Plein Air Paintings from France (2019)

In a recent post I wrote about landscape painting in the Gers region of France. Here are the paintings from the rest of our summer trip. We bounced around quite a bit of the country as we had to be here and there for workshops and to work towards future exhibitions.

After the Gers, we traveled over to Bordeaux for a few days, then down to the coast between Sète and Agde for a week on the beach.

Plein air painting of a street in Bordeaux, France
Rue de Pessac, Bordeaux. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Plein air painting of Allées de Tourny in Bordeaux
Allées de Tourny, Bordeaux. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Place des Quinconces
Place des Quinconces, Bordeaux. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Place Amédée-Larrieu in Bordeaux.
Place Amédée-Larrieu, Bordeaux. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.
Plein air painting of Agde in Southwestern France.
Agde. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of Sete in Southwestern France.
Sète. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of the Canal du Midi.
The Canal du Midi. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of a chapel in France.
Chapel near the Thau. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of boats in Sète.
Les Copains, Sète. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of the canals in Sete.
Afternoon light, Sète. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of Mèze, France.
Mèze, on the shore of the Thau. 20 x0 30 cm, oil on panel.

After the Gers, we traveled over to Bordeaux for a few days, then down to the coast between Sète and Agde for a week on the beach. Next we had to head up north for a workshop near Laon, so we stopped for a few days in the Loire Valley.

Oil painting of the cathedral in Tours.
The Cathedral, Tours. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of Amboise, France.
Passing Storm, Amboise. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of the Château de Chenonceau
Château de Chenonceau. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of Blois, France.
Blois. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

In Laon we had a workshop, so I didn’t get much of my own work done. We were on a beautiful property though, so I tried to paint as often as I could.

Oil painting of a pond in Northern France.
The Side of a Pond, Fourdrain. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of cows in northern France.
Cows in the Sun, Fourdrain. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of buildings through trees.
The Farm Buildings, Fourdrain. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of a pond in France.
Lily Pond. 35 x 25 cm, oil on panel.

After Laon we had a couple of days to kill so we headed over to Normandy to paint in Honfleur. I’m always trying to find places where my favorite artists worked, and Boudin, Seago, Jongkind and Monet (among others) all painted in and around the small port there.

Oil painting of the port at Honfleur, France.
Honfleur. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of Honfleur, France.
Morning, Honfleur. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Painting of boats in Honfleur.
Boats, Midday, Honfleur. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.
Plein air oil painting of Honfleur.
Evening Light, Honfleur. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.

From Normandy we drove back down to the Dordogne, to paint local scenes for the V&A gallery in Sarlat-la-Canéda.

Oil painting of the Dordogne river from Domme.
The Dordogne from Domme. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of Sarlat, France.
Sarlat-la-Canéda. 30 x 20 cm, oil on panel.
Oil study of the Dordogne river.
Water Study, the Dordogne. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of Beynac.
Beynac from the Dordogne. 20 x 30 cm, oil on panel.
Oil painting of a child on a swing.
Child on a Swing. 25 x 22 cm, oil on panel.

These are most of the paintings but the full summer’s oeuvre was posted at the time to my Instagram account.

Overall it was a great trip. The painting locations across France are varied and stunning, the food was amazing, and the people were wonderful and welcoming. We’ll be back again in the summer of 2020 as we have an exhibition and a couple of workshops.

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