Going Back

Acrylic on Canvas- 25"x 32"
tableau de Yannis

I call this painting tableau de Yannis.   While I was in Nice 2010, I asked Yannis for his advice several times for the direction I should take with this painting. 

I met with Yannis and Paulin again in September. It has been the first time to see them in five years.   It was good to see the gallery again.  It was time to go back, no regrets.   They have shared with me a significant part of my life that will not be forgotten, and for their friendship, I am grateful. 

There was always laughter between the three of us.  We were the three artists.  The best moments were spent filling my sketch book with characters and scenes while drinking vin chaude or beer in the afternoon.  We spent hours in bars sitting at a table, telling our stories conveyed in small caricature drawings.  There was once a day we spent a few too many hours at one of our favorite bars.  Our laughter and behavior started to become a little too disruptive, and eventually we were asked to leave.  There was much joy between the three of us. 

les trois amigos

 It felt good to be back again, like a second home, seeing them, and knowing that there could still be a small part of me in them as well. 

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.