St-Paul-de-Vence

Pink bouganvilla and blue sky

Here are some photos from the morning we spent in St-Paul-de-Vence. This picturesque medieval town perched on the side of a hill is filled with steep, winding cobblestone lanes and darling boutiques and art galleries. The bright pink bouganvilla (above) looked lovely climbing up the ancient, sun-bleached stone walls.

Grapevine archway


Cobblestone steps and art galleries

View from the village

Blue shutters and bluer sky

More pink bouganvilla

© 2009 Christine Pierce. All rights reserved.

Lacy Ironwork of Eiffel Tower

Title: "Lacy Ironwork of Eiffel Tower"

The open-lattice wrought iron of the Eiffel tower looks surprisingly lacy and delicate when seen up-close. If you click on the image, above, you will see what I mean.

Title: "Avenue Gustave Eiffel"

Title: "Beneath the Eiffel Tower"

Unlike novelist Guy de Maupassant, I love the Eiffel Tower and have yet to grow tired of it. (Monsieur de Maupassant, who claimed to hate the Eiffel Tower, is said to have eaten lunch in the tower every day. When asked why, he replied that it was the one place in the city where he could not see the "horrid" structure. — via Wikipedia).

While I have not eaten lunch in the Eiffel Tower, I would be happy to do so. Not to avoid the tower, but to enjoy the fabulous view!

Title: "The Eiffel Tower"

© 2009 Christine Pierce. All rights reserved.

Jardin du Luxembourg

One of my all-time favorite places to visit in Paris is the Jardin du Luxembourg. This gorgeous park is the perfect place to rest, enjoy a picnic, people-watch, and soak up the peaceful ambiance.

The flower-filled urns were spectacular this year — they were overflowing with bright pink geraniums just bursting with color!

© 2009 Christine Pierce. All rights reserved.

Garden Roses in Metal Pail

Title: "Garden Roses in a Pail"
digital painting
© 2009 Christine Pierce
(please click on image to enlarge)

I love the way florists in Paris can just pop a handful of roses into a bucket and they end up looking fabulous. This digital painting is based on a photo I took at at flower shop near Place de la Madeleine on the Right Bank in Paris.

Eiffel Tower

Title: "The Eiffel Tower"
digital photograph
© 2009 Christine Pierce
(please click on image to enlarge)

I think the cloud formations gave the Eiffel Tower an interesting look the day I took this picture...

Doors of Provence

Title: Blue door with pink flowers
digital photograph
© 2009 Christine Pierce

The beautiful doors in Provence could be a study unto themselves!

I came upon this blue door (above) in the picturesque town of Lourmarin, one of the Luberon hill towns of Provence. (This is the charming town where Peter Mayle, author of A Year in Provence, lives).

This lovely green door is in Gordes, Provence:

Title: Green door of Gordes, Provence
digital photograph
© 2009 Christine Pierce

And here are two doors from the ochre-hued town of Roussillon:

Title: Roussillon Door, Provence
digital photograph
© 2009 Christine Pierce

Title: Another Roussillon Door, Provence
digital photograph
© 2009 Christine Pierce

Grapes on the Vine

These grapes were growing in an old vineyard above the castle ruins in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Provence.

Large round stones at the base of the vines absorb heat from the sun and help keep the roots warm at night, thereby ripening the grapes more quickly.

© 2009 Christine Pierce. All rights reserved.

Lavender, Sunflowers and a Poppy

My wish came true: the lavender was in full bloom during our trip! The fields looked like a rolling sea of purple buds and nearly took my breath away:

The butterflies were happy, too:

We were delighted to discover that the sunflowers near Roussillon were also in full bloom:


And my dream of seeing poppies, well, a poppy, blooming in southern France was also realized:


All in all, it was a spectacular day of blossoms and blooms!

© 2009 Christine Pierce. All rights reserved.

French Riviera Photographs

Title: View from hilltop in Nice, French Riviera

© 2009 Christine Pierce

Title: View of beach in front of the Promenade des Anglais
Nice, French Riviera
© 2009 Christine Pierce

I am home from my whirlwind trip to the French Riviera, Provence and Paris. We had a wonderful time driving around the countryside, eating delicious food and seeing gorgeous scenery along the way.

Above, and below, are a few pictures from Nice. The water was a spectacular aquamarine hue and the sky was deep azure.

Title: Sailboats in Mediterranean Sea
Nice, French Riviera
© 2009 Christine Pierce

This photograph of Old Nice shows the true, (un-retouched) color of the sky:

Title: Old Nice, French Riviera
© 2009 Christine Pierce
(please click on image to enlarge)

One night we went to a restaurant called "Le Château de la Chèvre d'Or" (The Golden Goat) in Eze.

Title: La Chèvre d'Or, French Riviera
© 2009 Christine Pierce

It was situated on the side of a cliff (corniche) and offered a spectacular view of the Mediterranean Sea and the French Riviera:

Title: View from Eze, French Riviera

© 2009 Christine Pierce

Title: View of Mediterranean Sea and Saint Jean-Cap Ferrat
from La Chevre d'Or
Eze, French Riviera
© 2009 Christine Pierce

Next: Lavender fields...

Au revoir!

Title: "Eiffel Tower"
12"x12" digital drawing
© 2009 Christine Pierce

It feels like I just unpacked my bags, and yet tomorrow I am leaving for another vacation. This time I'm going to the south of France and Paris for a dear friend's 50th birthday celebration. Here's hoping that the lavender will be in full bloom and the croissants will be as delectable as I remember!

I will be taking oodles of pictures and will have lots to share when I get back in mid-July. After that, I promise to settle down and get back into the art-making mode.

Until then, au revoir!

Art Awards

I was honored to be informed that my "Yaquina Lighthouse" painting was selected as a featured item at Digital Brushstrokes on RedBubble.com.


Meanwhile, super-talented artist and blogger Lydia Velarde was kind enough to give me the "Passion for Painting" award several weeks ago. I am only just now responding. Sorry for the delay, Lydia, and many thanks for thinking of me. I hope everyone will check out her charming and whimsical blog, Arty Velarde.

Since I've already "tagged 7 bloggers and listed 7 things I love," I will graciously accept this award with gratitude and get back to painting... Please consider yourself tagged if you are reading this, and, if you'd like to, post 7 artist bloggers and 7 things you love.

Purple Orchids

Title: "Purple Orchids"
12"x12" digital painting
© 2009 Christine Pierce

The Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Honolulu has an entire wall covered with live orchids. I have never seen so many beautiful orchids in one place. Here is a picture I took after we enjoyed lunch there recently. The wall is two stories tall (although for some reason this picture remains small when clicked on):

Title: "Wall of Orchids"
Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hawaii
© 2009 Christine Pierce

But, lest I think I've seen a majority of orchid varieties at the orchid wall, here's a fun fact from Wikipedia: There are about four times as many orchid species in the world as there are mammal species. That's a lot of orchids!

Princess of Kaua'i Floral Headdress

Title: "Hawaiian Headdress"
12"x12" digital painting
© 2009 Christine Pierce

We happened to be in Hawaii during the 93rd annual King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade. It ended in the nearby Kapi'olani Park which was filled with live music and several food and craft vendors.

I saw a beautifully-dressed woman sitting in the audience listening to the concert. She was wearing traditional Hawaiian leis and garlands topped by an extravagant floral headdress. I think she was one of the festival princesses, Gayle Fujita Ramsey, Princess of Kaua'i. I took a photograph of her ornate headdress, and used it as a reference for the digital painting, above.

Honolulu Sailboat

Title: "Honolulu Sailboat"
12"x12" digital painting
© 2009 Christine Pierce
(please click on image to enlarge)

I love to sail and was happy to look up from our veranda in Honolulu and see this solitary sailboat flying across the water. Nothing but blue sky, azure sea and racing sloop. The trade winds were especially strong that day; the boat was really heeling and looked like it might tip completely over, but, fortunately, it did not.

Here is the same painting in a woodcut style:

Title: "Honolulu Sailboat, woodcut"
12"x12" digital painting
© 2009 Christine Pierce
(please click on image to enlarge)

We had a wonderful tropical vacation and I look forward to sharing my paintings from Hawaii as I finish them.

Aloha!

Title: "Hawaiian Breeze"
12"x12" digital painting
© 2009 Christine Pierce

I'm heading off today on a vacation to Hawaii with my family. I probably will not be able to post any art while I'm away, so I leave you with the above digital painting. It is based on a photograph I took a few years ago, from Napili, Maui, looking northwest toward the island of Molokai.

Aloha!