Espresso and a Croissant
Espresso coffees and the lightest croissants were delicious all over France. (Digital drawing by me!)
A moment in time
Somewhere on our trip in the northern part of France after visiting the bright and beautiful Monet’s Garden and the heavy and solemn Omaha Beach and driving all around a foreign country, we stopped. We took a break and got crepes and espressos and biscuits and it was lovely.
Monet’s garden
giverny, france
What a magical place…Monet’s Garden! I still pinch myself that I was able to visit this gorgeous place. Everywhere I turned, there was beauty and the biggest tulips I have ever seen. There were a few bridges and a canoe in the water also. I took well over 200 photos, close to 100 of only the garden. It was literally unreal I was there and even later I had to ask Roz (my older daughter who is studying abroad and the reason we were in France to begin with!) if we went to the real place because replicas exist. Of course, it was the real place that we went to and I will never forget it. It was like I was seeing Monet’s paintings for the first time. I am still processing all the views and picturesque setting where there was no bad angle, no area where a flower was not blooming. The only word I can use is magical.
Enjoy some pictures below…
All of the gardens led you up to Monet’s house. You can see a little of it in one of the pictures. The house is a light color stucco with vibrant green shutters. It was on another level because of the sheer amount of art work from Monet and his famous friends scattered throughout the house. I will share more on that in another blog post. The gardens were so dreamy and I even saw a field mouse! It was a fine moment indeed for this little small town North Carolina artist.
Bohemian Small Dishes
The big reveal of these small dishes came just a few Saturdays ago at AgFest. I have been working on them since January. I had a lot of fun just rolling with the material and ideas, trying not to overthink it. Thank you to my friend Marsha at Backporch Pottery for firing my work so good.
As I say every year, AgFest is put on by a hard working student body (from our high school) and 3 amazing teacher advisors. Thank you for all your dedication and hard work on this year’s AgFest! May the winds be milder at our backs next year! LOL!
Check out my dishes using ceramic decals, stamps and real gold details…
Pop Up Table at AgFest!
My pop up table of Bohemian small dishes and ornaments earlier this month. All new goodies!
The sun was shining bright at AgFest, but wow was it the windiest of windy days. Like more than 15 mph winds! As my family helped me set up, we knew early on that I could not have height on my table. Even the heaviest of wood was a sail in the wind, so my set up was very simplistic and low to the table to keep things from falling and breaking. Thanks to my youngest daughters’ quick hands - she saved several pieces from falling to the ground. Thanks Lucy!
When you are an artist and trying to do festivals and fairs outside, these things can happen. Nothing or no one to get mad at, you have to just roll with it. It is good to be prepared for all the weather possibilities. I thought I was most prepared with my tent and weights to hold it down, but unfortunately the weights were no match to the wind that day. We ended up packing up a little early, but it was nice to see everyone and share my new small dishes. Thank you for all your support!
COLOR SWATCHES
Each month I try to bring new and interesting color swatches out to see what fun color combinations I can make. This month I focused on digital swatches only.
I was excited to share my first blog post since I came back from our trip to France. There is so much still to dive into and beauty to appreciate and photos to process from that trip. More to come as I continue to break it down. It also has me thinking of our trips over the years and all the travel sketchbooks I could have been creating! That’s okay, it is never too late.
I hope your spring is filled with beauty in some small way this season and you can take a moment in time.
Stay creative~
Hannah