I woke up the other night about 3am to the flapping of wings and thought it was a very large moth, until I noticed the flight pattern and realized it was a BAT flying around my bedroom!  I hid under the covers for about 10 minutes and it eventually flew out of my room, into my studio and then to another part of the house. There are a lot of bats here, with so many places for them to hid and live.  Apparently I have to keep my window closed around dusk to avoid further bat visitors.

Every small village has a covered area in the village square for the weekly market merchants to set up their goods. Such a wonderful space.

 Lunch ?
My fellow artist resident, Jeannine Cook and I were out driving around looking for  a place to have lunch in a neigbouring village. It was 1:30pm, but apparently if you want lunch, you have to have an early lunch because the restaurant cooks have a 1.5 hour break for their lunch. Out to lunch in France! Very thoughtful for the workers though.  We had cafe au lait instead of lunch!

Beaulieu Abbey
This abbey was founded in 1144 by the Cistercian order who believed luxury was detrimental to spiritual life, so the abbey was built without ostentatious ornamentation, as well as the simple architecture.  It was destroyed by the routiers (armed mercenaries) and rebuilt in 1275; then sold in 1791 and became a farm; it become a historical monument in 1875.  It is now a Historical Site and Art Gallery. Very  spectactular!  It is about 8kms from Caylus.

Sculpture and painting show by French artist Odile Cartieau. John McNorton, DRAWinternational director, is checking out the work.

Notice how bright it is?  The stained glass windows have been replaced with clear glass to let more light in for the gallery space. It's absolutely luminous.

Fellow artist in residence, Jeannine Cook (fabulous silver point artist from UK/USA) standing next to one of the paintings in the Beaulieu Abbey.  This painting has a similar look to silver point work.

Such a beautiful inspirational space.

Very old pump in the courtyard area.

14th C cathedral a few steps from where I'm staying.  The bells toll all day long.

Pond near edge of the village with all those                                                                                             lovely silvery grey green Mediterranean colours

view down a street to surrounding hills

a couple of playful new paintings

                                

bold luscious brush strokes

                                                                     easily free cluttered mind 

                                                      playful inspiring

                            

Lyme Disease?

    Yes, since I arrived a week ago I had all the symptoms and had to go on a month long antibiotic                 treatment, just in case it is Lyme.  Very painful swollen knees, wrists, ankles etc. with the symbolic         bite mark.  It must have been that Cortes Island bite second to last week of August!  Feeling quite           better today and hopefully can start doing more work.....instead of sleeping most of the time.

outside garden area

artist's kitchen space

covered open area next to the garden where we                             eat dinner

narrow house with great stairway

contemporary art in the 13th C cathedral

back of house and walled garden

first piece - started on Pender Island this summer and finished here in Caylus

Arrived in Caylus

 DRAWinternational house/studios

its a huge building

 my studio space

smooth surfaces to draw on

my bedroom

great sitting area by the window

large windows with shutters in the studio

view out my studio window