Hyperbola of Nice

"Hyperbola of Nice" - Oil on Canvas

I completed this painting in spring of 2009, after my first trip to Nice, France.   I only stayed for a long weekend.  I call this painting the Hyperbola of Nice because after I returned, I felt worlds had collided, and something new had opened up inside of me.   A new energy in my life, an awakening of the spirit.   I did not know then the adventure and future that would unfold and develop for me.      

It has been almost a year since my last trip to Nice, returning with the remainder of my paintings.   I made a new years resolution to not dream or reflect back too much on the past;  to not live in the past and compare the past with the present.   In doing so, I have been able to feel a new sense of belonging in my home in Indiana, and l have not felt the restlessness that used to call me to a life far away.    I have truly found calm.  One of my friends noted that I am very "centered".   

My life here does not have all the architecture, culture, and food that I still love and miss.  Sometimes when I am walking I can feel in my world around me a dullness, and the environment (the city) is wrapped in a cold rainy grey.   But inside of me I feel a Light.   A joy inside of me that makes everything worthwhile.   A feeling of home.

I am working on a new painting.  I want it to reflect all the centeredness that I am feeling.  I am hoping to produce several of the same subject to study different textures, colors, and techniques of overlay.   It's been a slow process, but a bright spot in my life for grey winter days.

In the last week, I found myself reflecting again to all I miss overseas.   Indiana has had a few sunny days that felt like the Spring that I remembered in France and Italy.   I remembered my New Year's resolution.  I'm not ready to return yet.  I will return when I no longer anticipate how I am going to navigate through drama.   

First Oil Painting painted in the Gallery

This is the first "oil" painting that I painted in the gallery in Nice.  I arrived in Nice with a few of my favorite brushes,  a small supply of my essential oil colors, and bought the rest of my supplies while I was in Nice.  It was exciting to finally paint in the gallery in the medium that I understood completely and naturally. Although my first oil, this painting is the last painting I completed in the gallery.  

Painting while it was displayed outside the gallery

This painting represents all the wonderful days days I spent in Nice in the gallery 6 Place Vieille working as an artist,  as a painter.  The joys of working in the gallery with the doors wide open beckoning guests to enter.   Listening to music from a small radio playing jazz, classical, or romantic french music.  

There were always people passing by that would casually stop in to see the works and talk with me.  

Wine was always available to guests who stopped by to visit.  There was fresh bread and olives to eat while I worked.  I could work long shifts without a break. Cool breezes, sunshine, and the sounds of the street in Vieux Nice. It was a world of heightened creativity for me.  I had found a home.  Maybe it wasn't as much as a home in a physical place, but I had found a home within myself, the discovery of freedom to be a painter, and the gallery helped me discover that place within me.

This is the second painting I started in oils while I was at the gallery.  The  challenge of this painting was to make use of an existing painted canvas, and rework it to make something new.  The red tones and elevated textures are from the original painting underneath. 

I didn't have time to finish it during my stay.  On a later voyage, I brought it home with me to the United States with other paintings that I had in the gallery.  The image above is the completed version.

Beautiful memories I will always keep and cherish for my days I worked at 6 Place Vieille.  My life will always be growing and moving forward.  All things happen for a reason.    There was whisper inside of me, a small intuitive voice was whispering to re-discover my Dream.