Animansouis

One of the joys of being in Sud-Luberon are the weekly croquis drawing classes in Ansouis. Or classes is maybe not the right word, because we do not really have a teacher. We just hire a model, meet and draw for two hours, accompanied by classical music and, in true French style, have some bottles of wine and eat snacks. Thus the whole thing also functions as an “apero” before dinner. But the main thing is drawing.

The whole thing was started just a little more than a year ago, and has become a real success. Even in the quiet of winter there have never been less than ten participants, and now that the season is slowly starting again and the seasonal birds are returning we were close to twenty last Wednesday. The participants are a mixture of professional, semi-professional artists and happy amateurs, and it all works very well. Everybody is enjoying the opportunity of working together like this, and everyone is very supportive. The area is full of artists who are interested in hiring models, so there seems to be no shortage of people who do modeling.

There will be an exhibiton again this spring, and thanks to the village of Ansouis. We will get one exhibition space for free. The mayor of the village, a very important person in France, has been very supportive of the whole enterprise, the only requirement being that we form an association, which has been done. After that everything has benn easy, and the space where the weekly drawing classes are held is also free. One doesn´t have to do a lot to keep an otherwise pretty sleepy village alive also in winter, so that not everyone and everything is totally dependent on the short tourist season. Which otherwise is the case.

Provence revisited

A little more than a week has gone by in Sud-Luberon, and it feels as if we have been here for ever. It is really like coming home. And what a joy to feel so very welcomed by everyone. Happy faces and smiles everwhere, bienvenue, quel plaisir de vous voir!

We are moving towards summer, changing to daylight saving time, but really it doesn´t even feel like spring yet. Nights have been cold, even with frost, and day temperatures have only a few times risen above +15. More like +10 most days, frankly, and that sounds like Provencal winter to me. Sure, it is a lot warmer than Finland, but still cold. Especially as houses here are never really warm inside, particularly not old ones.

All the almond trees in the region are in full bloom, a month late. Not a lot of spring flowers yet, although we did see the blue anemonies (anemone hepatica) that are one of the first sign of spring up north on our Sunday walk. This was the first time I´ve ever seen them in France. And we saw some primulas and violets. Which tells me there is hope!

Down Under II

After Heron Island the rest of our time in Sydney was spent with family and friends, walking, talking, swimming, snorkling and celebrating Christmas and New Years Eve. We also explored everything even remotely interesting we could find at Sydney Festival. The programme first didn’t look very interesting at all, but then there turned out to be some really good performances after all. And some nice exhibitions!

Some days were very windy…

And swimming didn’t feel like the best alternative.

And we went to The Blue Mountains,

We also visited Wendy’s garden for the first time. A remarkable place! What a job to turn that scrapyard into a charming and pleasant garden. Hopefully it will not be destroyed when the lease runs out.