Oils and Pastels by Margaret Dyer

Well, I'm recovered. I think. I got back on the 7th of July and had to hit the ground running. I edit the newsletter for the Southeastern Pastel Society, which was to be edited and published as soon as I got home. It's also the time of our annual exhibition, for which I create the show catalog. So I didn't have time to recover from my trip, being up all hours--for days-- on my computer. Then it took me a couple of weeks to pay bills, catch up on emails, do laundry, catch up on lost sleep. I'm only just now feeling like I can function at normal speed again. I think I'll think again next time I'm asked to commit to being out of town for a month. But...France was magical. The artists who took my classes made it that much more so. I will treasure the memory of every face I had the honor to work and play with. If any of you think it'd be fun to join me at future workshops there, please do. Kippy will somehow make you feel like you're her very best friend by t...

Today is my last day in France (yes, I'm still here--one week after the last of my students left). I woke to a glorious morning with the sun exploding into my room and a symphony of bird song. I'll spend the day packing my bags and running errands, like taking a trip to the boulangerie/patisserie in the adjacent village for a thank-you gift for Madam De LeHaye, who has ironed any article of clothing I left too long in the laundry room. I've done a lousy job of blogging this time around. There was so much to write about, and so many pictures to upload, but that process was extremely time-consuming on my old PowerBook G4 laptop, and there was always a rush to be somewhere else. What did I not write about? During this past week, Kippy and Jerome took me on a 4 hour drive to Jerome's grandmother's centuries old home (6 photos on top) in the Loire Valley for several nights, which is another reason why I've been so quiet--no internet. A ten minute drive from his famil...