Kippy and I worked out the schedule for my upcoming June workshop at La Bonne Etoile yesterday. I'm excited. There's room for one more person, so if you're toying with taking a trip to France with me this year, here's what we'll be doing:
Saturday, June 16-students arrive. They'll be picked up from Charles De Gaulle, driven the lovely hour or so drive, past fields of winter and spring wheat, young sugar beets and miles of the yellow flowers of canola beans, to Fontaine Fourche, where they'll be offered something to eat and promptly put to bed for a few hours. When they recover, they'll be perky and ready to greet France!
Sunday, June 17-Brocant!! Kippy (and I) can't pass a brocant. That's a flea market. They have them all over the countryside on Sundays. But the junk in France is wonderful. You can find hundreds year old nik-naks for nothing. While seeking treasures, we'll be carrying our cameras for any photos that might make subject-matter for paintings later in the week. Later at home (we'll call it home for 2 weeks), we'll dine on the patio, drink lots of wine, taking it with us up to the studio and I'll do a demo to prepare us for work in the morning.
Monday-Wednesday, June 18-20-We work for 3 days. Our model, who'll be staying with us at La Bonne Etoile, will pose in various settings. We'll break for lunch on the patio. After lunch, back to the studio where we'll have a photo session one afternoon. All students will be shooting the model to have reference photos to work from later (be sure to have fresh batteries!) We'll quit for the day around 4 to clean up. In the evening, dinner on the patio with fresh flowers, fresh vegetables from the garden, lots of wine, great conversation and lots of laughing.
Thursday, June 21-Paris! We'll take the train to Paris, have lunch, and most important, we'll be going to the Musee D'Orsey, where the current exhibition will be DEGAS AND THE NUDE!!!! How much more perfect can that be? Omygod. It's almost as if it were planned for us! We will be exhausted when we return in the evening (bring comfortable walking shoes--think New York), when we'll have dinner on the patio with fresh flowers, fresh vegetables from the garden, lots of wine, great conversation and lots of laughing. Anyone who's up to it can take a bike ride through the countryside.
Friday, June 22-Back to the studio. This time working from some of our photos taken the past few days. It'll be a nice quiet day in the studio again. Lunch on the patio. Back to the studio. Dinner on the patio with fresh flowers, fresh vegetables from the garden, lots of wine, great conversation and lots of laughing. Anyone who's up to it can take a bike ride through the countryside.
Saturday, June 23- We're going to Provins, the 12th Century walled city about 20 miles away, where they'll be having their annual Rennaissance Festival. Can you say 'photo shoot"?
Sunday, June 24-Brocant day. Anybody who wants to can scour another brocant. Or choose to take the morning off, sitting in the garden sipping tea, reading. I'll be at the brocant. Later in the afternoon, to the studio. dinner on the patio with fresh flowers, fresh vegetables from the garden, lots of wine, great conversation and lots of laughing.
Monday-Thursday, June 25-28- Back to the studio with the model for 4 days and working from our photos. Lunch and dinner on the patio with fresh flowers, fresh vegetables from the garden, lots of wine, great conversation and lots of laughing.
Friday, June 29-Vernissage. We'll clean up the studio, hang our work, and invite the locals to see what we've done. Actually, they're Kippy's friends, and they're the same people who come to every vernissage, but it's fun. Dinner afterwards on the patio...you know what happens there.
Saturday, June 30-Departure for some. But some may choose to stay 4 extra days for excursion to outer parts of France. I'll be doing that.
During the weeks we'll be there, we'll also take unplanned half-day excursions if the students want to. From past experience though, most people wanted to be in the studio to learn!
Anyway, just thought I'd throw this out as a teaser to fill the last slot. If you're interested, here's a link to a flyer: http://labonneetoile.com/workshops/Dyer2012.pdf or contact Kippy at info@labonneetoile.com
