My Paris Art Supply Store

Adam Montmartre Art Supply Shop

Amazingly, I have found a well-stocked (and reasonably priced) art supply store within a short walking distance from my apartment in Paris.  I was concerned about what art supplies to take with me because I'm not checking any bags, and I wasn't sure I would be able to take anything at all in my carry-on -- plus, obviously, I'm going to be short on space, too!  So I'll just be buying everything at this shop:  canvases, unstretched, of course, but I'm quite adept at stretching my own canvases when I return, paints, brushes, everything!  It'll be a lot of fun!

Speaking French

I've been noticing something recently that bothers me:  I have many friends who want to go to France, as I'm doing, but who are afraid.  They don't know the language, they might get lost, lonely, have their pockets picked, etc., etc.  Well, I share the fears above, all except for one:  I have worked on learning the language for years -- and for the most part, I've done it with no formal instruction.  And I'm not bragging here; I'm telling you that it can be done!  (Well, I guess I'm bragging a bit because, by golly, I've worked very hard at learning this language!)

I do admit that over twenty years ago, I lived in Toulouse, France, for nearly two years while I did some graduate studies in neuroscience.  However, when I went there, I had had no French language education at all -- well, except for about three weeks right before I left, which only made matters worse, not better, because those pitiful three little weeks gave me a false confidence that I knew at least something.  But here was the problem when I arrived there all those years ago:  I could ask where is something or other --- BUT when the other person responded, I had absolutely no clue about what they were saying!!  I bought a French language textbook before I went; and after I got there, I studied it every day, every chance I got.  And I got by.  That's all I did for at least the first year; I got by.  And I might add, too, that almost no one that I knew spoke more than just a few words in English, too, so I didn't have that "out."  I found out, too, that hand signals were powerful and that I could live with making a fool of myself, very often!  I got by.

After having been back in the USA for nearly twenty years, except for occasional European visits, I didn't study French at all until just two or three years ago.  Then I decided I was getting old and that I wanted to complete what I had started all those years ago.  But still being stubborn and wanting to do everything my own way, I decided, once again, to go it alone.  So I started reading everything I could in the French language.  That meant, of course, that I had to have a dictionary beside me at all times and that I spent more time studying the dictionary than figuring out what the heck I was reading.  And I'm not talking simple books, either:  To this day, one of my favorite French authors is Emile Zola.  I struggled with his novels, one after another, for many, many months at a time, each one.  Not only did I not know the words, but I couldn't even understand the sentence constructions.  But slowly, v e r y    s l o w l y, things started to fall into place.  Progress was very difficult even to measure for many months at a time.  But then it really began to pick up speed.  Today, I read without a dictionary present -- except for the occasional word I need to know.  I found out, too, that I didn't have to look up every single word, even back when I wasn't understanding much at all, because I could get the gist of the story -- and I could learn many high-use words by context after a while.

More recently, (in the past year), I upped the demands on myself.  I got a TV5Monde, French language, subscription so that I can watch French (nearly) TV every day.  I say "nearly" because much of it is subtitled, and I find that subtitles are counter-productive.  Even before the TV5Monde, I had discovered France Inter radio station online, and I listen to it anytime I'm painting, for instance.  (I especially like the channel "France Culture.")

I'll continue this discussion over the next couple of weeks and hope some of you chime in.  Are you studying French?   How do you study?  Do you have any tricks you can share?  Is not knowing the language of a country you love preventing you from doing something you want to do but are too afraid to do?   (I love the French culture, the food, the language, the people, the land, everything!)

A sweet Irish setter painting I finished a few days ago

This is a painting I did of a dog I knew many, many years ago.  Her name was Sean, and she belonged to a dear friend of mine.  I've always thought she was a beautiful dog, and I have intended to paint her for years -- and finally got around to it.  She was a real sweetie.

A custom painting I finished recently -- a Weimaraner puppy in his "SpiderMax" suit

This is Max in his "SpiderMax" costume.  He's a weimaraner pup who likes to dress up!  It's a custom painting I finished very recently and hadn't had time to upload until now.  Obviously, he's sold already!  He's a beautiful puppy, I must say.

Getting Closer to Being Ready for Paris

I'm a little closer to being ready to leave for Paris now:  I finally purchased my plane tickets.  I have for the most part always flown economy class, which is generally okay, being a part of the big crowd of budget travelers -- we all go to the same place, right?  But this time I decided that it's worth a few hundred dollars more to at least upgrade my seat to the "economy comfort seats," or some words to that effect.  So for my one long domestic flight and my two international flights, I have upgraded to more seat room and silly perks such as ear plugs, a sleep mask, I think a video screen right at my seat, probably a slightly upgraded meal, which I almost never take anyway because I'm vegetarian and almost always buy my meals before I board,  and unlimited alcoholic drinks.  Being a very, very lightweight drinker, however, I'm afraid I'll have to pass on that one; wish I could have a bit of a discount for not drinking, though.  Well, I'll  have one tiny glass of wine, though.  It's not that I don't like alcohol; my body doesn't like it, and I become ill after more than one drink. 

Back to the tickets:  I'll be sure and report how these comfortable economy seats work out and if they're worth the few hundred dollars more.  Most likely, though, anything that gives me more room to stretch out on long flights is worth it to me.  And maybe I'll actually have wider armrests, too.  That would be really great because for some reason, I almost never get "armrest rights" when I fly.  Too timid, I'm afraid.

Regarding artwork while in France, as I've mentioned before, I intend to paint while I'm there.  As I don't intend to have a checked bag on my flight over, I am taking only a few brushes and some prepared but unstretched canvases.  There's a really nice art supply shop just about a five minutes' walk from my apartment there, so I'll go there and buy my paints.  I intend to use acrylics only to ensure that everything has dried well before time to return.  If I want to add some oil highlights later, after I return here, that will be easy to do, of course.

I've been attending an advanced conversation group once a week here in Portland, and it concerns me a bit.  I realize just how not-fluent I am in French.  I struggle on as I try to engage in quite deep conversations at times, but from the often bewildered expressions on the faces of my "interlocuteurs," I fear that I'm not quite communicating as well as I had hoped.  We'll see . . . . .

My greatest fear (after the fear of not getting lost on my way to my apartment from the airport, of course) is that I will "hole up" in my apartment when I arrive, something which I have a tendency to do when faced with potentially frightening situations.  But fortunately, there will be no food in the apartment, so I'll be forced to go out at least for some wonderful bread, pastries (bien sur!!), and some essential groceries.  I'm going to do everything in my power to force myself - again - out of my safe zone and go out and explore -- tentatively, of course, at first, but with more confidence as each day passes.

I still have several custom paintings that I need to get done within the next few weeks, and then I'll have more time to spend on getting ready for the trip.  As it's been such a long time since I was last in France, I have a lot of things I'll need to catch up on, such as how my smartphone is going to serve me there, how to be able to charge all my electronics, which, of course, are now an essential part of every person's life, how to ensure that my debit card works well everywhere (and, of course, how to avoid exorbitant fees for its use).  I remember when I was in Denmark a couple of years ago, I was able to use my debit card everywhere, for everything from cash to groceries to parking "meters," without a problem and with little to no added fees.  I presume it will be the same in France, but I'll check beforehand to be sure.  Just lots of little details I need to cover before I leave.

A Sweet English Bull Terrier Painting I Recently Finished

This is a fun painting I recently finished of a sweet looking English bull terrier with a bit of brindle markings.  It was a pleasure to paint.  I like the sort of dreamy background I put in.

Next I'm working on a couple of custom paintings:  A weimaraner in a most unusual outfit!  And a really sweet-faced, elderly, mixed-breed dog.  They're both due right away, so I'm going to be working hard, hard, hard.

Update on upcoming France trip

I don't know how much I've already posted about this; but for friends who are interested (since I don't touch FB anymore unless a family member tells me some nice family photos are there for me to see), I'll mention my plans a bit here.  As I may have already said previously, my plans have changed considerably because of a certain little child who doesn't want me to be away from her for very long.  Now I'll be going just to Paris for a month in the autumn, with the ultimate intention (if I still want to do it after having spent a few months there over the next year or so) of possibly moving there for at least part of every year.  For now, though, my plans are pretty much set in stone.  I'll be spending a month in Paris, half of it just myself and half of it with my family, except for my husband who can't go this time but will probably go the next time.  He's disabled, permanently in a wheelchair, so we'll have to make special plans for him to be able to go.  We're all really excited about the trip, and I feel quite confident about my French language abilities now -- hope I'm not wrong!!!

I'll be posting a few photos of my stay in Paris and will be doing a lot of painting while I'm there, so expect to see a lot of what I hope aren't touristy paintings when I return.  I'll probably do a few animal paintings, but I hope to spend a lot of time painting interest scenes that I find here and there.  

Now that I'm not going permanently at this time, I won't be talking much about how I go about getting there because anyone can figure that part out on their own.  And I'm kind of sad to say that I hear that since I was last living in France, over 20 years ago!!!!, many, many more people, especially in the large cities, speak pretty much fluent English.  So for that reason, although I'll be staying in Paris for reasons of convenience and ease, I'm staying far from the touristy areas in a quiet residential neighborhood, in the 18th arrondissement for those who know the layout of Paris.  I've found a smallish apartment and will rely only on public transportation while I'm there. 

The hardest, by far, part of planning for my trip has been finding an apartment; but that's finally been finalized.  Now I have to take care of the much less important things such as having Verizon show me how to get my smartphone to work there, which metro stations to take, etc., etc.   My sweet husband is going to be taking care of my online orders (and my precious dog Harry) while I'm gone, so that's a great relief.  But next time, both my husband and Harry are going!  Well, it might be too hard to take Harry the next time, I guess, but he'll get to go with me eventually.

A Guernsey cow painting that I finished recently

 This is an 11x14x3/4" acrylic painting on stretched canvas that I recently finished.  In the first photo, I painted her exactly as I saw her in the field, with horns.  Then I thought about it a while and wondered what she would look like without horns, so I digitally removed them in the second photo.  The original painting has the horns in it; but if you're interested in purchasing the painting and don't want the horns, I can remove them for you at no charge.

 I've been doing a lot of paintings lately, but I don't feel comfortable showing many of them because, as I've said before, I'm learning to do landscape paintings, and I still don't feel confident enough to show very many of them.  But I will before long!!

Rooster Painting! Something Bright and Fun!

This is a really fun rooster painting I just finished today.  He's going to grace my own kitchen until he sells because I love him.  He makes me smile; he'll definitely wake me up in the morning even before I've had my first cup of coffee; and he was a lot of fun to paint! 

The original painting is on 16x20x3/4" stretched canvas, with the sides painted the same color as the background.  The background shows up in the photo as a  bit blue, but it's more of a greenish grey actually.  I'm selling both prints and the original.

Now I absolutely have to start on my next custom painting, which as I think I've already mentioned, is another beautiful cat.

Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Puppy Portrait

Why do puppies often look so sad?  I've never figured that out, but they do.  And this little sweetie is no exception.  I just finished him today, and the original is 16x20x1.5, gallery-wrapped canvas.  I also have prints for sale, of course, as usual.

Cat Painting, Black and Blue Tabby with Green Eyes

This is another cat painting I finished very recently.  He's another custom painting, so the 11x14" original has already been sold.  I think he's a beauty, and I'm quite happy with the outcome of the painting. 

I have another custom cat painting to do and a dog custom painting, which I think is a Weimaraner puppy (can't remember exactly at the moment). 

Although ceramics are still taking up a bit of my time, I'm getting more and more painting done -- and loving it.

Spring is still struggling to take hold here in Oregon.  We get a few nice days, then back to nasty rain again.  I'll be missing rain, though, in just a couple more months when we get pretty much no rain until late September.  Wish it weren't so "all-or-none" here. 

I still intend to go to France in September and am still excited about it.  Just kind of waiting at this point, though.  Still don't know how long I'll be there, though.  We shall see . . .

We have my son-in-law's parents visiting from  Denmark at the moment, and everyone is having a good, but busy, time.  My little granddaughter is the most excited as all grandparents I think love to shower little ones with whatever is their hearts' desire at the moment.  They're up on Mount Hood for a few days now, and she reports that she's having a grand time!

Another Sweet Little Pig Painting

Several months ago I did another pig painting and found it so challenging that I decided to do another one (and I have some more planned, too).  This little sweetie is on a green background.  The original painting (available at the time of this post) is an 11x14x3/4" acrylic painting on stretched canvas, wired and ready to hang).   How any human being could eat one of these beautiful, intelligent animals is beyond me - but that's another post!

I am currently still finishing up the custom cat painting, which I expect will be done in just a couple more days.  Then I'm going to be doing a landscape painting, I think, one I've been planning to do for a long time - of a countryside scene in France, a late-afternoon scene with amazing colors in it!  It's a just-for-fun painting -- well, they'll all just for fun, but some are more so than others!

I'm still doing my ceramic pieces but at a slower pace than I was before.  I still like to do them, but I've been missing painting as much as I like to, so I've gone back to concentrating more efforts on the paintings.  I'll probably change again, though.  I always do.

Really Cute Cow Painting

I just finished this sweetie today, and I love it.  It's a fun painting to me, and I think his/her eyes are so sweet looking.  I have both the original and prints listed online if you're interested in having this sweetie hanging on your wall.

The original is acrylic painted on an 11x14x3/4" stretched canvas, no staples on the sides, and it already has a hanging wire on the back so can be hung up just as soon as you receive it.

My next painting is a custom I've been working on for a few days.  It's another cat and a beautiful one, too.  I'm really enjoying doing the painting.

The Finished Cat painting

Not a whole lot different than the one I posted before, but I brightened everything up a lot and made a few small changes.  I like it.  It looks like a happy kitten, who's thinking about mischief (aren't they all???)

Now I've got two more commissioned paintings coming up, so I'll be working on them for the next month.  Still trying to keep my commissions at no more than two per month so I have time to enjoy life. 

And spring is coming!!!  I can feel it!  Here in Oregon, it's v-e-r-y slow in arriving, but there are signs:  trees starting to bloom, bulb flowers in full bloom, a few days of real sunshine every so often, people out and about more and more, my thoughts turning to travel again (although, unless things change, my France trip isn't happening until September -- and as I think I've mentioned before, its length keeps getting shorter and shorter due to a certain little one who is too young just yet to go with me without both of us being miserable), just all kinds of signs that spring is, well, springing!!

I must close with:  An early springtime many years ago, my aunt was leaving her job at a neat old hotel (now destroyed, I'm sad to say) in Pensacola, Florida, called Hotel San Carlos.  She was standing at a street corner when an obviously a-bit-inebriated man approached her with a big smile.  She was a bit nervous, but then he said that he wanted to recite a poem for her.  Here it is:  "Spring is sprung, grass is riz, I wonder where them flowers is."  That's it!

We have enjoyed reciting it every springtime since then -- along with e. e. cummings "In Just Spring," of course!!!  One of my favorites!  Here it is if, one, you're not familiar with it or, two, you just want to have a warm, fuzzy remembrance:  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176657.

A Pretty Cat I'm nearly finished with

Sorry about the quality of the photo, but I think you can get an idea of what the painting is about:  She's a pretty little tuxedo kitten that I'm doing a custom painting of.  Her name is Bea, and she's lying on her favorite blanket.  I'll be finishing it today, so I'll post a photo of the finished painting later on today or tomorrow. 

Okay, off to work now.  Just wanted to show her off because I think black-and-white ("tuxedo") cats are so adorable, and she's a particularly pretty one.

I've been away a while because I've been awfully sick with a really, really bad cold.  It's almost conquered now!!  I'm such a wimp sometimes!