Painting Lanzarote 02: Puerto del Carmen

Puerto del Carmen is located on the south-east side of Lanzarote and is among the most important tourist spots on the island. We visited it on different occasions during our 3 weeks stay in Lanzarote. The first time, we had the great -and exhausting! – idea to walk there, starting at our hotel in Arrecife. A combination of beautiful sea promenades and coastal paths wound their way from the capital to our destination, but, oh! it was a long walk! – partly circumnavigating the airport boundary with the excitement of having planes landing and taking off just above our heads. This gave me the opportunity of making a good play on words: seeing so many planes from the UK travel company Thomas Cook continuously landing, one after the other, and thinking of their advertising campaign with the great slogan:

“Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it!”

I said:

“They obviously overcooked it!”

Anyway, as we eventually reached Puerto del Carmen, I was so tired that I could not do anything else other than consume loads of drinks and food! I could not do one sketch… a very frustrating experience considering that I had gone there to paint.. .. well, at least it had been a healthy day, except for my whole body aching and the headache due to the strong winds we had to fight against.

But we spent the final week of our trip in an hotel from Puerto Carmen, and I had enough occasions to paint then.

Being one of the most important tourist resorts of Lanzarote, I was not expecting too much of the place as I am normally not fond of tourist traffic. But I did love it there, it was something of a revelation to me, there was a wonderful atmosphere, everybody seemed so happy and all restaurants, cafes and shops looked extremely welcoming.

I found the harbour quite attractive and inspiring, and did some sketches there. I especially loved the contrast between the white buildings in the background and the bold coloured boats.

As usual, the sketches have been drawn with an ink pen on the site, and I added the colours later on at the hotel. Most of the time from memory, which might explain why the colours are not especially faithful to reality. They are rather a reflection of my good moods !

These paintings, as well as many others of Lanzarote, are available directly online as Giclee print in many different dimensions, on paper, canvas and metal, and also as greeting cards. Please click on the button below to access my

FAA store

 

The Giclee prints from the above mentioned Online shop are manufactured in the USA and sent directly to the client from there. For personal or financial reasons it might not be appropriate for everybody to order their prints in the USA. Also, you might prefer to purchase my Giclee prints hand-signed. If so, you can alternatively order directly from me. Simply contact me indicating in which size. Go to

Goodaboom Boutique

to see a guideline of pricing for different dimensions.

I also sell A3 posters (297mm x 420mm) as high quality digital prints on a Heavyweight White 350gsm paper, each packed in cello with card stiffener.

Poster Price: 50 euros.

They are a great alternative to the Giclee prints, to a more affordable price.

(the price does not include packing&shipping)

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Painting Lanzarote 01: Arrecife, The Capital

As I said in my previous post, “Christmas in Lanzarote”, I just spent 3 weeks painting in Lanzarote, one of the Spanish Canary Islands. With the island being quite small, we stayed in an hotel in the main town Arrecife for the first 2 weeks, and from there, walking or driving, we made many excursions throughout the the whole island. The hotel being on the seafront, we had a wonderful view of the bay, a small harbour and part of the town itself.

The following sketch is the very first I did of Lanzarote from our hotel balcony, on the first day, just before going out and exploring the town.

Almost everywhere in Lanzarote, there is always a ferry somewhere, arriving or leaving, probably the ferries doing the traffic between the many Canary islands. I love ferries, I find them very romantic and exciting, above all when I am aboard. Having said that, they are not especially aesthetic in a painting, this is why I often use only a few lines and much white to represent them, as I did in the painting above.

In Lanzarote, at least as we were there, the weather was changing all the time and the sky was always a wild mix of blue, white and black, full of sun, wind and rain at the same time! And the sunsets were often fabulous…

As usual, all the sketches were done on site, and the water colours added later in the hotel room. It is the method which best works for me, although this way I often have to invent the colours, my visual memory not being the best.. I know, I know, lethal for a visual artist!

Arrecife is a wonderful town, full of charming and characterful places. I especially loved all the places with boats, a labyrinth of little harbours which seem enclosed into the town. One gets the impression that houses, cars and boats live together in the most peaceful and harmonic life!

Personally Arrecife enchanted me with its serene atmosphere. Everybody there seems to be in a great mood, the natives as well as the tourists. They all seem to have the ability -and the time!- to take time, the result being a very happy, relaxed ambiance. I guess they have their problems too, like everybody else, so I suppose it is their way of dealing with them which is different. It is not like the “todo bien” or “mañana” with which one has to endure all the time on the Spanish peninsula: which is in fact more a way of putting the head in the sand and postponing all problems to the next day… and eventually to the next century! But it is not like in the Caribbean Islands either, where time seems to stop and everybody needs an eternity to move from one point to the other or speak a whole sentence. No, it is something between, an apparently healthy way of going through life. I think I have learned from them a little bit in these 3 weeks, I do feel a little more relaxed since I am back, although I have to deal with bad and sad things at the moment, and even in the time we spent in Lanzarote.

These paintings, as well as many others of Lanzarote, are available directly online as Giclee print in many different dimensions, on paper, canvas and metal, and also as greeting cards. Please click on the button below to access my

FAA store

The Giclee prints from the above mentioned Online shop are manufactured in the USA and sent directly to the client from there. For personal or financial reasons it might not be appropriate for everybody to order their prints in the USA. Also, you might prefer to purchase my Giclee prints hand-signed. If so, you can alternatively order directly from me. Simply contact me indicating in which size. Go to

Goodaboom Boutique

to see a guideline of pricing for different dimensions.

 

I also sell A3 posters (297mm x 420mm) as high quality digital prints on a Heavyweight White 350gsm paper, each packed in cello with card stiffener.

Poster Price: 50 euros.

They are a great alternative to the Giclee prints, to a more affordable price.

(the price does not include packing&shipping)

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Painting in Tarascon and Ussat

 In my last entry in this diary I was writing about a painting day in Saint-Lizier. Our next destination on our trip back home to Spain through Andorra was planned to be the famous town of Foix, but as we crossed it, we were unable to find a place to park. We went on and on, so far that eventually we were far away from Foix and we both didn’t fancy going back and searching again. I was very frustrated, I must admit, as what I had seen from the town was fabulous, and I really wanted to paint it. Well, this will be for another time…

So we drove a little bit further and arrived to Tarascon sur Ariège, which we found nice enough to have a stop , sketch a little bit and spend the night.

We parked the Boomobile in a nice place along the river and rode to the town.  Tarascon is formed by the union of the lower city – at the confluence of the Ariège and Vicdessos – and an upper town, once fortified, which leans against a hill surmounted by a tower. So of course we had to leave the bikes at the bottom, as, even worse for me than to climb a hill on a bike, is pulling a bike up the hill. Being quite small, it is not really easy…

I remember an incredibly lovely and very old lady, in the centre of the upper town. As I was drinking water from the fountain in the middle of the square, she called me and explained to me with many smiles where everything was to look at, and how to go there. She really made my day, and I thought how much I wished to be like her when I am really old, all smiley and open to everything new.

Next morning first thing, the sun was so beautifully shining and the region seem so lovely that we decided to have a little bike ride before heading to Spain. We originally wanted to follow the path along the river, being quite sure there wouldn’t be hills to go up. I don’t like hills  when I am on my bike. Not that I am lazy, in fact I do love physical challenge and efforts, and I am quite fit, but there  is something about climbing a hill on a bike which seems to be too hard for my little heart. Anyway somehow we lost the river and the path and ended climbing up a hill to the little town of Ussat.

We stopped a little while there, the time used for me to rest from the climbing effort, and to make some pencil sketches in my watercolour travel pad. As usual I would add the colours later on in the Boomobile, somehow trying to remember how it looked like there but most likely letting myself be carried away from realistic colours!

Looking at these two paintings, I would say that my taste that day was quite pinky… I doubt the house there were really pink, but does it really matter? It looks nice to me!

We then left the town, rolling down the hill, towards the lower part of Ussat, called Ussat-Les-Bains. A nice place with amazingly much activity. Curious, I just had a little look about it in the Wikipedia

“…From 1771 , Ornolac Ussat-Les-Bains is known for its beneficial water sources. But it is the Baron Louis de Ornolac fraxin develops thermal activity in Ussat-les-Bains. Great personalities will visit Ussat to cures the King of Holland, Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon 1st and the poet Lamartine.

In 1845, Ussat-les-Bains know a large crowd and the Great Baths classified today become a very busy place. The baths are the property of the Hospices de Pamiers until 1982 . Today, private owners try to revive the thermal activity…”

I wished I had known all that when I was there, I certainly would have felt emotional about it…

Anyway, we rode a little bit further away, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and finally rode back home along the river. We then had a well-deserved milk coffee in the Boomobile, and then we had to leave, this time seriously heading toward Andorra without any more stops between.

These land- and townscapes from Tarascon and Ussat, as well as many others from France, are currently available as Giclee prints in different dimensions, on paper, canvas and metal, as well as greeting cards. Just click on the painting above to access my shop online.

The Giclee prints from the above mentioned Online shop are manufactured in the USA and sent directly to the client from there. For personal or financial reasons it might not be appropriate for everybody to order their prints in the USA. Also, you might prefer to purchase my Giclee prints hand-signed. If so, you can alternatively order directly from me. Simply contact me indicating in which size. Go to Goodaboom Boutique to see a guideline of pricing for different dimensions.

I also sell A3 posters (297mm x 420mm) as high quality digital prints on a Heavyweight White 350gsm paper, each packed in cello with card stiffener.

Poster Price: 50 euros.

They are a great alternative to the Giclee prints, to a more affordable price.

(the price does not include packing&shipping)

Painting in Saint Lizier

In my last entry in this diary I was writing about a painting day in Saint Girons, and how I bought a new bicycle there. Well, after the sale was concluded and the adjustments done on the bike, we rode to Saint Lizier, a famous little town very close to Saint Girons. So close that we probably would have been better served walking there, but I was so excited about the bike that I had to test it immediately. Also the sun was shining, at last, and there is nothing nicer than an easy bike ride under the sun!

Now, before I start with painting in Saint Lizier, let us see what the Wikipedia has to say about the history of this town:

“… Saint-Lizier has a rich history stretching back to pre Gallo-Roman times. In 72 BC, Pompey, returning from his triumphs in Spain against Sertorius, stopped here. He gathered together the ancient tribes of the area under the name Consorani. The ramparts seen today date from 3rd century AD and enclose the oppidum.

During the fifth century the citadel became an episcopal see, the oldest in the Ariège area. Its first bishop is thought to have been Saint Valier.

The town is named in honor of its 6th Century bishop Lycerius, canonized as Saint Lizier, a bishop who participated in the Council of Agde in 506…”

I am not a history fan me, so let us go back to the present and enjoy the sunny day there, riding along the river.

The main town though is built on a very steep hill, and no way I was willing to roll the bikes up there. We had to leave them at the bottom, after having secured them very safely to a street lamp – I certainly did not want my new bike to get stolen! We walked through the old town, then higher to The Bishop’s palace, built during the 17th century, overlooking the town and the cathedral of “Notre Dame de la Sède”.

Of Course, Kevin, who rarely shows any love towards the organised church, and especially towards their ministers, had to say:

“You know why the bishops built their palace on the highest part, even above the church, don’t you? It’s because they thought they were better than God!”

I could not help smiling… his rants against religion are always a true delight!

Anyway, here it is the view from the palace down to the cathedral… well, if I think about it, I am not sure this was the cathedral, but well, some kind of local important monument.

Whatever one might say about bishops and religion, the place was a beauty and I spent a really lovely time up there, walking around the palace and sketching. The nature was wonderful, the trees and flowers spectacular. There was even a restaurant there and Kevin, again, let his wit out:

“So typical of the French, to put a restaurant in a monastery!”

I don’t really know what it is between the English and the French, but they all seem not to miss an occasion to take the mickey out of each other! From the English, most of the time in a funny, humorous way, not far from the truth though…

On the way down we explored the centre of the town a little bit deeper and I made one more sketch of an interesting façade.

Of course there were plenty more delightful motives in Saint Lizier, but our time was short and we had to ride back home to the Boomobile, our atelier and music studio on wheels. On the way we stopped at a supermarket and bought a baguette and a “saucisson aux noix”, which I carried in my new bike basket… how cool was that!!!

If you want to know and see more about Saint Lizier, simply go to their home site. And yes, it is in English too!

These land- and townscapes from Saint Lizier, as well as many others from France, are currently available as Giclee prints in different dimensions, on paper, canvas and metal, as well as greeting cards. Just click on the painting above to access my shop online.

The Giclee prints from the above mentioned Online shop are manufactured in the USA and sent directly to the client from there. For personal or financial reasons it might not be appropriate for everybody to order their prints in the USA. Also, you might prefer to purchase my Giclee prints hand-signed. If so, you can alternatively order directly from me. Simply contact me indicating in which size. Go to Goodaboom Boutique to see a guideline of pricing for different dimensions.

I also sell A3 posters (297mm x 420mm) as high quality digital prints on a Heavyweight White 350gsm paper, each packed in cello with card stiffener.

Poster Price: 50 euros.

They are a great alternative to the Giclee prints, to a more affordable price.

(the price does not include packing&shipping)

Painting in Saint-Bertrand de Comminges – Part 2

My last post in this diary was already about painting in Saint Bertrand de Comminges. But I was in a great painting mood during these days, so I did a lot sketches and paintings which, I think, are worth a second post. And the umbrellas having been the stars of that last post, I will start with the following watercolour painting of a shepherd under his umbrella.

I love this painting! It is really rare for me to make such comments about one of my own artworks, but I must honestly admit that this one is deeply charming to me. I did it fast, really fast, giving only a quite vague impression of all the elements. You probably haven’t seen them yet, but there are some sheep around the shepherd, white holes in the surrounding nature of herbs, bushes and trees. I love the freshness of this sketch, the impression of sun and rain at the same time, the relaxed position of the shepherd, the ghostly sheep and the top of the black umbrella shining so white in the wet light… I really feel that I was inspired as I did it! Well, as it often happens, people won’t probably see why I am so complimentary about that painting, the tastes between an artist and his actual ‘fans’ being often diametrically opposed… an interesting point by the way, but it is another story and I might do a post about it one day.

It was an idea of Kevin’s in fact. I was telling him how much I loved the scene as I saw it, standing there under the rain and staring, getting wetter and wetter, but too much under the bucolic charm to be bothered. He simply said:

“Paint it!“

I first thought, I couldn’t do it, too difficult, too transparent somehow, ethereal even. But I did it, from memory, about an hour after having seen it. And probably fast enough to not be disturbed by doubts if I really should try it!

The shepherd was a really cool guy. I had seen him arriving about 1 hour earlier, driving in his 4×4 at the slowest speed behind his herd of sheep walking under the rain and guided by his dog. He parked his 4×4 where we were parked, stepped out of his car, opened his umbrella and followed his herd to the next field close to the parking. Quite the easy job, I would say, no wonder he looked so relaxed!

I remember Kevin looking at this painting above on the site, and then looking around us to the houses and also up the hill to the village, trying to identify what he saw on my painting. He could not. The reason was that I had chosen a very small part of the townscape up there, in fact just a façade with some trees and bushes in front, quite far away, and I had isolated it from the rest of the town. The result being that on the painting it looked like it was really close, as if I had zoomed it… a trick I often use. And with which I trick myself sometimes, as when I came back home here, I was first not able to identify where that painting had been done, it was Kevin who had to remind me!

The street scene below was in the upper town itself. I was seduced by the little house with the orange façade.Well, I can’t swear it was really that bold orange, but it is probably how it looked like to me, as a contrast to the surroundings.

When one looks at these sketches from Saint Bertrand de Comminges, it is hard to believe that they have been done on a very rainy, grey day. But I can’t resist to put colours everywhere when I paint. It was difficult enough to paint a sky not totally blue! And I also tend to add some flowers to the motifs when there are none or not enough… Let us consider them as a gift from me to the town- and landscapes: it is normal, isn’t it, to give thank withs flowers for having being a guest in a lovely place?

A last one for now, a sight of the lower village viewed from the upper part, and painted on our way down to the Boomobile. I guess many villages in that region look the same seen from above!

I always loved to paint “roofscapes”, series of roofs from above surrounded by trees, fields and mountains. Not an easy theme though, but I like the challenge.

I am done with that place now, the rain has not stopped once second, so it is really time to leave. My next painting stop will be in Saint-Girons, in the department of Ariège.

These land- and townscapes, as well as many others from Saint Bertrand de Comminges and France, are currently available as Giclee prints in different dimensions, on paper, canvas and metal, as well as greeting cards. Just click on the painting above to access my shop online.

The Giclee prints from the above mentioned Online shop are manufactured in the USA and sent directly to the client from there. For personal or financial reasons it might not be appropriate for everybody to order their prints in the USA. Also, you might prefer to purchase my Giclee prints hand-signed. If so, you can alternatively order directly from me. Simply contact me indicating in which size. Go to Goodaboom Boutique to see a guideline of pricing for different dimensions.

I also sell A3 posters (297mm x 420mm) as high quality digital prints on a Heavyweight White 350gsm paper, each packed in cello with card stiffener.

Poster Price: 50 euros.

They are a great alternative to the Giclee prints, to a more affordable price.

(the price does not include packing&shipping)

Painting in Saint-Bertrand de Comminges – Part 1

Some days ago I published a first travel diary about my last painting trip in the Pyrenees. I will go on today with the first real painting session I had there, painting in Saint Bertrand de Comminges. As I wrote in my first post, my original intention was to paint the Pyrenees around Tarbes, but life decided otherwise, I had many other things to do and also the weather was bad. When we finally left Tarbes, I had only a few days to enjoy in the region, but slowly heading back to Spain where I had a business appointment. Firstly, we decided to drive South-Easterly, through the Haute-Garonne and the Ariège, and we would cross the border later that week in Andorra.

So, here we go, eventually! After a beautiful, sunny drive through the wonderful Pyreneean countryside, with the mountains in the background, we arrived in the late afternoon to the French town called Saint Bertrand de Comminges.

Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. It is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (“The Most Beautiful Villages of France”) association. It is also historically an important place and became used by pilgrims as a stage on the route to Santiago de Compostela. I had never been before, but I was full of touristic trepidation, expecting wall to wall people and no room or authorization to park the “Boomobile”, our atelier and music studio on wheels. But oh quelle surprise, there was an immense, nearly empty parking at the foot of the upper town, with a majestic view to the monastery and landscapes around. No local 5 star hotel could have a better view!

I was so amazed: I mean, that town is such a tourist attraction, and nobody was there! And the sun was even shining! We were wondering if this was a clue to the financial crisis in Europe.. we see so many clues to that crisis when we travel around, and in such different ways, depending on the countries. It is is not always in your face, but when you start seeing and understanding it, it is really painful…

Anyway, it was quite late as we arrived there and we decided to relax for the rest of the day, and start exploring the town and the surroundings on the next day. I got my paints, brushes and papers out, mounted my painting table by the Boomobile and started sketching. Such a delight again!

Remember, it was already the second half of September, and autumn had already started in this region, with its gorgeous stains of yellows and browns and reds and oranges everywhere in the trees! Leaving in my Andalusian desert, I hardly know anymore what autumn is, and honestly, I am missing it. Missing not only all these warm flamboyant colours, but also the nostalgia they spread. But even more honestly: I wouldn’t change for what happened in the night and the next day: tons of water was falling from the skies! Meaning that all our plans had to be cancelled, and we just succeeded in having a walk up the hill to the upper town and around, getting back to the Boomobile totally rain-soaked through.

We both hate umbrellas… Kevin says: they do not look rock’n roll! Nevertheless: I wished we had one that day! Having said that, we saw a shop in the town, an umbrella makers! We probably missed the occasion to get a rock’n roll umbrella. In fact I just had a look on the net and found the website of the umbrellas factory: they might not be rock’n roll, but I wouldn’t mind having one of them, they do look fantastic, and what a great idea for a special gift! I wonder if Monsieur François would be so gracious to send me a free umbrella for the great advertising I am doing for him here? If so, I choose the one with the newspapers printed on it, probably the red, unisex, folding one. Now I really wished I had entered that shop that day and bought it: with such an umbrella, even rain is fun.

Anyway I found some places to partly protect myself from the rain in the town and managed doing some very fast townscapes, with ink or pencil outlines, adding the colours later in the Boomobile.

By the way, back in the Boomobile, I painted an “Impression” of Saint-Bertrand de Comminges. This is an exercise I sometimes do to exercise my memory and my loose hand. I just try to visualise in front of my inner eye what I have seen and translate it into a painting. For viewers it might have nothing to do with the subject itself, but somehow, for me, it must have, and it is certainly the best way to reproduce the subjective impression of a town. So here it is.

Probably meant to represent rain and sun at the same time, the rain for the reality, the sun for the wishes… and no idea what the big rain stain on the left side is… a fallen umbrella perhaps? Or thrown away by the people walking down the street and hurrying to M. Francois ‘s shop? Any interpretation is welcome!

I will go on in my next post with some more words and pictures about painting in Saint Bertrand de Comminges, with, in particular, a lovely painting of a shepherd under his umbrella….

These land- and townscapes, as well as many others from France, are currently available as Giclee prints in different dimensions, on paper,canvas and metal, as well as greeting cards. Just click on the painting above to access my shop online.

The Giclee prints from the above mentioned Online shop are manufactured in the USA and sent directly to the client from there. For personal or financial reasons it might not be appropriate for everybody to order their prints in the USA. Also, you might prefer to purchase my Giclee prints hand-signed. If so, you can alternatively order directly from me. Simply contact me indicating in which size. Go to Goodaboom Boutique to see a guideline of pricing for different dimensions.

I also sell A3 posters (297mm x 420mm) as high quality digital prints on a Heavyweight White 350gsm paper, each packed in cello with card stiffener.

Poster Price: 50 euros.

They are a great alternative to the Giclee prints, to a more affordable price.

(the price does not include packing&shipping)

Painting in The Pyrenees

So, we are back home, about 3 weeks after we left for a painting trip to France. Well, it was meant to be a painting trip, but for many different reasons, some of them personal, others professional or due to the weather, it became something else and there was not so much painting involved. Never mind, it was great to be away. Going away from home always refreshes my brain, heart and soul. And in this case even my body as we had to face some low temperatures after the extremely hot summer we just came from.

We started with our Boomobile (our 7 metres long atelier and music studio on wheels) from where we live, in Turre, Provincia de Almeria, Andalusia, Monday the 10th of September 2012. We drove directly to Benidorm, where we had a wonderful family reunion with my parents -who live there half of the year- and with my brother and his painter wife Isabelle -normally living in Paris-, and who were spending some holidays in the region. I hadn’t seen them for a while, and it was great to catch up with them, and once again to browse through the beautiful sketches Isabelle had made of the surrounding trees and mountains. I of course had no time to paint, but here is a painting of Benidorm I did some years ago when I was still living not far from there.

Everybody who knows Benidorm would say that it has no artistic attractiveness at all, being just a boring alignment of hundreds of skyscrapers, but I think I did quite a good job there with my gouache and painting knives!
On the 12th we hit the road very early, having on board my parents and their Pyrenean shepherd dog Maya. You might want to see how our passengers looked like, so here they are. First a double portrait of my parents, in pastel chalk and coloured pencils, painted about 10 years ago

And a watercolour portrait of the dog Maya, who really looks like the mountains where she comes from!

Our aim was to reach Tarbes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, the same day. A long trip for a motorhome, about 800 kilometres, where we rarely do more than 200 kilometres a day, and often even less, simply enjoying to be out there and free. But we were in a hurry, having an appointment in Tarbes the next day. Tarbes is the main town of the High Pyrenees, and also the town were I was born, and where I spent the first years of my childhood. And the town where my parents now spend the other half of the year. The trip went without problems, the weather was still fine at that point, and we crossed the Pyrénées at the C0l du Pourtalet, this time without snow. As always I was amazed by the beauty of these mountains and surrounding landscapes, although I do prefer them covered with snow, as they were last time when we crossed them at the same place, early spring about 2 years ago. Somehow my artist soul always feels nostalgic when I go to the Pyrenees: I was too young as we moved away when I was a child, and had not yet developed sensitivity and fascination for the beauty of nature. What a waste!

We arrived in Tarbes early evening and as always I felt quite emotional to be there. Emotional, but also torn, in the sense that I have no idea if I should feel home there, or not.. somehow I do, mainly because my roots are there, and I have some second grade family still living in the region.

The time in Tarbes was filled with some appointments and other personal matters, and I had unfortunately no time to paint. Although the weather was not good at all, almost all the time. It is always amazing, when you live in something like a desert, which is more or less where we live, with very high temperatures many months of the year and hardly rain, to be suddenly immersed in rain and cold. And as always one forgets about it, and arrives there with no appropriate clothes!

Here is a sketch of Tarbes I did 2 years ago in Spring. It is probably not very representative of the town itself, but I liked the happy motive, a little house among blossoming trees and flowers behind the area where we were parked with our Boomobile.

So, that’s it for now. In my next trip post, I will write about our stay in Saint-Bertrand de Comminges and show of the paintings and sketches I managed to do there.

These land- and townscapes, as well as many others from Spain and France, are currently available as Giclee prints in many dimensions, on paper and canvas, as well as greeting cards. Just click on the painting above to access my shop online.

The Giclee prints from the above mentioned Online shop are manufactured in the USA and sent directly to the client from there. For personal or financial reasons it might not be appropriate for everybody to order their prints in the USA. Also, you might prefer to purchase my Giclee prints hand-signed. If so, you can alternatively order directly from me. Simply contact me indicating in which size. Go to Goodaboom Boutique to see a guideline of pricing for different dimensions.

I also sell A3 posters (297mm x 420mm) as high quality digital prints on a Heavyweight White 350gsm paper, each packed in cello with card stiffener.

Poster Price: 50 euros.

They are a great alternative to the Giclee prints, to a more affordable price.

(the price does not include packing&shipping)

Dawn after Dawn…

NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW

www.mikidegoodaboom.com

NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW…NEW

Dawn 25 – Watercolour by Miki

Some of my new, or simply new published watercolour lose paintings from the series

“Times of The Day”

They are the kind of paintings which most relax me or calm me down when i need it… to me they are pure

PEACE…

I painted the one above, Dawn 25, very early this morning, in fact at dawn, after my partner left in the middle of the night to fly to a gig to Germany. After he left I could not sleep anymore, and I saw that wonderful day arising from behind our mountains…

Dawn 27 – Watercolour by Miki

And this one had been painted in 2007 according to the date written above my signature… I don’t remember where the inspiration came from. But judging by the little simple white house behind the pink trees, certainly from somewhere in Spain…

Both, as usual, are available directly online as Giclee print in many different dimensions, on paper or canvas, and also as greeting cards. Just click on the images themselves or on the widgets below to access my FAA Gallery

The Cats and The Potamos of Cyprus

CAThedratical in Cape Gkreko - Watercolour and ink travel sketch, by Miki

We spent 4 days in Ayia Napa, and unfortunately the weather was not the best. Sunshine, but constantly alternating with heavy rains and wind. Consequently, we could not visit the places around Ayia Napa as much as I wanted, and of course, sketching on the sites was quite impossible. Still we managed to make a trip East of Ayia Napa, on the coast, to the Cape Gkreko. This is where I was first really confronted with “The Cats of Cyprus”. I had met one the day before in the cemetery of Ayia Napa, but this was quite normal, I thought, cats go usually to cemeteries when they go out. In Cape Gkreko though, they had taken over the church! I sketched the one who seemed to be the boss. He majestically modelled for me like an archbishop for a Vatican painting. Well, who knows? The Vatican might be interested!

From that moment on, I noticed that cats were everywhere in Cyprus. One day I even saw a T-Shirt featuring “All The Cats of Cyprus”: .

big mouth cat, stoned cat, seriously pissed-off cat, horny cat, romantic cat, wicked cat, shy cat, confused cat

Yes, by the time we left Cyprus I had met them all and they constantly appear in my  paintings. I apologise to all my followers who are allergic to cats, but I really had no chance of keeping them away!

On our last day in Ayia Napa, we went west to the coast, to a little harbour called Potamos …. It was a weird place, chaotic somehow, but very romantic too, as if from another time…

Potamos Liopetri 01 - Watercolour and ink travel sketch, by Miki

At some point while we walking along the beach at the end of the harbour, Kevin suddenly stopped and said:

“Potamos… does it mean river?

“Don’t know…”

and I felt some ancient anger emerging from the depths of my delicate soul .. I will tell later why…

“Look, the hippopotamus.. they are river horses aren’t they? Hippo means horses, right?”

I must say, that guy is sometimes very clever! I gave him a big hug for that and added:

“There is Mesopotamia too… could be true, you know!

I loved that logical explanation, but  so far I haven’t checked if it is right… too scared that it isn’t. But from that moment, we called “potamos” every river or stream we saw in Cyprus and Crete , big potamos, little potamos, dry potamos, wild potamos, confused potamos, pissed-off potamos, etc… sounded really cultivated! When I was young I  had 8 eight years of Latin at school, and I adored it, I really did. Nobody could ever understand that, but I found it very exciting. As a third language (the first being English) I wanted to take ancient Greek, but my father said no. I had a hard time understanding why, as my two brothers before me were forced to learn it. And then along came me and I wanted to do it, of my own free will, and I was not allowed. Instead I had to learn Spanish, and to cap it all, with a black-bearded teacher I hated. Ridiculous!  I still haven’t forgiven my father for that!

Potamos Liopetri 02 - Watercolour and ink travel sketch, by Miki

As I said, this Potamos was quite chaotic . Some of the places right by the docks looked like as if people had their living room there…

Old and Lonely in Potamos Liopetri - Watercolour and ink travel painting by Miki

In this painting the whole décor is faithful to the place, but to be honest, the old man himself was not really there. But I am sure that he often sits in this armchair, at sunset, thinking of all the fishes he caught in this potamos when he was younger…

These paintings are available directly online as Giclee print in many different dimensions, on paper or canvas, and also as greeting cards. Just click on the widget below to access my FAA Gallery

My Home on Planet Goodaboom

My Home on Planet Goodaboom - by Miki

Sometimes, when I have nothing better to do, or just lack an energy to start a new painting, I revisit some of my immense drawers where hundreds of my past paintings are stocked. These are paintings from a time -not long ago really-  when I was not bothered with any kind of digitalisation and publication.  Painting is fab, but everything involved in the process of having them published on the net is awfully boring and time taking. In fact quite practical that I have these uncreative moments sometimes, at least I can do the boring job meanwhile!

Anyway, some days ago, I found per accident, not in a drawer but in  a big travel folder, loads of watercolours paintings, which I did not even remembered.  They are scenes from around the place where I live with my English Rocker: Planet Goodaboom! On that Planet everything is wild, and passionate, and loving: the Rocker, the skies, the trees, the houses, the sea, the mountains, me, etc…

You can see above our home on Planet Goodaboom. Well, it was like that as we started here and I painted it. It is a little bit bigger now, having gradually added some more rooms to be able to stock all the drawers full of paintings and all the guitars. But it is still an enchanting home, cosy and cut from the rest of the world, a love island, kind of…

A Village on Planet Goodaboom - by Miki

And this is a village nearby, with houses like piles of sugar cubes behind curtains of blossoms…

Well, I hope you love my Planet. If you love it so much that you want to have it on your walls, it is available directly online as Giclee print in many different dimensions, on paper or canvas, and also as greeting cards. Just click on the widgets below to access my FAA store

And more generally you can see all the stuff I paint by going to my gallery “Miki’s Enchanted World”. Just click -gently!- on my face.