One of my favorite museums in Toulouse is Musee des Augustins. The museum is housed in a former Gothic convent with lots of rooms and winding passages to explore. The cloister is a highlight of the museum for me personally as lining the sides of the cloister are gargoyles, brought down and exhibited at ground level to see up close and personal.
From Wikipedia:
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building. The term originates from the French gargouille, originally “throat” or “gullet”;[1] cf. Latin gurgulio, gula, and similar words derived from the root gar, “to swallow”, which represented the gurgling sound of water.
Today, after morning market, I’ll venture into Toulouse. It is an hour’s drive through rolling fields of hay and beautiful vistas all the way to the Pyrenees (only about an hour and a half away).
Toulouse is an university town and is vibrant with lots of cultural activities, markets, flea markets, one of my favorite museums (more about that next week), loads of cafes, boutiques and a pedestrian-only central area called Le Capitole.
There are mosaics around the city, some hidden, some easy to find, including at the Museum of Contemporary Arts. The outside of the building is flanked by huge mosaics beautifully done.
Today’s events are a music and cultural festival called Rio Loco celebrating the cultures of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Should be very interesting and fun- I’ll let you know!
The Saturday market in Revel has been going on since the 14C. This market is one of the best in the region, has been designated one of the 100 Most Beautiful Markets in France and it does live up to that honor! Around the covered central square and spilling out onto the spokes(streets) off that square is a wealth, a cornucopia of beautiful seasonal fruits and veggies, breads, cheeses, pastries, meats, olives and tapenades and more- a feast for the body and eyes. Everything is artfully arranged and the pull to sketch and take photos cannot be ignored.
I’m planning to mix of palette of summer colors- the colors I see in the ripe apricots, tomatoes still on the vine, fresh ground spices and the beautiful white to green asparagus- this week and see what polymer clay goodies might come forth from this market inspiration!
I’m finally settling in and have created a small art studio space in my room (the large studio is already cleaned and set up for the upcoming classes). I’m ready to ignite my creative spark!
I do best with beginning, experimenting. exploring and playing if I set some small “tasks’ to focus on. For the next couple weeks I am making a simple drawing a day (pen and ink)-something that captures my eye- either inside the house or outside in the village.
And also a photo study exploring two of my camera settings- the macro lens and a setting I just discovered: a color setting that allows me to shoot in B/W, sepia, warm tones or cool tones. I didn’t know I had this option (I guess it pays to read the manual)!
Tomorrow I leave for La Belle France. My plan is to post weekly here about what I am seeing and doing, and how these new surroundings will inspire the art work I will be doing.
Will it affect my color palette? (I hope so! the Provence tablecloths and Jacquard dishtowel colors are beautiful)
How about the architecture and landscapes I will see- what kinds of new shapes and forms may inspire new jewelry or sculpture?
Please join me here every week and let’s discover together how a new place can lead to a new perspective of art making!
In the current issue (May/June 2009) of Somerset Studio magazine, is my two page article on Capturing Ancient France- an overview of my workshop last year at La Cascade. La Cascade is the beautifully renovated artist retreat house owned by Gwen Gibson, where I hold workshops each summer. This July will be my sixth summer there. It has become very special to me and the highlight of my year.
Please read and enjoy the descriptions and pictures of what we did, where we went and the fun we had. I’m gearing up for this July’s two workshops and if you would like to join me for next years in July 2010 we’ll be there during the glorious sunflower season.
I’d love to share this dreamy place with you! Go here for a description and please email with any questions!
I’m just about finished here at John Campbell 
Folk School and will be traveling to home sweet home tomorrow. Its been a great two weeks teaching here but always nice to get home.
This will be short as class is about to start, here’s a couple pics of what we worked on this week!
Just a quick post to say hi as I am right in the middle of teaching here at the John Campbell Folk School.
Its been a great week of Adventurous Dolls and I’m looking forward to next week’s class -
Polymer Clay for Book Arts.
I have a day off tomorrow and will drive to Chattanooga to see a dear friend for the day, then back here on Sunday.
Here’s a pic of the type of figures we worked on!
Today I leave to drive down to San Francisco to fly out early tomorrow to the John Campbell Folk School to teach for two weeks. I’m four hours away from the airport so my travel days are long. The saving grace is that the drive is a beautiful one.
The landscape has started to change here with the rolling hills becoming very green from the winter rains. And the California poppies are springing up alongside the roads. The landscapes provide me with inspiration for design shapes and color palettes.
Here’s a collage I made by “weathering and antique-ing” photos I took from my workshop in France (click on France link above for 2010 info).
Take a walk this weekend and record the color palette you see around you. That lovely shade of “spring green”, that unique color of the California poppies and…….
Leave some non-creative task unfinished from the day before- gluing on pin backs, hanging earrings on display cards- Do a simple line drawing of something in my studio (a bowl, a flower) during the first ten minutes I am there
- Take an object (vase, small figurine) and photograph it in my studio in a new environment when I first arrive
- Lay out a selection of fabrics, polymer clay, collage papers on my studio desk the night before
- Choose and lay out a page from one of my idea journals on my studio desk the night before to contemplate as soon as I arrive
- Lay out a selection of paint chips for inspiration for a new color palette for that day’s work
- Collect pictures from a magazine and arrange by color or texture for inspiration for new ideas
- Set aside first half hour to look at a magazine or book for pleasure- ideas will follow!
- Set a deadline -self-imposed- to get working
- Have a chocolate chip cookie waiting on my work desk
******* Still not able to get comments so hope you’ll contact me at dayledoroshow@hotmail.com-thanks
