2025.
In July 2025 my beloved gifted me, for our 25th anniversary, a 7-day plein-air painting workshop in the South of France. At the time, I was still somewhat blocked and hadn't painted in nearly a year. I was still in shock over all the rapid moves of 1000s of miles, and this helped me bust out of it. I had been experimenting with using a palette knife to paint with. I love the simplicity of it. You just wipe it on a towel, done. No washing, no conditioning. Plus, it helped me to get those lovely impressionist images I was chasing. The workshop is "Art in Provence". My first "real" painting in Aux en Provence was of the house belonging to the caretaker for Paul Cezanne's home. Paul Cezanne's home Mason Maria, oil on linen panel. Caroline's Vinyard, oil on linen panel. For 7-8 days (and some evenings) during an unprecedented heat wave we painted starting at 9 am for several hours, then ate an enormous French lunch, drank wine, and...