A collection of random French photos--Spring and other things...

Lately I've been dogged by a strange mood that has kept me unable and unwilling to make art. I am trying to be gentle with myself but I don't enjoy creative inactivity. All I've been able to accomplish in recent days seems to be the digital equivalent of reams of photos--mostly subjects I would normally consider cliche but currently view as an antidote to my admittedly mild but unpleasant state of mind, be it caused by depression, boredom or what have you. Sometimes living within another country and culture can take its toll no matter how lovely the place. There is always a certain sense of being an outsider and alone. I'm also the caregiver for someone who is nearly six month's way into an eleven month long treatment for a serious illness. I know this responsibility alone could be enough to push down my normally optimistic state despite recognizing all I have to be grateful for in my life and the lovely commencement of Spring here.

I hope sharing this group of photos will provide a bit of interest for those who care to look a little closer at the world as I experience it visually. I view them as my mood elevators--- and I hope you will too.

 

 

 

 

 

And I'll leave you with a couple in a different mood...

The world of weekends and what I found there...

Since the beginning of 2012 life has been a bit different. I've been spending time closer to home, getting to know the city of Nantes, especially its medieval quarter where I officially live but have spent relatively little time until recently. Weekends have been devoted to travel among friends in the magical region of Brittany to the north or along the seacoast just south of Nantes. My obsession with ancient architecture and the beautiful countryside is always richly rewarded in this lovely region. And of course I adore sharing my walks with you...here are a few...

January found me in the medieval center of Dinan, Brittany, a town crowned on one of its hilltops with the beautiful Romanesque basilica of Saint Saviour. The church was commissioned in the early twelfth century by a crusader knight, Rivallon le Roux, in fulfillment of a battlefield vow to build a church if he survived to return home to Brittany. Its exterior is rich in stone carvings, some still fresh and lively, others eroded to mere suggestions of form.

 Later in the same day I walked along the windy cliffs high above a jewel tone ocean.

On another weekend I visited friends at the seacoast close to Nantes. Across the road and visible from their front room is a Romanesque chapel, St. Jean-Baptiste, nearly the polar opposite of Saint Saviour in its minimalistic simplicity and rough stone walls.

 

Prigny, France

On the beach in nearby Moutiers en Retz, a storm had dredged up the most plentiful variety of seaweeds I have ever encountered. I worked in the morning cold to make mandalas from sea treasures and left them for the rising tide to claim.

Yet another weekend in Brittany and another couple with an ancient chapel next door.

Their house is an old traditional stone and stucco country place made consciously green. They grow and preserve much of their own food and purchase most of the rest from local farms. There is wood heat, a natural grey water filtering system of small ponds and a composting toilet.

 

In the niche once reserved for a saint's figure a saxophone playing gnome now guards the house front.

The heart of the cozy kitchen/living area.

I visited the chapel both days and left a small offering of bracken and catkins at the foot of its ancient stone cross. 

 

chapel door and window with lichen

And when I was not traveling, I spent much of my weekend time in the charming Jardin des Plantes in Nantes, a nineteenth century botanical garden rich in lovely water features and a seemingly endless array of ducks.

 

 

 

 

Wishing you all a magical spring (or fall) wherever you may dwell.

Snow

Most of winter has managed to slip by with nary a shiver--the grass still green with small daisies peeking through-- more like a prolonged version of early spring that left me longing for the clear progression of the seasons and a landscape swathed in peaceful white. Then a few days ago the temperature dipped and finally last night the beautiful snow fell, transforming the world.These are scenes from my chilly but exhilarating neighbourhood walk this early afternoon.

 

Chateau of the Dukes of Bretagne (Brittany) under leaden skies

 

And with a simple turn my view changed to the cathedral rising misty and unfocused up from the snow filled oak park.

 

 Detail of a side entrance to Nantes Cathedral with its myriad of small narrative scenes

Some of the intricate lacework of carving that covers the cathedral facade

Cathedral gargoyle sporting a natural hairdo of fern against a clearing sky

Along one side of the cathedral an ancient gate to the medieval city

Detail of the gatehouse

Doorway to a medieval era courtyard

Beautifully patinated ancient hardware

Sculptures gazing out over the chateau

. Full view of the gatehouse--part of the ancient city wall

An anthropomorphic gargoyle hovers in the now sunny sky alongside the cathedral.

Nearby an angel unfurls a banner...

and an ancient annex reveals the many changes the centuries have made in its windows and doors.

Reflections

If you have read some of my earlier posts you will know I have a fascination with the surface of water and the designs to be found there-- like the fleeting evidence of passage traced by waterfowl or the dorsal fins of ghostlike carp in shallow water. The following photos are a series of abstractions made earlier this week with the camera's zoom at greatest power, focused on the surface of a small pond in the Jardin des Plantes.

On that same day I sat and drew by the water's edge and noted on my sketchbook page "I draw beneath a faint and colorless sky, my dreams more clear than the watery winter light, graphite on cream-- an uneasy alliance that will blur with time into a perfect mirror of this day." and "When I am outside nature always says to me 'This is the right place, the perfect time, the right body, the right life'...All is peace."

I also chose to leave a gift, a sort of offering to the natural world and the sense of wonder it inspires. I tucked a tiny fae bed and table with teacup, pipe and candlestick into a small cave inside a rocky hillside grotto-- a sheltered spot, yet in plain view--if one is looking.

fae bed

grotto where the bed is nestled in a tiny cave

So far the only detectable activity has been that on two days the little pedestal table had been moved--the first time simply knocked over, the second carried a foot away and almost out of sight in the narrow tunnels that stretch into the earth of the hillside. Obviously I had invaded someone's home so yesterday I moved both pieces to a more easily visible spot on the grotto rocks a few feet away and will return tomorrow to see what has transpired...

Some Puppet Work In Progress

The cage-like skirt of the largest marionette becomes a miniature theatre for smaller puppets or with a draping of sheer fabric, a screen for shadow projections that revolve or interact with the grid in various ways.