Returning to Castelnau de Montmiral & the Painting School of Montmiral is keeping me out of mischief, challenging, motivating for the work I already have planned for this period in the Tarn, paintings for the expo next December, “Gaillac, Surprising Vines”.
We have other artists here to interact with, stimulation to add to the ‘much to do’.
I have been invited ‘back to school’, the school and it’s teacher Francis Pratt represent in my opinion, to both the professional and the aspiring artist a unique and rare opportunity which will not be available for ever. Francis is now semi retired and only offers 2 courses per summer thus for how much longer we know not.
Francis is quite the most knowledgeable art teacher I have ever met and that includes my 5 years in art colleges.
Credit where due, for example, from the time of my first course here at CdM I have never since ‘worried’ about drawing and was set upon a course that has enabled me to make many discoveries about the use of colour and how others perceive that use..
The methods of teaching drawing and colour he employs have since I first attend a course in 1989 greatly influenced my thinking and work.
If I recall correctly he says he learnt from a Pole who had learnt from Pierre Bonnard who learnt from Paul Cezanne; thus you can become a descendant of Cezanne by studying at CdM !!!
Tomorrow I will focus on continuing to design paintings of the beautiful Tarn region some of which will be highly experimental, with more use of symbolic motifs thus related to the ‘Odd Socks’ discussions I’ve had with Linda Winter and a few others.
The results will I hope be a mess.
I like all ship shape and cleared for action, however a painterly mess has possibilities maybe good, bad, bizarre, you tell me…
Certainly this will be a push into an ocean for which I have only rudimentary charts.
I’ve taken big risks by coming here.
I am very fortunate to have Francis Pratt and fellow artists to consult, very good luck, the timing smells ‘right’.
Who knows what the results will be…?
As the designs develop there is a good chance I will produce as per Linda’a challenge, at least “7 images in 7 days”.
