This is a story about the color ochre, about a town in France called Roussillon, and about getting older and getting around!
Let’s start with a book:
Here are some pages:
This is one of the many, many wonderful books published by Editions Equinoxe in France. I cannot resist buying several books from their enormous repertoire, each time I go to France! There is something for everyone: wonderful watercolor illustrations of towns, of food, of shops, of cathedrals, of countryside. Any and every subject matter has been written about and illustrated. The books are small: about 6″ square, so are easy to buy, pack and bring home. The “carnet” or address books make wonderful presents.
So, I bought this book about ochre, or “l’ocre” about eight years ago when I was first in Roussillon. Here are some pictures I have taken of the town and the ochre “mines” around the town:
Skip ahead eight years and shift to my aunt, who is 89! Yes, she flew from Philadelphia to Marseille (when she met her group at the airport she realized she was the only one actually carrying a suitcase! She has subsequently gone and bought one with wheels…) She had spent many many winters in Provence with her late husband, so knows the countryside well. And, she is a painter. So off she went to meet a British group of artists and stay in a very small town she knew well.
Here she is in Roussillon!
And here is where she stayed, on the left, first window. And that’s her, sitting on the chair, sketching.
Thank you, Lydia, for being such an inspiration!
