Paintings of France, Italy and Beyond

I have always had a thing for these ugly guys:

Garden Sentinel
Oil on Linen, 20×16″
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Typically you might think of gargoyles peering their gloomy countenances over the edifice of some Medieval cathedral. But there are also garden varieties, and in southern France I enjoyed seeing a number of them lurking in the shadows the private garden nooks and flower beds last year when I happened to pass by on my walks in the countryside.

Throughout the course of the spring, I’ve been trying to fashion my studio garden with favorite elements from the gardens I’ve enjoyed during my travels. It’s the feeling I’m going for more than any kind of exact replica, but I’m aiming for something of a cross between the gardens of Provence and the Aquitaine and the courtyard gardens of New Orleans and Key West. ( I plan to post some photos of my studio garden soon.)

I painted this piece en plein air in about 2 1/2 sessions. The dappled light changed very quickly in this spot, so I really only had about 1 hour per session . I had to just take note of the time of day and report back at that same time so that I could work with the same lighting conditions. I have been told that my little garden gargoyle is called a “house protector.” Dave just calls him Ed.

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
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I thought I’d continue my studio work in larger format with another three by four-footer from my trip last year to France. Still at the block-in stage, but things are starting to take shape. I think the little fishing dude at the tip of the “peninsula” will help to give a sense of scale to the line of towering poplars. :

Hopefully this WIP will progress a little more quickly than the last one I posted of Beynac. I am finding that the breaks in continuity of my time in the studio also breaks the continuity of the painting for me. I’m not using any medium, but still the paint sets up pretty quickly. Once that happens, it is a lot more work to open things back up again. I haven’t been able to manage an alla prima application for larger works like this, and sometimes an interruption in studio time can’t really be avoided. But as long as I can work at it on consecutive days,  I can work more wet-into-wet; which makes it easier for me to keep it “fresh”.  So that’s my goal for this one–maintaining a continuous flow from start to finish.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
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I did bring my watercolors with me on our recent anniversary trip to Cape Hatteras, but I really didn’t do much in the way of painting, save for this quick and light-hearted attempt below (done when we were sitting on the beach).  It just wasn’t that kind of trip.

In fact, I even forgot to bring my camera, which is a real rarity for me! In a way it was a shame, because the B& B where we stayed had a fantastic vantage point on the sound, and provided us with some of the most beautiful sunsets we’d seen in a while.  In another way, taking a real vacation to just “be”, without feeling the need to work, was quite nice and very relaxing (though, believe me, there were times when the views were so compelling that the pull was strong!)

Our room had a view, so we’d sit on our balcony each evening and watch the sun set. I never tire of doing this. You can watch the setting sun from the same spot each evening and yet each time the experience is unique. It’s the best show in town, and the sky seems to delight itself in its endless variations.

In the end, it’s just as well that I left the camera at home, because the large majority of my amateur snapshots fail to capture the depth of color and the subtler transitions from sky to water. If not painting on the spot, the next best thing is to just sit and observe and to try and commit what I see to memory as best I can.  So that’s what I did. Once we got home, I painted this little watercolor from memory:

“Sunset on the Sound”
Watercolor, 7×10″

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
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Back from our mini-vacation in Hatteras now, and I’ve finally taken the Beynac painting off of the easel to work on other things. After I’ve given it a little rest, I’ll probably do a a bit more to the water and one or two other small adjustments before I upload it to my website. But it’s more or less “done” so this will be my final “WIP” post for this painting.

“Beynac”,
Oil on Canvas, 36×48″
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This painting shows my view prior to hiking up to the top of the village to tour the château at the summit. The village of Beynac would be worth a visit just because it is so storybook pretty. But it is also the home of a magnificently preserved 13th century castle where Richard the Lionheart met his death! From the top of the Château de Beynac one can see out over the beautiful Dordogne valley in all directions.  The day I paid a visit to Beynac is definitely one of my favorite and memories of my visit to this most beautiful part of France.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
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Well, the Beynac painting is kicking my butt. I wasn’t happy with the treatment of the sky so I ended up scraping a good portion of it down and reworking it. Much happier now with it and the cliffs and village have developed nicely.

I’d intended to post the dramatic conclusion but Dave is whisking me away for a few days in Hatteras to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary and I ran out of time. I’m leaving the laptop at home (I’m posting this from the car with my Blackberry!) and will post the final when I return.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
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