Dear friends,

The 2019 season is over. Despite having to cope with exceptionally hot weather, both sessions went well. A number of old stagers declared their session to be “the best ever“. New students, who came here from either USA or Scandinavia, were equally enthusiastic, most vowing that they would be returning in 2020. It is always a pleasure to see returnees many of whom have become valued friends and the new dynamic brought by newcomers is always welcome. One innovation was giving  my talks towards the end of the day and restricting them to a maximum of only half an hour.

Two innovations were forced on us:

• As Hélène was not available to provide breakfast at her house, we started the day at La Baladin de la Gresigne, with its capacious terrace and its panoramic views (see photos below). Food was served by the much appreciated Frederique.
• Angela, who has cooked marvelous mid session meals for nearly thirty years, is not so young as she was and decided to call it a day. As a replacement we decided to take students to a restaurant. We chose La Cabanon in the neighbouring medieval hilltop town of Puycelsi. While all who knew Angela will have missed her cooking, the innovative menu produced by the young chef at La Cabanon was much enjoyed and, as a bonus, we benefited from the chance to do a little tourism. Nobody will be surprised that we plan to do the same combination next year.

As usual my daughter Katherine provided the meals on the first, second and last days. As usual, her her beautifully presented and delicious offerings received many compliments.

For your enjoyment I have gathered a small selection of photos that students and others provided over the summer and I have made a slideshow of them. Sorry there are important omissions but that is what happens if you rely on others with their own agenda. Apologies to anyone who has been left out. It is hard to focus on taking photos and teaching at the same time.

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Next year we have to face up to the fact of Sarah’s departure on a two year MFA course in Boston University. She has been a wonderful help for me and to students over many years now. To replace her as best I can, I have invited two former students to help with the teaching. Both studied with me early on in their career as artists. Cathy Layzell first experienced my teaching some twenty years ago when I was teaching sessions in Norfolk, England. Later she came out to Montmiral a number of times. She is now an established artist living in South Africa. Ken Marunowski came to Montmiral for the first of several sessions some ten years ago, before deciding to dedicate his life to painting and is now an exhibiting artist.  Both have experience of teaching. A paragraph and photos introducing them now replaces the one about Sarah at bottom of the “Structure of Workshops” page of this website.

Finally, we have updated the “Booking Information” page.  To meet additional costs, we have decided to to increase the price of coming by €30. We have also decided on the dates for next year, which are slightly different to previous years:

• Saturday 20 June – Saturday 4 July 2019
• Saturday 18 July – Saturday 1 August 2019

Notice there will only be two weeks, instead of three, between sessions. One student pointed out that it will make it easier for those like her who wish to come for two sessions.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible next summer.

Warmest regards,

Francis

Some more photos for your enjoyment

The other day I took some photos from the terrace of the “Baladin de la Gresigne” where the students now meet for their breakfast. The sunflowers are no longer in their full glory but I think you will agree that the views remain splendid. The photo of the facade was taken some while ago.

Annual Newsletter October 2018

June Session 2018

July/August session 2018

The slideshow

We took advantage of the meal at the end of our June session to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Painting School, which had it first season in 1988. In addition to relishing the usual feast made by my daughter Katherine, several of us made toasts, had a cake with candles and  finished with some music. The slide show below shows photos taken, by Sarah and various students, before, during and after the last meal of the June session. It shows:

• People finding their places and eating.
• Myself, Marie-Therese and Sarah making toasts.
• Sarah, my grandson Milo and his friend Khorene, putting candles on the cake.
• Appreciating the candlelit cake.
• Marie-Thérèse (who came as a student on 1988) and I blowing out the candles.
• Sawyer entertaining us with one of his Punk compositions.
• Katherine* and Loucine doing vocal improvisations to chords chosen and played by Sawyer.
• The now half empty room.

Enjoy.

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Our 29th season is now over

The July session of our 29th season has just finished. As promised to students, I am sending a slideshow consisting of seventeen photos taken by me and three by Sarah. A main reason why it is shorter and less rounded than the one I posted for June session is that I was unable to get very far with my plan of taking photos of students working in the landscape. This was because I was unexpectedly removed from the scene and taken to hospital for four days in the second week, as a result of suffering from what was at first diagnosed as a mini-stroke. Since then, the favoured explanation is a problem with the balancing mechanism in my ears.

I felt bad leaving the students but they seem to have got on perfectly well without me. I was certainly cheered by the quality of the work they showed in the final exhibition. No doubt at least part of the reason for the high standard was that Sarah was on hand to take over the teaching role. The students tell me that she was wonderful. They also spoke of their appreciation of the help given by Jill and Marie-Thérèse.

A tribute to Sarah, Jill and Marie-Thérèse

One of the students, who came from Hawaii to both the June session and the July session, asked me to share the following tribute to Sarah, Jill and Marie-Thérèse..

• “What a privilege it has been for me to be taken in by this group of women who love and support the Painting School… Each of them is an accomplished artist and it is an education and a delight to be able to watch them put marks on paper. They listen patiently to anyone who wants to chat about their art or any other subject. And they often reiterate Francis’ teachings, which has been invaluable to me for absorbing it all… I never expected to receive the gift that these women bring to the Painting School experience and I want to acknowledge this secret treasure. As a group they bring a richness to the school that can’t be measured.” – Susan (Savanah) Forster
  

The thirtieth season and beyond

The hospital staff  submitted me to all sorts of checks (brain, heart, carotid artery and more). They concluded that there was no lasting damage and that I could continue more or less as if nothing had happened. One reason I am glad about this is that I had set my heart on reaching the thirtieth season of the Painting School of Montmiral, which we hope to celebrate in style. Please join us if you possibly can.

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“The best ever”

This year’s June session is now over.  We had four new students: Two from USA, one from Canada and one from GB. Stefan, who came for the fifth time, said it was the best ever for him. For me it was one of the many best: Over 29 years now I feel that I have had incredible luck with the people who have come as students. I have made many friends and they have rewarded me with splendid paintings and drawings, some of which can be seen on the “Student Work” page of this website..

Last year I created slideshows for both the June and July sessions (you can find them on Facebook). I have made another for this year’s June session, which you will find below.

The 2017 June session slideshow

Here is the slideshow using photos taken by a number of people, including Sarah, Barbara, Stefan, Julie and myself. Most of the images are either in the studio or on the esplanade, although I have included three that show us enjoying ourselves at evening meals.  I hope you enjoy it

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