Cyanotype

Cyanotype of a sunlit forest path.

Lately I have been experimenting with a somewhat magical old photographic technique called cyanotype. Basically one mixes a couple of chemical solutions together, paints the resulting photosensitive mixture on watercolor paper, allows the paper to dry thoroughly, places a negative onto the prepared paper inside a clamped glass frame and allows it to be exposed in the sun for a few minutes. The print is then developed in running water. Voila. You get an interesting all-blue image.

This winter we set up a darkroom off the atelier which allows me to explore some of these simple techniques that seem a natural extension of printmaking to me. If you have an interest in old photographic image-making methods, visit my Pinterest board on the subject, to find some wonderful links. Step-by-step directions for making your own cyanotypes are found there. The community that embraces this craft tends to be very warm, helpful and enthusiastic, so feel free, as I did, to ask questions of the experts. In my experience they always answer.

I started by using photographs for my prints, which lose a lot of detail of course, but can look quite interesting and moody. The technique works perfectly well for drawings and collage also. I haven't tried it, but apparently it even works with leaves and other organic materials.

On Lynda.com you can take a class with Brian Taylor who uses cyanotype as a first step in a process that adds color with another chemical on top of the blue. I have bought the chemical and begun to experiment with this further refinement, but have not so far gotten anything worthy of sharing with you. Brian makes beautiful books out of his images and explains his entire process from start to finish in the on-line course. When I want to treat myself, I buy a month of Lynda.com access and I have found some really wonderful courses there. Brain's was one of my favorites.

Here is a gallery of my first attempts at this interesting technique. My favorite image is the last one. It was actually made with a positive, rather than a negative, so that everything which was meant to be black turned white and everything else turned a shade of blue. This was a collage I put together in Photoshop with a map imposed on top of a photograph of a local church. I was amazed and delighted with the detail of the map lines and type, which are completely legible in the resulting image. In that one I am showing you how the edge of the paper looks with the solution painted on a bit randomly. I like the way the whole thing turned out. I feel inclined to leave the image uncut and incorporate the sloppy edge as part of the final presentation.

Made from a negative. The lake at La Ferté-Bernard

Emily in a Paris café. I like the detail out the window. The mid-tones, however are almost completely lost. Still, I am happy with the mood.

Made from a positive of a pencil drawing.

Photoshop collage

The church at Lavardin with a map superimposed over the image. Here I used a positive, so tones are reversed.

On Days Like These

Some trees are already in bloom

While waiting for winter to arrive, spring sneaked in through the back door. This is the first year since moving to France that there has been no snow at all and barely even a frost. The past week has been so mild that we almost have to believe winter really won't arrive this year. The forecast proclaims another ten days of sunny, warm weather. Certainly the world around us has moved on, and is preparing itself for the next season. If a big blast of cold does arrive, it will be more devastating now, as the natural world is going along on the assumption that it's time for spring activities.

On days like these...

View from our front windows at about 7AM

the sun rises over the green valley and bathes the sky in bright color. The road leading through the forest and then on towards Paris runs like a shinny ribbon toward the horizon.

Front door to the terrace and interior door leading to the atelier

Sun streams through open doors creating a play of light on the wall. The front doors stay open all morning.

Front hall, client kitchen and stairway beyond

Bright accents of golden light dance slowly across the floor, illuminating some corners, concealing others.

Stairwell leading to the second floor

The sun through windows makes bold strokes on walls, against which shadows are dark and well-defined.

View from our bedroom skylight

Bedding is left out to freshen in the warm air.

A bright bunch of tulips on the table in the entry

 Tulips, daffodils and other spring flowers bloom and grace tables with their enthusiasm for life.

Front terrace where our chaise longue has come out of winter storage

Morning sunbaths on the terrace are back in style.

A sparrow and morning dove surveying the village from our roof

 Birds return to town, filling the air with their happy, purposeful banter.

Typical Perche landscape with the green green grass and contented cows in a symbiotic relationship

Outings are made. We have gone into the the Perche several times, most notably to see the newly purchased bungalow of our American friends Dawne and Dean. We met them last fall when they stayed at Maison Conti. They are slowly pulling up roots in New York and starting a new life in the Perche countryside.

Photo by Dawne Polis

Along with Jonathan and Renata, we lunch in Mortagne-au-Perche near the charming cottage that now belongs to Dawne and Dean.

One of my work stations in the studio

The atelier is bright and inviting.

Hand colored photo etching of one of my drawings in progress

I spend leisurely hours, working on many projects while Rick is away from home on a construction job for Dawne and Dean.

Latest etching project

And I begin a rather large etching plate of bare trees, the last image inspired by winter I think!

View from our back windows at about 7PM

 

 

 

Days end as they began, with apricot-colored skies.

Lost in Time

February Sunset

I guess my friends and family wonder what has become of me. Certainly I have found it hard to keep up with my blogging, and all other forms of communication it seems. Days roll by in a haze of activity, but when I look back at what I have accomplished I hardly know how to account for the time.

We have been experiencing an incredible winter, with skies so blue and sun so bright some days that it is hard to concentrate on anything else. While people in England are drifting away in flood waters, we here in northern France hardly know it is still winter. We shouldn't get complacent I know, as last year Easter was much colder than Christmas. One prefers having the seasons at the proper time of year! Local conventional wisdom suggests that frosts are possible, even likely, well into May. So far this winter our temperatures have been nowhere near that low. We have started to spend a little time in the garden, already anticipating spring.

Finally, we also finished our studio renovations, which included a new piece of furniture which Rick put together for me. It was designed with my friend Gail Rieke's beautiful suitcase wall in mind:

Gail Rieke's studio in Santa Fe

Of course I don't have all those beautiful old valises and I don't make the kind of art that Gail does. Each one of those suitcases on the wall contains an entire journey world, a journal of a specific voyage that Gail has taken. If you're lucky enough to visit her on one of her open studio days, she just might unpack one of them for you. They are not just random things thrown into a container. Not at all. Each is an incredible assemblage.

So what I designed for Rick to make was based more on the idea of having a little custom made shelf for all my art supplies. What a  challenge I presented to my ever-game husband. It took many days to complete.

New supply cupboard in the studio

I was very pleased with the results; it makes my space so much more efficient. After building a new sewing corner unit for me as well, hanging all my pictures, cleaning up the print room and even creating a little darkroom, I feel very well served for some big and fun projects in 2014. Now if I could only slow down time, perhaps I could get to some of them!

Sunny day in the studio

A neat table waiting for messy projects

Inspiration wall

I have been doing some sewing projects and some printmaking, but these are all secret projects that I can't post. It is Quinn and Zinnie's birthday month, and the presents are not yet presented to them, so can't be displayed to the world as yet.

I can show you a painting I recently completed.

Color and texture, an oil painting experiment

This year I intend to be doing more photography as well. My darkroom is set up for new experimentation with cyanotype and photo-etching.

Here's a bouquet I picked from the climbing rose at the front of the house just before Rick pruned it back. Be sure to enjoy the table the rose sits on, which was a gift from our dear friend David, who found it in his barn in Brittany. At first glance we thought the legs were hand turned, but look a little closer, you'll see how they are made. Quite clever and funny!

Yellow roses

Happy Valentine's day to all!

Forest of Montmirail

Start the day in kindness

January view from our walled garden

 

2014 has begun with a burst of energy. Days have flown by, leaving the holidays a pleasant but receding memory. I have been working very hard in the atelier and have only just come up for a little air and a tardy visit to my blog.

I did think of you when I heard a wonderful poem on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac podcast:

 

Why I Wake Early

by Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety—

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light—
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness. 

The entryway in morning light

 Winter light is magical at the Maison Conti. Sitting high above the countryside, I look out our front windows to glorious sunrises every morning and from the back to magnificent sunsets at the end of these shorter days. In between, the low angle of the sun bathes the house in golden light, reflecting off mirrors, illuminating objects and casting wonderful shadows.

Main staircase to the ground floor

Of course, winter time is much quieter in our business, though it must be said, not completely dead. Still, we do have days of long lazy mornings, languid afternoons and cozy nights by the fireplace.

Rick at breakfast in a sunny window / mirror collection

So far, this winter has been extremely mild. No polar vortex here. We anticipate a bit more cold to come (last year it was colder at Easter than at Christmas), but even so, when the sun comes out, which it does surprisingly often, the house stays comfortable.

Stairway to our apartment

We have spent more than two solid weeks, working from morning to evening, repainting and reorganizing the atelier. It took much longer than I could have anticipated, but I am very pleased with the results and it is certainly clean from top to bottom. It is a very pleasant place to work.

Old yellow walls are now white. Much better!

We actually have lots more to accomplished before the job is entirely done, as we have not yet started work in the press room or the acid room, and Rick still intends to build me some shelves for the studio. I thought this would be just one of several redecorating jobs for the season, but it may turn out to be the only one.

Organized and ready for a happy new year

These mild days beg for walks to the garden and around the town. Winters like this one offer many delights. 

The road to our garden

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I wanted to let you know that Michael and Victoria Copeland will be offering two watercolor workshops at the Maison Conti in September/October 2014. The first session is already full, but there is still space for the second one.

Detailed information can be found on their website

Be sure to visit their website for more information or to sign up for this course. We are really looking forward to hosting the Copeland's and their students! Visit: sketchbook tours

Michael is a talented semi-abstract painter, represented in the U.S. by several galleries, but the course will focus on more realistic landscape watercolor painting. As you can see from his work, he has lots of color-singing techniques to teach you!

Images by Michael Copeland

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I hope the new year is looking promising to you. Please come visit again. Next time I will report on our extended visit to wintery Paris.

Berries on the wrought iron fence of the Chateau

'Tis the season to be jolly

I'm one of those people who adores Christmas. Even as I race around trying to meet all the extra demands – the gathering of appropriate gifts, decorating, cooking, cleaning, card writing – I am suffused with a feeling of well-being and happiness. I become an optimist. I try to remember all the good things that happened to me during the year and everyone who contributed to making my life feel richer.

I enjoy making gifts for friends and family. It is the one time of year that is all set up for expressing our gratitude for all the many blessings of living on this planet, in this funny old world of ours. Why not ride the wave of joy and thanksgiving? In thinking how I could express my gratitude to you, my blog followers, I thought of a gift I could give you, which will hopefully inspire you to whimsy, playfulness, beauty and fun. My favorite YouTube video of the year:

 

Happy Holidays to all!

A kiss of fall

There is the unmistakable end of season feeling in the air. The swallows have flown away, the grains on the hillside have been harvested leaving a golden stubble, a nip is in the air and soft breezes blow puffy white clouds around overhead. This is one of my favorite times of any year; this particular year it's one of my busiest as well!

We came back from vacation and hit the ground running. A few days of bright sun and sweltering temperatures soon gave way to chilly mornings and early evenings. We ordered fuel and scheduled our annual firewood delivery.

Our dear clients, and now friends, Wolfgang and Sabine from Mannheim, Germany, stopped over on their way back home from their annual three week vacation in Brittany. We have watched their children, Victoria and Roderick, grow up over the last several years. The family stays at the beach up until the last Saturday before the opening of school and spends one night at Maison Conti before driving back home on Sunday, cutting it all very close. They have developed this yearly routine which also includes the purchase of an enormous amount of fresh Breton fish which they drive to our home and share with us on the terrace for a huge feast. This year is was 9 oysters apiece, sardines on the grill, a huge crab for everyone. It spells the end of summer for all concerned. And what a great way to kiss it goodbye.

I came back from Slovenia very invigorated, and have tried to keep that feeling alive, although it is more difficult in the routine of daily work-a-day life. When possible we've been taking slightly more ambitious walks down the hill and through the fields and up the hill again. The circuit takes almost an hour.

It is very pleasant, especially this little portion of woods which is actually a narrow strip of trees separating two large corn fields. It's a kind of traditional bocage. Rick, who is reading The Discovery of France, tells me that farmers up until the early part of the twentieth century had secret tunnels like these to disappear into without a trace. Their entrances were elaborately woven branches which were impossible to detect by outsiders.

Last week we had an Australian woman staying with us. She is a friend of another Australian client who we became very fond of when she and her husband stayed with us a few years ago.  

Sue had been planning her European adventure for a year, so we had months to anticipate her arrival. She was on her own. On one of her days with us, she requested a tour of the local area from Rick, and I went a long for the ride, as she was our only visitor that day. We took her to the northern reaches of the Perche, Bellême and La Perrière, two villages with much to recommend them. On the way we stopped by the twelfth century chapel of Saint Germain-de-la-Coudre, which has been under restoration for years. We had never seen it, although we knew of its splendid reputation. The interior is quite extraordinary, with wood paneled walls, beautiful frescoes, vaulted wooden ceiling and rustically carved beams decorated with comical gargoyles.

 

We ate lunch at a restaurant in La Perrière, a beautiful spot to spend a few leisurely hours. The stone houses are quite picturesque,

 many of which have charming cottage gardens.

After lunch we walked through the little streets and enjoyed the sights.

 The landscape is bucolic

and the architecture elegant.

The fall season brings many lovely events which I will certainly share with you here. In the meantime, if you're interested in learning how to make digital dew drops, check out this Photoshop tutorial.