Flaming June and memories of the Lot Valley

A little over a week ago I was over in France in blazing sunshine delivering workshops for Studio Preniac. It all seem so far away now in both time and warmth.The Lot  Valley lying a little to the south of the Dordogne is an inviting landscape of rolling hills and valleys, picturesque villages and towns.

 Safely tucked away in my attic bedroom after a wonderful supper by our generous hosts Billy and Liz. I awoke early to the gradual change of the morning from dawn blue blush which I tried to capture in my first captured sketch between workshops. This set me for a week of exploration of Shadows, Layer and Line in Cloth beginning with a sketching session in the nearby  village of Montuq for the Sunday market. Carrying our sketchbooks to snatch studies as we walked and bought materials for use in the workshop.

Getting ready to draw.

Jenny in the Studio

Laurence at work

Within walking distance of the studio there was plenty of inspirational resource available for drawing

Judith Shadow Drawing

We also had a chance to see the hidden gardens of Cahors and visit the nearby town of Saint Antonin Noble Val before flying back last week

Sue and Laurence in the Moroccan Garden Cahors

Hidden courtyard in Noble Val 

It was hard to say goodbye to this lovely view from the workshop, great companionship and food and come back to the cold grey of England..I am sure it will get better.Thank to the workshop participants for their wonderful cards which contained little snippets of those memories.

France had not quite left me, in the same week, my advance copy of the 'Stitch Stories' arrived brightening up a grey morning and a little bit of this lovely place is recorded in the book in the work of Ros Woodhead (above)

Thankyou Bill from Studio Preniac for the additional images and to all the workshop participants for permission to use photographs

Finally, breaking news, I am to be one of eight artists featured in the next issue of the wonderful John Hopper's Inspirational Magazine..yippee.