Oils and Pastels by Margaret Dyer

This morning, SATURDAY, Kippy, Judy, Alice, Katie, Joy and I drove to the city of Auxerre in the Bourgogne region for more exploring. I want to live there. Here's what Wikipedia says about Auxerre... Auxerre was a flourishing Gallo-Roman centre, Antissiodorum through which passed one of the main roads of the area, the Via Agrippa (1st century AD) which crossed the Yonne River (Gallo-Roman Icauna) here. In the third century it became the seat of a bishop and a provincial capital of the Roman Empire. In the 5th century it received a Cathedral. In the late 11th-early 12th century the existing communities were included inside a new line of walls built by the feudal Counts of Auxerre. The Burgundian city, which became part of France under King Louis XI, suffered during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. In 1567 it was captured by the Huguenots, and many of the Catholic edifices were damaged. The medieval ramparts were demolished in the 18th century. In the 1...

I'm getting messages from people that my images aren't showing up on my blog now because of bandwidth. It is very complicated trying to blog from an iPad. I'trying to figure out another method of uploading my pictures. As soon as I figure it out, I'll resume the blog. sorry. Meanwhile, we're in Vezeley. gorgeous. Pictures to come...

Donna's gone. I'm sad. Just loved her. Donna is a retired school teacher--she taught third grade gifted students. I suspect she's one of those teachers a student never forgets. Here's Donna's work...

Yael comes from Ashkelon, Israel, where rockets have been pounding while she has been here with us. She's looking forward to getting back home to her family on Saturday, but I think she will miss some of us. I know I'll miss her. This is some of Yael's beautiful work...

We are finishing up here. it's kind of sad. Friday is the last day of the class. We'll clean up the studio, pin our paintings to the walls, and invite the locals to our vernissage (private show). There will be champagne and munchies, then dinner. After our guests leave, there will be a mad scramble as all of us try to gather our paintings and art supplies and pack them into our suitcases with all the other souvenirs we've bought along the way, hoping we don't pass the 50 lb. airline limit (thankfully they won't be weighing us because we are probably all not the same weight we were when we arrived). Donna and Yael fly home Saturday. Alice, Katie, Joy, Judy and I will stay an extra 4 days ank Kippy will lead us on an excursion into Burgundy. But today is Thursday; we'll spend a half day painting, then head out to Troyes for our final excursion together.

How sad! people are starting to go home! Can two weeks be almost over? Meg spent her last day with us on Tuesday. Meg's an American, who's lived in Paris for 30 years or more. A journalist, she wrote the article published in the February, 2011, Pastel Journal about my workshop here last year at La Bonne Etoile. How wonderful it is to have these people just walk into your life!

We said good-bye to Maria this evening. She heads home to Pennsylvania in the morning, probably while most of us are still sleeping. She's been wonderful company and her absence will be obvious. Here is Maria's work...