English is my second language so bear with me!
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Hi, I hope you're all well and not melting away. Unfortunately, this isn't something to joke about; our planet is literally burning. But I don't want to put a downer on you, this post is a simple summary of what I did in July and the first half of this month. You can vote for your favorites, if you wish to do so: at the end of this post you will see this button:
I’m starting with the painting of the lake at Lispach, from a photo I took on a beautiful autumn afternoon. This time, I blocked out the shapes with wax pastels and then went over them with acrylics. I don't know if anyone else has used this technique, mixing oil and water? Not ideal. But it works and also allows me to be faster, which I need to do to stock up on what I sold at the market.
Speaking of which, there I am, surrounded by what I do! The art and craft market is a learning experience: I enjoy the speed I've acquired in setting up and dismantling everything, the interaction with customers and other stall holders, and also the daily unpredictability. I expected people to buy more reproductions and postcards (cheaper), but they seem to gravitate toward my one-of-a-kind pieces. Hence the need to work quickly.
This is one of my new works: "Trout Lake," or rather, a watercolor version of a painting I'd done previously. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the color of the sky right in the photo.
This is a photo a friend sent me from her vacation in the South of France, in the Pyrenees region. This work isn't new, but I shared it for the first time this month on Substack.
One of my favorite places: Le Haut du Tot. Once again, a watercolor version of my previous, larger acrylic piece.
This is a winter scene from one of my photos. I'm not sure if the colors reflect the presence of snow, so I decided to call it “Winter full moon night”. It’s already found a new home!
This year we decided to let some carrots grow and flower. They created these beautiful white-veiled parachutes, filled with insects. This was sold yesterday, destined for the Netherlands.
Okay, this isn’t what I usually do, and I don't like to overuse the word "fun," but this was fun, if not downright meditative. I hate wasting things, and when I have some leftover paint, I usually spread it out in a sketchbook and hope for the best. And so a splintered cat and other oddities began to take shape, and then I simply filled in the blanks.
Another first time share of an old sketch. We're in Montpellier (beautiful), last September, under the shade of a row of plane trees. Unfortunately, I contracted Covid during the trip, only realizing it afterwards, so I wasn't feeling very well and wasn't able to sketch much.
Another old one: tulips on black paper. I love how the pastels pop against the black background.
We managed to pick some blueberries in the woods behind our house and this is a byproduct of the day!
One of my favorite places in the area: the Balveurche. On Tuesdays we hold the market on the far shore of the lake you see in the painting.
This is my latest little one. People really like the reproduction of my large canvas of Fischboedle Lake, but unfortunately they want the original (long sold). So I came up with this postcard-sized watercolor.
I'd love to know which one is your favorite, or better yet, your top three! I'm always surprised that what I consider my best work isn't necessarily what draws people in.
Thank you for reading.
Until next time, Ivan.