to ripen by dawn, borrowed its tender blush from morning dawn and turned pink.
The clusters, ripened in the afternoon, became golden yellow – they took over the gold of its rays from the sun shining brightly in the sky. Berries ripened late in the evening as the southern night conveyed its dark or velvety blue tones. Voilà:)
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
My favourite art store in Toronto is DeSerred, address is 130 Spadina ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tools used for my painting. Watercolour brands Van Gogh and Cotman. Paper Canson Mix Media album 28×35 cm (11×14 in.) and Canson Watercolour album 25×35 cm (11 x15 in.)
Yellow, sour, fragrant … In tea with sugar it is pleasant … it is full of vitamins … And its name is LEMON! Perhaps each of us, both an adult and a child, knows this bright, yellow citrus fruit…
It was in Italy, travelling with my family around Italian “boot” from top to toe, several years ago. The painting was done in a south of Italy, one of its charming little towns.
One of our next stop was a town in the north of Italy, “top of boot”. Lemon trees were everywhere on the Borromean islands in Italy. The background are mountaints, part of south of Switzeland.
According to a legend, the aromatic fruits of the color of the sun were presented to Hera’s wedding when she married Zeus so that the newlywed was always young and beautiful: “Its aroma amuses the mind, the peel and grains are good for the heart, the flesh is excellent food, and the juice quenches thirst.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
My favourite art store in Toronto is DeSerred, address is 130 Spadina ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tools used for my painting. Watercolour brands Van Gogh and Cotman.Derwent watercolour pencils. Paper Canson Mix Media album 28×35 cm (11×14 in.) and Canson Watercolour album 25×35 cm (11 x15 in.)
Oranges remind me about the sunny summer days and New Year’s eve at the same time. My mom used to put these little bright balls on the Christmas trees as additional decorations. Later we ate the oranges, its smell was the mixture summer’s aroma and pine needles’ smell, such a holiday feeling from these fruits.
This spring we are on hold for travelling. I continue “flying” through our family images, my paintings are the versions of some summer photos in Spain. Spanish cities have whole alleys of such trees.
Orange paradises with the smell of flowering orange trees are in the cities and their gardens, Barcelona, Cordoba, Madrid, Sevillia…
There are many interesting legends associated with the orange. One of them claims that it was not an apple, but an orange, that was the forbidden fruit that served as the reason for the expulsion of our ancestors from paradise.
According the legend, Eve was succumbing to the temptation of the snake tempter, tasted the fruit of an orange from the tree of knowledge and offered it to Adam, and the archangels blew their trumpets and showered her head with the snow-white, fragrant flowers of an orange tree (orange blossom). But after this episode, Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
My favourite art store in Toronto is DeSerred, address is 130 Spadina ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tools used for my painting. Watercolour brands Van Gogh and Cotman. Paper Canson Mix Media album 28×35 cm (11×14 in.) and Canson Watercolour album 25×35 cm (11 x15 in.)
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
There is city airport in the heart of Toronto, located on Toronto Island, called Billy Bishop Toronto city airport. Now, this spring the situation is very unusual; with no boats, no airplanes in the sky. Quite morning on the lake.
Leonardo da Vinci, a Renaissance genius, was fascinated by water. He attributed to water the properties of blood in the body: “vetturale di natura”, that is, “vehicle of nature.”
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
My favourite art store in Toronto is DeSerred. Address is 130 Spadina ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tools used for my painting. Watercolour brands Van Gogh and Cotman. Paper Canson Mix Media album 28×35 cm (11×14 in.).
There is a some philosophical meaning in this question- when I am throwing stones into water, why I look at circles on the water? This action reminds me that all our actions should be good or content.
And if do not look at the circles on the water, then the whole meaning of this lesson is lost. And all our actions, and our whole life, turn out to be devoid of inner content.
All our achievements- they are like circles on the water. And we should look what they will be, so taking care of the circlrs on the water we leave behind. This spring is giving time and opportunity to be a little be a “philosophical” person:)
Lake’s waves are showing trees and cities’ buildings reflection.
A great expression by Claude Monet about water is “The essence of the motif is the mirror of water, whose appearance alters at every moment.”
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
Tools used for my painting. Watercolour brands Van Gogh and Cotman. Paper Canson Mix Media album 28×35 cm (11×14 in.) and Canson Watercolour album 25×35 cm (11 x15 in.)
In this post I would like to talk about some one-day trips from Antibes or Nice. For me, sitting in one place and swimming in the sea, enjoying sunny beaches and cuisine is fine for a couple days, then I need more. Provencal cities are so close to each other by distance and are so rich in history, art and architecture, it would be a “crime” not visit some of the local small towns in the neighborhood.
Provencal ceramic tableware with sun-drenched harmony of Provence in single handmade plates with vibrant colours found in the South of France and Italy
Our Provencal Itinerary. This trip was started in Nice – Grasse – Mougins – Moulins d’Opio – Waterfalle sur Loup -Tourrettes du Loup- Gourdon.
We always travel by train or bus… but this time we decided to save our time and travelled with a tour operator.
Old Train station in Nice was recently renovated – it seems to beinviting to join one of the most beautiful cities that is conveniently located near the sea.
Our tour started from Nice. You might be picked up from your hotel by the tour operator. In our case we lived in Antibes. As an option, a driver could pick you up from your city, with an additional cost. We decided to take a train from Antibes to Nice, just 10 -15 min, cost 4 Euros and another reason to visit Nice.
Blue train brings people to Mediterranean Sea every day
The 1st stop was in Grasse, the capital of perfumery. According to the legend of the 17th century, the city had numerous leather shops and the skin was soaked with flower essences to remove an unpleasant odour, and thanks to Louis XIII and his beautiful wife Anna of Austria, a Spanish-born queen… she provided some Spanish and Arab secrets of perfumed skins. So perfumes came to us from the city of Grasse. You might want to visit Parfumerie Fragonard.
The whole city is covered in flowers; a local perfume factory acquaints visitors with its spirits. During our previous visit to Grasse several years ago, we walked several times through the local central square near the town hall to admire the views of the mountains from a huge cliff. It was blooming with floral aromas, the local fountain freshened the air with water. And only then I realized that the fountain was spraying perfumed water.
Sketch of our excursions perfume factory and olive store at Le Moulin D’Opio, Opio. Legendary Fragonard was the mayor of the city. The city has the Fragonard Museum is located at: 14 rue Jean Ossola, Hotel de Villeneuve, Grasse
Some interesting facts about Fragonard: he was the artist and pioneer of the Rococo style. There is a famous painting “The Swing” by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Fragonard was a distant relative of my beloved impressionist artist Bertha Morisot. We visited museum D’Orsay in Paris this year, Morisot’s personal exhibition in the museum. Stay tuned for more information on it in my future posts.
The next town we visited was Mougins, is a city of art galleries and artist’ workshops. On a small plaza, I saw a mysterious lady in a beautiful hat near the city’s legendary museum.
The city has a famous Mougins’ Museum of Classical Art; it’s a private museum and costs14 Euros (2019) but it’s worth it. Address: 32 Rue Commandeur, Mougins. The Mougins museum has the world’s largest private collection of antic helmets. I never would have thought that there was such a variety of helmets.
In the museum, the lighting was dark so my sketches reflect the overall impressions of the gloom. I like to observe museums’ visitors; it shows the general impression of direction of exhibits in museum. We visited the museum on Monday when there were no visitors so the whole museum was ours. I was surprised to see such a rich collection outside the Louvre or British Museums.
One of my artistic goals is to paint the combination of houses, people, café, streets, landscapes, food, Provencal ice creams: everything is in one bottle of flavour that brings together the image of a city or place.
On the way to the city, our tour operator told us about an interesting annual festival ‘International Gastronomy Festival of Mougins’, or ‘Les Étoiles de Mougins’. The festival used to be an event that brought lots of tourists and media attention to the town of Mougins. However, effective this year it was decided to hold the festival in other cities in the world and send Mougins’ Michelin chefs to the festival to demonstrate the culinary art of the city’s chefs. So, understandably, the residents of the city are disappointed and would like to return the tourists to their city. To get here, you can take a train/bus from Antibes or Nice. At the end of this post, I will provide instructions on how to get to this town.
Our next visit was a small place at Moulin d’Opio mill, with its olive grove and a small store. When you visit this place, you will immediately remember Van Gogh’s painting. Its owners are the fifth generation of this family; they were telling us how olive oil is produced for many centuries and we tested different varieties of olives, French oil, tapenade on toast and drinks.
Stroll through the medieval streets and admire the stone façades and fragrant flowers of some of the prettiest settlements in France.
One of local legends says that the English Queen Victoria was driving through on a donkey with her staff, and after this uneasy journey, she ordered to build a road to this town so that everyone could see the beauties of this place. And it was completed, so now you can enjoy them too. The main square of the town is named after the Queen.
As you walk around town, you will notice violets everywhere: painted on the asphalt in the ice cream… Violet ice cream was a pleasant discovery for me, it’s worth coming to this mountainous town just for its sake!
The next stop was Mountain waterfalls that called Cascades du Saut du Loup. From French language saut du loup means the mouth of wolf.
I don’t know what kind of mouth of a wolf it is; I personally saw a huge muzzle of an orang-utan in the rocks.
The highest town of our trip was Gordon and its magnificent castle perched 750 meters above sea level on rocks.
A little comment regarding the tour. Part of our goal for this trip was to see Provencal lavender fields but our tour operator, driver and a cheerful guide in one, dashingly driving a car along the mountain spiral roads of Provence, said that there was a mistake and it would take another hour to get to the lavender fields from this town. There are 2 similar cities- Gourdon and Gordes, there are 2 different places and tour company made an error … well we have a reason to come back! It was our joke throughout this long day; we were looking for lavender bushes or small patches of planted lavender saying “Well here’s lavender! “and laughing.
The locals told us that in previous years the lavender fields really bloomed around the town, but one year it was a cold winter and lavender bushes could not survive. And after that, they were not planted again, what a pity!
Serpentine mountain road that leads to mountain towns Gourdon and Tourrettes-sur-Loup, the medieval town…and in the sky we saw a cloud “goose”.
And then on another direction, the second trip was a separate one-day independent trip from Antibes to Cannes and Le Cannet.
Provence is famous for its art museums in every small town or village. Le Cannet is a small suburb of Cannes. In North America this suburb would be part of a big city, for example GreaterToronto or GreaterVancouver.
The Central Train Station in Cannes is located in the heart of the city. To get there, take the bus # Bus Palm’Express n°1 and within 10 minutes, you will reach Le Cannet’s famous museum Bonnard. Address: 16 boulevard Sadi Carnot, 06110 Le Cannet
House-museum artist Bonnard. Bonnard lived in Le Cannetfor25 years and created his Provencal paintings, saturated with sunlight, light and air. We were waiting for an exhibition that just opened during our vacation in Antibes. The temporary exhibition of collection Nahmad (De L’Impressionisme À Bonnard et Picasso) represented the Impressionist artists and organically blended into the permanent collection of Bonnard museum.
The city Cannes we visited on our way back to Antibes.
We were planning to visit Cannes’ famous Red Carpet
in my picture the celebrities’ prints go to the sky like a road up
The topography of the area is a mountainous terrain and if you are not a fan of renting car in a foreign country, there are a few alternatives to driving.
The first option is the train. They are convenient, quick, comfortable, inexpensive, and all trains have an efficient schedules with small gaps in between 2 trains. For example, from Nice to Grasse the train’s cost was 10 Euros (2019). However, this option has a disadvantage that you rarely can get to see small towns by trains.
The second option is the bus. The advantage of buses is that their routes are reaching even the smallest mountain towns, and this is the cheapest option. The inconvenience is that sometimes you have to take a transfer between interregional buses and local city’s buses and most importantly, the bus trip will be longer than any train.
The third option is a combination of the first two OR a travel company. If your goal is visiting several small mountain towns within 1-2 days then local or international tour operators might be a good alternative for you. At the end of this post a link to Viator as an example of a tour.
Tools used for my painting Watercolour used Charvin and Van Gogh brands, Derwent watercolour pencils and Faber Castell artist pens. Paper Strathmore Watercolour and Mixed Media albums, 15×20 cm (6×8 in.)
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:)
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You can visit my personal website pages here and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
How to get from Antibes to Le Mougins. Take Train to Cannes, then bus to Mougins. Lines 25-27. Cannes – Ranguin <> Gare Routière des Messugues <> Collège Eganaude – Sophia Antipolis, par Mougins
How to get from Antibes to Le Cannet . Take train Antibes to Cannes, bus #1 and 4(?), 15 min =10 stops to Musee Bonnard, Bus Palm’Express n°1, arrêt « Mairie du Cannet
Every year, French Nation celebrates the most important day for the country French National Day or Bastille Day.
July 14 in 2019 was year of 230 anniversary of Bastille and 130 years of Eiffel Tower. It was one of my life’s highlights and here are some tips how to celebrate the Bastille Day in Paris.
The most attractive bridge in Paris, Alexander III, that connects Artillery Academy and Concord square. It is eliminating during a day and night with their gold statues, gorgeous street lamps, relaxing and busy locals and visitors from all countries.
July 14, some sketches were done on location with fireworks, parade and street lamps on the streets of Paris.
I suggest watching Paris’ morning military parade down the Avenue des Champs Élysées, there are representatives of different military units. Interesting view when aircraft planes are painting the sky in a 3-color rainbow- red, blue and white.
Then, relaxing walking around city, it is nice holiday atmosphere. I made few sketches on location.
How about wedding in Paris? I did the painting of a bride on one of the Parisian bridge when a designer, groom and photographer were around this young lady in her white dress in one of important day in the life:)
In the centre, next to Grand Palais people are playing football or sitting and enjoying lunch on the grass waiting for the fireworks. I noticed there were no one unpleasant incident during a day even the city is full of people:)
There is young couple on scooters exploring the city, mother and a girl are playing games next to Paris Military academy, very relaxing feeling on this day.
Sketch done in our favourite restaurant Bouillon Chartier
The restaurant Bouillon Chartier,with its magnificent stucco molding on the walls, the majestic atmosphere where the waiters write the bill directly on the tablecloth according their customs since the opening in 1896, and the most important – its food, ingenious, homemade, varied, not very expensive, and there is always something to surprise and welcome their clients. There is even a song about this restaurant. The restaurant is mentioned in Albert Willemetz’s 1939 song “Félicie aussi”, sung by Fernandel. In Les beaux quartiers, Louis Aragon mentioned Le bouillonChartier: the young medical student character Edmond Barbentane has lunch there regularly…
And of course the highlight of this day- firework in the evening! We chose a place to watch firework on the bridge. We were standing in Parisian Babylon, admiring the view of Eiffel Tower, firework itself and the reflection of the city and the next bridge, Alexander III. People were shouting joyful exclamations, they were from different parts of the world, enjoying of this show there were people from the UK, China, Portugal, Russia, Japan, and us, from Canada:)
Well, there are 5 reasons to be in Paris in National French Day. Morning parade, relaxing or play football with your friends in the centre of Paris or rent a scooter and enjoy Paris with some speed, view Eiffel Tower with some snack, baguette is must-be, night fireworks and of course, urban sketching of happy life and architecture of old and young city Paris.
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:)
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
You might visit my personal website pages and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
Tools used for my painting. Watercolour used Charvin and Van Gogh brands, Pastel GrayPas Expressionist, Derwent watercolour pencils and Faber Castell artist pens. Paper Strathmore Watercolour and Mixed Media albums, 15×20 cm (6×8 in.)
There are many options to do one-day trips from Paris. This time we chose a day trip to Fontainebleau & Vaux le Vicomte chateaus. The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte is accessible by public transport but it will take a couple hours with subway plus train plus a local bus unless you drive by car.
Map to Vaux-le-Vicomte and Fontainebleau châteaux
Map to two chateaus. Our one day trip’s itinerary is from Paris to Chateau de Veux le Vicomte and Fountenableau, back to Paris. We took a bus from Paris City Vision. Departure is from Paris’ centre, highly recommend this trip, just book it in advance:) In the middle of sketch is our couple, my husband and I, who loves travelling, art and architecture.
A view to stunning Vaux le Vicomte château that later inspired the famous Versailles. I imagined that beautiful ladies with little coloured umbrellas from 17th century are walking at the park.
The legend says that Nicolas Fouquet invited King Louis XIV and the whole court to the inauguration of the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. The owners organized a grand and luxurious party and a dinner, gold-plated gondolas glided through the channels, and gold salad bowls decorated its tables. The monarch, blinded by the brilliance of the stolen gold, refused to stay away for the night and went to Fontainebleau. The unlucky aristocrat who dared to cast a shadow on the Sun King was arrested by the musketeers on charges of fraud of the state treasury. Sentenced to life imprisonment and deprived of connection with the outside world.
Ladies who guard the family and peace. What is the most fascinating in the history of the chateau are their legendary ladies of Vaux les Vicomte chateaux. Just some of amazing legends. The first, Marie-Madeleinede Castille, the spouse of Vaux les Vicomte, continued supporting her husband, when he received instead of three months of initial detention, later it was changed to life one. Mme Fouquet fought for her husband for many years, and recovered their family property 10 years later. Another intelligent lady was Guyonne de Durfort who during the revolution, didn’t let the castle be plundered and kept the whole situation in her hands, having given the castle to the “disposal” of the revolutionary committee and …voila …the whole furniture is still in place. One more heroic lady Permisine Cas de Dorier set up a military hospital in the chateau during World War.
The history says that the castle was built by three masters. Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV’s Superintendant, brought together an architect, Louis Le Vau, a painter, Charles Le Brun, and a landscape gardener, André Le Notre, to execute jointly the entire project. The result of this fraternal union was a work of supreme gorgeousness.
By the way, a cafe in the chateau will appeal to any lover of French cuisine
Crews and fun were present at only during the first ball. You might feel ghosts everywhere…
Why do not buy a magnet and little spoons with little squirrels on top. Yes, squirrel is emblem of the family and chateau.
On summer evenings, costume candles are held here by candlelight, we will definitely return…
Next castle was Fontainebleau chateau, Stendhal called it the “architectural encyclopaedia” and Napoleon called the “House of Ages”.
Four French monarchs were born in the Fontainebleau palace, and for many rulers it was the main residence. At present, the palace has become part of UNESCO World Heritage, and its chambers, galleries, parks and gardens are simply amazing.
I’ve learned about the Fontainebleau’s garden from BBC “The Impressionists” where young Monet, Renoir and Bazille were painting Fontainebleau forest.
In the middle of the magnificent French-style formal gardens there is the Egyptian Sphinx statue of Chateau de Fontainebleau, Paris, France. Why did it appear here, in the majestic royal and imperial château in the heart of the forest of Fontainebleau.
The chateau was the first to be conceived as a residential complex and not a bastion. Kings were born here; Napoleon signed the abdication in this room, on this chair the great commander was sitting. According to the legend Napoleon said to his subordinates “Did you want to relax? You will get your rest”.
In the chambers of Napoleon, you can immerse yourself in the time of the great emperor, who was famous for his desire to go down in history.
Gallery of Diana. The Fontainebleau’s library bathed in the sun, thanks to Italian masters, the French Renaissance was born. In the middle of the library there is a vast globe. The library contains the originals of books dating back to the 13th century.
Well next time we might visit another chateau, maybe Versailles?:)
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:)
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
Links
You might visit my personal website pages and find out more about the artwork I am offering in oil and watercolor paintings; purchase canvas prints, framed prints, and more artwork.
Tools used for my painting Watercolour used Charvin and Van Gogh brands, Pastel GrayPas Expressionist, Derwent watercolour pencils and Faber Castell artist pens. Paper Strathmore Watercolour and Mixed Media albums, 15×20 cm (6×8 in.)
PARISCityVISION agency. address: 2 Rue des Pyramides, 75001 Paris. Trip to Fontainebleau & Vaux le Vicomte
Chateau de Vaux-Le-Vicomte. address 77950 Maincy, France
Chateau de Fontainebleau. address Pl. du General-de-Gaulle, 77300, Fontainebleau, France.
I will tell about the beauty of Provence based on our experience and long relationship of 10 years that we hope will continue for many years… We felt in love the Mediterranean coast of France and their towns at once and always come back here again and again.
Toronto- Paris- Antibes itinerary, 2019. Our voyage’s feeling always started from an airport door.
People are free from problems, little life concerns, they are in between countries, continents, air is full of vibrant mixture of cultures, customs, nationalities. (my favourite scene with Kevin Kline and Meg Ryan in movie “French kiss” the take off scene Everything is behind you…)
Freedom of speaking with temporary neighbours is everywhere on a road, at any airport especially during international flights is driving my happiness as the travelling artist.
This flight was with Air France. Especially I enjoy their safety movie with five young beauties that reminds me French movie Eight Women with Catherine Deneve, Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Bėart….classic chic madams and mademoiselles and their flared dresses and coloured shoes, beautiful and stylish, back in time.
The safety video shows in funny way usually regular boring but must-be learning process. Why not be entertaining and have safety training explanation at once? 🙂
You might enjoy watching this video “Consignes de sécurité Air France – Bienvenue à bord” on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Fi4RS7aARSo
a view from airplane above Mediterranean Sea and colourful land near Nice airport
In Provence, south of France there are lots intercity buses, both speedy and local, between Nice airport and Cote d’Azur towns.
We took bus #250 that goes every 30 min from Nice airport to Antibes and then continues to Cannes, I highly recommend taking the express bus. It will save your time and energy especially on the first day of your vacation after flight.(information about the bus on the bottom of post)
I started to do my sketches right away 🙂 My watercolour painting is done with Provençal magic watercolour box Charvin. In the Nice’s store I hesitated to buy ALL of them. Finally, 12 clear sea and old Provençal roofs’ building colour paints were chosen, and the owner unexpectedly gave me one additional for luck:) Thank you, I will come back soon.
I will tell you about this wonderful place with some notes as traveller and my artist’s paintings and drawings of the Antibes, one of the Mediterranean French coast’s city with its legends, friendly people, museums, yummy food, sunny beaches, warm sea and the main important personally for me with artists’ paths.
Let’s start with one of the Antibes’ legends is about Napoleon’s family. Locals are saying that Napoleon’s mother and his sisters lived in Antibes. It is not confirmed in fact but the locals even added some explanation on a house’s sign, below is the photo from this place.
Antibes beaches with its mild colours, tender rose, blue and violet painting. I was painting this view of local houses and beach with hill surroundings. The long path leads to next town Juan les Pins, our favourite two long sandy beaches, Ponteil and Salis.
I was painting sea’s stones on Antibes’ beach. This type of sketches is relaxing time spending…
One day visited this small museum archaeological museum even without translation into English, I learned about the ancient history of this place. It was the former settlement of the Greeks, then the Romans, the Etruscans and then Galls. There are lots of underwater amphorae and wrecks off Antibes with once fine wine were raised from the bottom of the sea.
Another legend is the Etruscan learned to make wine residents of Provence’s French Galas. Interesting, isn’t it?:)
I drew one of their works of pottery’s art Etruscan vase.
10 years ago I felt for the Etruscan culture that had gone into oblivion and read some books about Etruscan culture by Jean-Paul Thuillier, Nemirovsky and Jean-Noel Robert. It opened my eyes to many things and historical events. After this we visited special Etruscan museum, villa Medici in Rome, also our local Toronto’s museum ROM has the Etruscan section has also some good exponents.
Etruscan faces on painting what remained of the exhibits expressed the display of the personality, individuality of a person’s traits. After the influence of Greek culture it started to be prettier but faceless personal features.
Another fascinated story of Antibes is about connection between the city of Antibes and Impressionism, the new art movement in 19th century. It started from Monet, my favourite artist and the creator of impressionism style. I have read book Monet and the Mediterranean book written by Joachim Pissarro several years ago that actually opened for me the city of Antibes.
Monet stayed in Antibes for 5 months in 1988 and painted lots of paintings from this place, “Antibes seen from La Salis”, “Morning at Antibes”, Gardener’s House at Antibes”,”Antibes seen from Plateau Notre-Dame, “The Gulf of Antibes”,”View of the Bay and Maritime Alps at Antibes” and others. Monet wrote to his wife Alice “What I will bring back from here will be pure, gentle sweetness.”
Winding paths, a view of the ancient city, the silver-violet color of the mountains that are visible in the distance, inviting for a romantic walk.
Old pines are handed close over the path, setting beyond the horizon highlights the sea and the city in distance.
There are some artists discovered this amazing city and landscape around it. Long path near Antibes is very popular among impressionists and post impressionists like Monet, Sisley, Cross, Signac. Their artworks made this town famous.
Everywhere on a long path you might see lots of reproductions of artists. They are standing exactly on the places where they created by different artists. This place inspired many artists and me, and might probably invite you to visit you for travelling and producing some art works.
Once came to France for our family summer vacation, my husband invented a new expression as “Gourmet Immigration”, such as a brilliant discover term. I hope we will implement it in the future.
Chocolate olives in chocolate, chic, isn’t it? Full impression that it is OLIVES. No, no, no, no, no, no! It is dark and milk chocolates in the form of black and green olives
Two ladies, maybe sisters or friends may offer any French chocolate treats. They seem like mistress of Antibes’ chocolate makers with mouth-watering chocolate or as legendary Mistress of the Copper Mountain that had everything who loves chocolate, only instead of minerals, their product made from chocolate.
Note. Mistress of the Copper Mountain is also known as the Malachite Maid, is a legendary creature from Slavic myths and a fairy tale character, the mountain spirit from the legends of the Ural miners and the Mistress of the Ural Mountains, she is depicted as a beautiful green-eyed young woman in a malachite gown.
I’m not really a fan of Picasso but his story of living in the Antibes is joyful. Picasso lived here after the Second World War when everybody’s feelings were happy because of the end of world war. Picasso drew local women Antibes, and one of his famous painting is Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon). Then suddenly he decided to learn something new, but again in his style. It was start of the new era of Picasso’s pottery.
My favourite Picasso’s expressions from this period are “I have spent my whole life knowing how to draw like a child” (J’ai mis toute ma vie à savoir dessiner comme un enfant) and “I do not seek, I find” (Je ne cherche pas, je trouve).
Picasso decided to learn how to make sculptures from scratch when the local pottery master visited Picasso’s exhibition. It turned out to be 7 years of relationship when the famous artist learned from very basic vases in his 70th at the local workshop that leaded to create the great and individual recognizable art works.
Picasso learned it for many years, and yes, it was free of charge training. However, from his side, the workshop might copy Picasso’s pottery art works originally made in this place for a certain number of times and sell this art works. They are saying that the agreement is still in force. Picasso began with simple vases, and then went on to do art in direction. Some sculptures you might see in the Antibes museum.
I’ve drawn and later finished with watercolours some of his vases. This is the advantage to being an artist, you might not allow doing photo but pencil sketch is fine for museum’s rules. Voilà!
Antibes’ locals love cats; there are some signs on the doors in the Old Town. I drew them on the location.
The market in the Antibes is particularly remarkable. Baguettes and croissants, handmade early in the morning, are sold at the market quickly. On the market you can buy real Antibes wine and Pâté de Foie Gras (goose liver) with coloured ripe vegetables and fruits Marche provencal . Address: 27 cours Massena, Antibes
Our favourite bakery was near our Royal Antibes hotel, great place that you might enjoy very close distance to Salis and private Royal beach with restaurant on it.
The bakery is just next to the beach, named La-brasserie-de-lillette. I would like to note that inside of the small store that sell croissants and other bakeries, customers are not allowed to be in their swimsuits even its a min away from the beach, please respect the “Queen” –French baguette.
Sunset in French Riviera, Antibes
You get up at 7 in the morning and you go to meet the dawn. Nowhere in the world there is no such beauty.
We visited more than 30 locations in Provence in last 10 years, and I am enjoying to paint on location, and Antibes is the city you might enjoy travel and paint with Joie de Vivre (a feeling of enjoyment of life)
Tools used for my painting Watercolour used Charvin and Van Gogh brands, Pastel GrayPas Expressionist, Derwent watercolour pencils and Faber Castell artist pens. Paper Strathmore Watercolour and Mixed Media albums, 15×20 cm (6×8 in.)
Below is information information for Nice express bus
For daily trips I recommend to buy the “Ticket Azur” that allow you to take two transport networks in succession, to complete a journey, including one change between one of the lines on the Departmental Council’s TAM network and a line on one of the following networks: Envibus (Antibes and surrounding area), Communauté de la Riviera Française (Menton and surrounding area), Sillages (Grasse and surrounding area), Bus Varmer (Carros and surrounding area), Ligne d’Azur (Nice and surrounding area), Bus Azur (Cannes and surrounding area)
Art and travel club 