Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Boucoiran, France

Of course, real life is always more fantastic than what we imagine. We started our trip in a small town called Boucoiran in southern France. We're staying with a descendant of one of its former mayors, Ulysse Laporte. Here is a portrait of him, made from old photos.

One of his books showed diagrams of spinning and weaving machines, as well as illustrations of art objects from the Louvre. At one time, art and industry were really seen as brother pursuits.

This watercolor shows the view from the third floor balcony of his stone house near the center of the village, with the grape arbor in the foreground, and the train station in the distance.

10 comments:

Super Villain said...

the portrait is nice, the building watercolor is beautiful...but your going to have a hard time topping the granchat...good luck!

haha

Aftertouch said...

Wow...
Just when I thought that goat men and giant cats would be the most interesting part of my day, this post comes up! The town looks amazing from your watercolor, and the portrait of the mayor is much more enigmatic than any newspaper reading leprechaun! I'd love to hear more of the backstory about this town, or see more paintings of it! Good work!

Jen Z said...

It's always a great feeling to know that no matter where you are, you always have pen, paper and brush at the ready. I fear I already take my surroundings for granted and too often pass up a drawing opportunity for my camera or to read a book. I do however want to take your good example and try to update my own blog more often and actually get myself drawing every day again.
I really regret that I can't go to Switzerland or France to meet you, but I hope you have a safe and exciting stay here in Europe. I must ask though, is there any plan for a tour for the German translation of Chandara? :]

jeff said...

The watercolor is beautiful. How long did you spend on this?

Unknown said...

Wonderful portrait. You have a magical eye for the past.

Anonymous said...

C'est très amusant et intéressant de voir des paysages français dans vos aquarelles. Ça me rappelle exactement le sud de la France. L'aquarelle est magnifique :)

It is very funny and interesting to see french landscapes through your watercolour works. It reminds me exactly of the south of France. This watercolour is gorgeous :)

Dag said...

aww
Why you don't come in Correze...that's where i'm living^^

still great work!!

Jared Shear said...

Beautiful work James......as always. Really love the the lighting on this piece.

RobCarey said...

Wonderful artwork, James! Very inspiring to browse through your blog.

Anonymous said...

hello,bonjour,mister gurney James,i am dominique de boucoiran,a elyane'sfriend,.excuse my english .i'm speacking now in french.j'ai mengé chez elianne avec hermine et colette,et eliane m'a montré les dessins que vous aviez fait sur boucoiran.je me les suis procuré par diego,et,comme j'ai un petit site sur boucoiran.je me suis permise d'afficher vos dessins qui parlent de boucoiran que vous mettez à l'honneu.entre temps,je suis allée visiter votre site de peinture et dessin sur bogspot;et je m'apperçois que j'au dû en premier vous demander l'autorisatio.je vous demande aujourd'hui si cela vous crée un problème si j'ai vos dessins de boucoiran dans mon site?.je peux si vous le voulez,y mettre un lien afin que les gens venant chez moi,puissent être dirigé vers votre blog.je vous en remercie par avance,je vous suis reconnaissante de votre talent.je vous adresse la photo de "coquette" dont vous avez peut être entendu parler par elyane.dominique.
pour me contacter,http://boulot.musicblog.fr ou boucoiran213@gmail.com