With so many of my paintings, for me it’s hard to distinguish its quality if I had a wonderful time painting it. If it was an amazing experience, I look at the painting and it all comes back. I understand why so many people buy art that is personal to them. It may not be about how well it’s painted but how it makes one feel. That’s this painting. It was painted Day 2 of my 17-day trip to France with a dozen painters. I signed up late and the caveat was I’d need to have a roommate. This became the best part of the whole trip. I had always wanted to meet a facebook friend who lived in Wisconsin and it seemed it would never happen otherwise… I just had a feeling she would be the perfect travel companion- boy was I right! Jan Norsetter and I met face-to-face for the first time, just 24 hours before this was painted. She was the perfect roommate, a very confident driver, and an easy painting partner. We met two days before the whole group got together in Keremma, Bretagne to acclimate and paint together.

So, about this painting: we stood high above a beach looking down, still jet-lagged a bit. I didn’t have my full range of oil paints yet- I was going to get them in a couple days. I only had little sample packet Utrecht paints the size of those pizza parlor red chili peppers. With VERY limited colors on my palette (red, blue, yellow ocher, viridian and white), I felt like I was driving a car blind-folded. So for that handicap, I felt like it went ok.

This painting now hangs in Jan’s home. I chose it to give to her because it was our first side-by-side painting of the trip. And I’m the proud owner of a Norsetter that was the last one we painted side-by-side that trip. I made nearly 2 dozen paintings in France, but the biggest treasure I brought home was a lifetime friend.