Good morning sunshine, the view this morning from our house. We are painting in one of the oldest wine regions in the world, the Phoenicians are said to have first introduced viticulture here in the 6th century BC.

It is strange, I hear no birds, see no butterflies, moths, mosquitoes, lizards. At home if we leave the lights on and the windows open the room fills up with insects of all kinds, the only insects I have seen here are wasps who had to have their own plate of food for lunch to keep them from ours and small spiders.

But it is beautiful here a different sort of beautiful but beautiful all the same. Miles of vineyards as far as the eye can see. Perfect villages, pretty churches, historic buildings, we are yet to discover.

We are surrounded by some of the most famous of french wines, Pouilly Fuise, Vernay, Julianas and of course the beautiful town of Macon. I want to take the group there to paint the Saone, a huge and powerful river, so majestic.

We started the day at home, techniques, and fun, I haven’t asked permission from everyone if I can post any of their beautiful paintings, I will ask tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are starting our day painting in monochrome and in the afternoon we shall go on an adventure, not sure where yet!

A Demain