Watercolour House Portrait Commission

Two months into the year and this is my first post. I have been neglecting the diary and will attempt to get back up to date.  This will mean some serious posting as we have loads of new paintings to show you. I'll start with a watercolour painting which was a commission of a house in the Charente. 

House Portrait Commission - Watercolour 40x30 cm

The second painting is also a watercolour, of our local hamlet.  I started this while we were at a market with our paintings.  Working while trying to sell is a good talking point and attracts a bit more interest.  It also demonstrates that we really are the creators of the paintings which we are displaying.  A lot of people ask this question.

Village Scene, France - Watercolour 24x18 cm

Two acrylic paintings - French Towns

Fran completed the first of these paintings in response to an enquiry by a man who lives on this side of the town.  He bought a watercolour of the château at La Rochefoucauld and wondered whether we had any of Montbron.  Fran painted this view from the basse ville by the river and it was sold at the market in Piégut before we even had the chance to exhibit it in Montbron.

Approaching Montbron - Acrylic 30x20 cm

This next painting is the southern approach to our local village of Varaignes in the Dordogne region of France.  Fran painted this to exhibit at the Foire Aux Dindons which is a big turkey festival held in the village every year.  It hasn't been sold yet but we will be exhibiting it again next Sunday at the Christmas Market.

Approaching Varaignes - Acrylic 30x20 cm

Two watercolour paintings - Market Scenes

Every Wednesday morning a huge market is held in the Dordogne town of Piégut.  Throughout the milder months we are there every week with our stand of original paintings and greeting cards. At this time of the year the market becomes smaller and is naturally not so busy.  Our attendance over the next few months will be dependent on the weather but we hope to go at least every other week.  I have taken several photographs around the market and the two following paintings are the latest based on photos taken there.

Market day coffee break - watercolour 30x20 cm

At the vegetable stall - watercolour 30x20 cm

Pet Portraits

We have set up a new website concentrating on pet portraits. As it is Fran who more frequently paints animals the site is www.franspetportraits.com.

This is Toby, a mini schnautzer...

Harvey the greyhound...

Holly the chocolate labrador

Watercolour paintings

On 23 October there is an Autumn Fair in the Dordogne village of Bussière-Badil, a small place dominated by its church which was once part of a Benedictine abbey and became a priory in the 14th century.  I've painted several pictures of the church which never quite seem to capture its size.  This painting concentrates on the front façade and I've included a figure to help indicate scale.  We'll be exhibiting our paintings at the fair and I'm hoping to attract some interest in this one.

 

Watercolour painting 30x20 cm - Front Façade, Bussière-Badil Church, France 

On a totally different subject is this painting of a line of washing with the sunlight creating some good shadows. This was taken from a photograph by Valerie Rosen whose work can be found HERE

 Watercolour painting 30x20 cm - Watercolour Wash

Flowers

Fran has recently completed this painting of hollyhocks which was taken from a view in our small hamlet.  These flowers are blooming at the moment and seem to be able to grow anywhere, even out of cracks between pavement and walls.  This is an acrylic painting on paper 40x25 cm.

Acrylic painting - Hollyhock Cottage

The next three paintings are small acrylics on canvas 20x20cm. We display them mounted on small easels which can be supplied with the painting at no extra cost.

   

Two watercolour paintings of Gordes, France

The first painting I did of this hilltop village in the Vaucluse region of southern France attracted a good deal of attention and was sold fairly quickly, so I decided to paint another version from the same viewpoint but using different colours.  I still prefer the first version but the second one has a certain appeal, I think.

Watercolour painting 30x20 cm - View of Gordes, France

Watercolour painting 30x20 cm - View of Gordes, France