tomorrow is May Day, a significant holiday in France...for the banks, businesses and stores anyway. we have our obligatory Lily of the Valley on the coffee table...i fear mom may ÒaccidentallyÓ use it as an ashtray. the terrace geraniums fell victim to butts-syndrome earlier this year, but are making a nice recovery.
have painting system (we are all about systems now...more on that later) down...collapsable easel, large piece of laminated chipboard for palette, paper on a roll, the nearly-impossible-to-find-in-France paper tape, various jelly jars and rags hung with clips from the easel...all very portable. mornings on the terrace, evenings inside.
now, if i could just think of something suitable to paint....cigarette butts in flower pots? at least its not another view of the old town....
LTM update: mom and bert are working a feverish pace....and visiting the Chandler's (Ship Services Shop) nearly everyday...here is a shot of the most important errand of each boat working day...provisions
is it just me or is everything i see a cheesy tourist scene? lots of paper, buckets of gouche...nothing to paint....
ok, so i could do the whole inner turmoil thing, but that is just as tired...
if i don't find something inspiring soon, i'll be resorting to painting the dog. and that's just sad.
bought a giant (4ft x 30ft!) roll of paper today...quite "economique" for painting studies..i quite like this (new to me) watercolor sketching technique...very nice to practice material/surface (glass, metal, fabric, etc) techniques...been painting in the strong direct light on the terrace in the afternoons..much more pleasant than the "parking area" in Valleris!
now, just have to find a subject more interesting than yet another bottle-fruit-cloth still-life and less cheesy than the view of old Antibes from the ramparts...which recipients of my postcard mailings know well by now.
the only good thing about stress between Mom and Uncle Bert over the boat is that it has nothing to do with me! (for once!) everything is fine, but there are moments of tension because the work is sometimes so tedious and the various and sundry parts suppliers and sub-contractors for the incredibly important parts (gee, like the rigging) are falling behind, losing stuff, sending the wrong thing, etc. its like any renovation job...great fun to imagine and plan, ok at the start and by the end...a huge headache. i swear, nothing causes divorce faster than a renovation or new build...house or boat.
i ventured up to La Colle sur Loup this afternoon to investigate another art school...Maison des Arts to see if it had more to offer than the currently bleak state of affairs at the "Academy"...and indeed, by comparison, it was glorious! a beautiful little village, a lovingly renovated house and actual facilities...complete with sunny spacious studios, terraces and gardens, and A SUPPLY ROOM with, gasp!..supplies! its a very different approach than the "leave you alone in a dingy damp basement room with the local drunk for a model to draw with one stub of charcoal on grocery bag paper for 6 hours a day" approach i'm subject to in Valluris... this program is week long intensive courses in drawing and painting (charcoal, watercolor, acrylic, oil) with a rigorous review of the academic principles and techniques. its a bed and breakfast set up..most students are on a holiday of sorts, but after a long discussion with the very accomodating director, we may be able to work something out for myself as a "day student"...he is keen to negotiate the fees as his bookings are way down, he's lost nearly all his American clientele this year....a great pity, as it is an amazingly beautiful place, very well appointed.
i woke from my Sunday afternoon nap, joined Mom lounging in the livingroom, where a bag of tasty little 'tater chips had appeared on the table...hmmm, a salty snack sounds good...hand reached in and got....a soggy crumpled up snot rag?!? with nasty cigarette butts clinging to it? what the hell?!?!
i don't know what was grosser...that cello-surprise or mom's rushing off in a purple-faced fit to check if indeed she did wet her pants laughing.
there is an neglected and unloved little '90/'91 red SAAB 900 three door languishing in a parking spot down the road, i pass it everyday. i'm lonesome for my little car sometimes, she was so perty and, well...you know. when it's right, it's right. of course, mine didn't run for the last two months i had her, but love is love. ever faithful.
i wonder, does she ever think of me?
we are a million miles from the land of Beer, Badgers, Cheese and Plaid Flannel, living in the land of sunshine, on the sea, arms length from dozens of beautiful beaches full of beautiful people wearing high fashion gear of every description....
and why is it that the only place we can find decent looking swimsuits that fit is to order from Lands' End in Dodgeville, Wisconsin?
small joys....the large extra-grumpy lady behind the counter at the Tabac knew my brand today, and held them out on the counter the minute i entered, with a knowing smirk that turned into....a smile!!
at Da Cito, our usual family Saturday night dinner out spot, Monsieur recognized us, knew my regular order and took extra time to chit chat..in Franglais.
my hair girl greeted me in the street yesterday, quite out of context...'Bonjour Madame, etc"
everyone greets Ruby, and now (some three months later!) a few are greeting me as well!
mom, Madame Patron or Madame Capitaine is getting the royal treatment in all boat related endeavors as well.
as a stranger in a strange land it is these little recognitions and acknowledgments...small starts on that web of inter-connectedness that can make a grey, raining and otherwise frustrating day bearable afterall.
with all the macho inspecting, grunting and discussion about the various parts, equipment and technical attributes of sailboats going on this week, it occurs to me that it isn't such a mystery afterall...
a sailboat, no matter how lavish, is basically a bathtub with some poles, rope and bedsheets attached. and you are suppossed to go to sea in it. hmmm..have to give that some thought.
more work on La Tishie Mae today, Mom and Prisca masking out the waterline, mom's 'arrow' detail in the works, port side, note fancy-shmancy new winches soon to be attached.
my brother Thomas blogged about his car protocol this week, and i thought, though it has been awhile since i've been a regular driver, i would add my two cents worth to the discussion:
>mom absolutely gets first dibs on shotgun (as do grandmothers and the occassional boss)
>when giving rides home at the end of the night, there are two options...a) priority in order of drop off..first one off in shotgun first, rotate up b) priority in order of soberness, most sober in shotgun so as to maintain order if neccessary
>as a girl, especially in the chivalrous South, i've noticed that when being carted about, the boyfriend of driver often forgoes his shotgun rights to me...very polite and not unappreciated. poor chap.
>note: shotgun priority comes with responsabilities! person with regular shotgun rights (girl/boyfriend/best friend/roommate) is to observe all important door opening ritual for unfortunate backseaters as well as the occassional bag-getting, trunk opening and gas-pumping
>larger-than-lap-size dogs in the backseat
>when faced with a large difference in size and limited legroom, height prevails...tall folks get shotgun
>i have to add my most ardent rule: no passenger; backseat, shotgun or otherwise is to touch the radio or climate controls without explicit permission of the driver
rather than handle a paintbrush in the studio, today i worked on La Tishie Mae instead....touching up the non-slip paint "topside" ("foredeck" to "midships")...mom hated the color (i think because she was not in on the choosing) but i like it and it seems to have grown on her as well. its kinda powder-blue meets turquoise meets mid-50's aqua. very Med. nice to have a cool color to look at...its hot as hell up on that white fiberglass, in the direct sun on a still day you can fry inside of an hour.
Manoo (phonetic spelling) at the "chandler's" (shipservices shop) found the neccessary "anti-fouling" paint for the underside...in time for Bert to do the second coat today, crucial for staying on schedule.
of course, the 'schedule' is completely blown anyway...no way she's going in this weekend, but no matter...another week or two and she'll be in..and looking great!
car-less, unemployed (and unemploy-able), single, having to say, "no mom, i don't know when i'll be home", having but two cents to rub together, sleeping in a twin bed (lumpy), wondering what on earth i am doing with myself....not exactly a crisis mind you, but i feel so....19. again.
friends say they don't want to turn 30 (or 40 or whatever), but would you really rather be 19? honestly? i don't think so.
by the way, Happy Birthday to Uncle Bert. (who may have always been 19, happily, afterall)
my sister Margaret's husband, Ryan, just got a job in London! so, as soon as June, nearly all of us will be on this side of the Atlantic. unless a hot Swedish chick is involved, i doubt that my brother Thomas would ever join us, but you never know.
plans for a visit to London are already in the works, mom is keen on 'helping' her find an apartment...there might be a few things yet that little Peg'll miss about living in Chile!
i've missed two days of 'class' at the "Academy" with this nasty cold/flu and i'm nervous about going back tomorrow...i'm sure Jurgen is disappointed that i haven't made enough progress on my two paintings...though there is the language barrier, its not hard to see annoyance on his already stern face....he frightens me sometimes. and that big black trenchcoat doesn't help matters any.
i hadn't thought about my divorce in a very long time til someone i love very much (and who doesn't usually talk about these things) mentioned his...by way of referring to yet someone else's: lemons.
it does get better, i promise.
mom and i (Maria and baby Grace were last week and Bert before that) have been down for the past two days with a nasty cold/flu bug that won't relent.
mom is a big baby when she's sick.
i've finally linked my blog to my domain name of choice...girlatlarge.com in the future i see perhaps a gallery or professional (what profession?!?!) use for the main page and a blog link, but for the moment it will just take you directly to the blog.
the holiday lease ended on Bert's fabulous apartment today (we'll sorely miss that new modern kitchen) so, he's off to bunk in the sailboat tonight! its a rather nasty night here, stormy and raining, rather cold (for this region anyway) but he insisted on passing up the spare bed in my room. he does snore, but i don't mind all that much. but no having it, he'd rather be on the boat!
he just took off on the bicycle, basket in front loaded up with his stuff, backpack on and extra duvet in a garbage bag in the back (courtesy of mom)...that's Bert!
todays Uncle Bert-ism: "Yeah, art is fun... unless it's horrible".
mmmm....Chinese food tonight! hadn't realized how much i have missed 'ethnic' food (don't get me wrong, French food is among the loveliest, but not often spicy)...now i just have to find thai, sushi, vietnamese, mexican, tapas, indian, and cajun restaurants.
ooh...and can someone send me some low country boil from The Crab Shack?
to those who received the pictures this week, yes that is a piece of parmesean cheese (from market day in Ventimille, Italy) as big as Ruby's head!
today at the "Academy": figure drawing (the local drunk again) and then nearly three hours learning how to sculpt a face (bone structure, building up the form, keeping the clay 'closed', etc). my little head/face was coming along very nicely, nearly done, just attaching the second ear when....i swear to god, he lept out of my hands!....kathump! and it, like jellied toast, landed face down. silence. Max and I in tandem..."fuck, fuck, fuck!" (here was my case in point to young Max who likes to pepper his English with f**k...used sparingly, it has much greater effect)
and used to great effect, in French, by Prof. Marc..."mon dieu, suicider!" as my little work of clay fell to the ground.
i was "outed" this weekend, blog-wise. warning:
A) do not blog drunk and pissed off.
B) when busted, be drunk and in a good mood and it won't be so bad.
we had a model for figure drawing this morning at the "Academy"....Patrick, the local handyman/drunk. not exactly what i had imagined, but i made a go of it (thank goodness he remained clothed!) at least it wasn't drawing the cat in the parking area again.
went into SFR to get a simple pre-pay cell phone (like mine, very convenient and actually much less $ than stateside) for Bert to have on the boat...you know, for the "Get her ready, we're coming out to the harbor in twenty minutes!" calls. this is how is goes:
>first, wait patiently 30 minutes for the person who arrived AFTER you to be served first
>then, ask for what you want. (politely, in french)
>prompty get told that no, even though that item is available (and the person asking already has such a thing) you cannot do that now, its not possible.
>ok, fine then. agree to the other thing, this time it being a contract with monthly fees (ok, so it is a lower rate).
>wait patiently for multitude of forms to be printed out.
>wait patiently for multitude of forms to be filled out (in triplicate, and then stamped by other clerk when she returns from her break)
>PROBLEM! you don't have an electricity bill in your name?! that cannot be! well, why would you rent an apartment where the electricity is included?! that's impossible! no, you simply cannot have a mobile phone without one. how is that you have the other phone? (gee, that's why i asked for the prepay one in the first place, but never mind that!) nothing can be done? oh no, madame, you must have all the proper documentation (to prove that i want to give you my money, huh?!)
>confer, discuss and begin to believe you may have to bag the whole idea (and try to salvage what is left of the afternoon!) but then,...
>SOLUTION! voila! mention that it is FOR YOUR BOAT! oh!, for your boat madame? who is the capitain? you are! of course Madame Capitaine! no problem! (a phone call to the Capitainiere to confirm the berth under our name) here you go, just sign this and you are all set! merci! au revoir!
ok, mental note: always carry BOAT documentation!
the secrets to the french heart (and bureacratic systems); have a dog, a baby, a bicycle or a boat! (preferably all four!)
mom was up at dawn today, off to the new boat for a major cleaning session, yellow rubber gloves and all. i've never seen anything like it.
tonight's dinnertime Bert-ism: "You see it all more clearly on a sailboat. I mean, you can feel like you are just drifting about life...and then, out on the water, you realize you really are just bobbing and drifting about."
i had no idea it was so hard to make "un petit homme" in clay. my little man looks completely distorted and i have yet to attach the head. so the sculpture lesson started at 5pm...some 8 hours after i arrived. Prof. Waller came in for 5 minutes today. he said (to Max, in German) that i have 'good lines'. but i must draw larger. ok, tomorrow...attach clay head, draw larger.
the question remains...draw WHAT larger? (i cannot spend another three hours drawing the stray cat in the parking area, i'm sorry..i just can't).
to do list:
>buy handsoap and coffee filters for the "Academy" (used paper towels this morning)
>begin still life library collection....ask Bert not to throw away the bits from the boat that he doesn't want, search this weekends market
>find smock or apron for sculpture sessions
>get flea collar for stray cat (a.k.a model)
>bring a knife for lunchtime sandwich making (an Exacto knife, though it may literally 'cut it', just doesn't do it for spreading mustard)
do you think i'm the first girl to spend any time at the Academy? yes, i do think so.
"Madame" did not speak english and my french was lousy this morning, but we finally understood each other and she lead me through the ceramics gallery to the "Academy" behind. the "Academy", at first glance, is a gravel parking area, complete with large sleeping dog and a variety of straight backed chairs. Max; young, tousled and English-speaking (stereotypical art student type), greeted me next with a handshake and a friendly smile. i was instructed to meet Jurgen Waller (the headmaster) in my last contact via phone, so after asking for him, i was sent through the double doors off the gravel parking area to a sub-terranian series of whitewashed stone-walled rooms known as the Ateliers (workshops or studios). three people, one man i suppossed correctly to be the Jurgen in question, an elegant looking lady in her early 60's (stereotypical going-back-to-her-art-after-having-kids type) and another fellow i've since completely forgotten, were standing about. an awkward moment of silence. then a round of greetings in English, German and French. ok, now we are rolling. so, what's the deal with this school then, what's next?
we sat in the gravel parking area drinking coffee and getting acquainted for the next hour or so. me, Max, the elegant British lady Diane and Jurgen Waller. Jurgen, headmaster and currently sole professeur than asked me what i wanted to do.
hmm, ok....what do i want to do? (realized reason why i didn't receive class schedule..THERE ISN'T ONE!)
this day was so wierd, i just re-read my above entry and realized it came no where near to explaining the experience. so, here are the bulletpoints:
>Jurgen Waller is a very well known artist in Germany, prolific since about 1968. he was once kicked out of France but has returned to open and run the "Academy". he is currently painting black. black paintings. only black. suppossedly a statement against high unemployment rates.
>Max is working harder this month after having spent too much time with drinking buddies the three months prior. he has a fridge full of strange spreads (anchovie, pepper, nut) that he doesn't actually like to eat, but offers instead to strangers and guests.
>Neena is a good dog, a bit chubby and lazy, but a good dog.
>Marc makes large (HUGE) pieces of pottery in the adjoining ceramics studio/gallery...large pieces of his own work and then much smaller bits of fluff pieces to sell to the tourists. "Madame" is his mother, who helps out in the studio.
>current student roster: Max, Diane...and me.
>i was given a key to the "Academy". i don't know what's stranger...that i was given a key...or...that there is only one key.
much, much more to come. of that i am certain. as i told mom...art or no art, when this is done, i'm going to have one hell of a book to write.
