Villages in the Vaucluse

(c) John Graham, 2015

Painting architecture can be quite difficult. So many perspective lines, so many opportunities to go wrong! Conventional wisdom tells us that if an architectural element is wrong, the viewer feels immediately off balance and knows something is amiss. Nonetheless, the villages of Provence turned out to be favorite motifs for the painters in our recent workshop group. (True confession:
I borrowed the title of this post from the book written by the sociologist Laurence Wylie, who lived in Roussillon for a year and wrote a magnificent classic about the area and its people, "Village in the Vaucluse". If you love Provence, it is not to be missed).

(c) Aeron Mack, 2015

The top painting comes from John Graham. He sneaked into the village while the rest of us were painting landscapes on the outskirts of town--and look what he came back with! Beautiful. Love the shadow shapes, and the great sense of distance. The second painting is  from the brush of Aeron Mack. This was a bold one, with so many unusual architectural elements, and Aeron handled it beautifully. Wonderful simplification, and such interesting shapes. Brava, Aeron!

(c) Tracy Burk, 2015

The painting just above is the work of Tracy Burk. Another lovely village scene. I especially like the way Tracy captured the downhill perspective of this village lane. It's a painting that you feel as if you could walk into.

I didn't have any village paintings during the workshop that are blog-worthy. But I did visit a nearby "hamlet" after the workshop, and came away with the painting below. I wish now that I had been more adventuresome with my village work during the workshop. Next time! 

"Flowerpots at Les Huguets"
Oil on linen, 18 x 12
(c) Lesley Powell, 2015