Abbaye de Senanque

Thea this is gorgeous, a beautiful and delicate, sunlit scene. You can almost smell the lavendar.

Thea, I can see this must have been a difficult composition to portray, and I think you have done a lovely job on it...Your washes are fresh and gentle, which has helped to counteract the solidity of the building, ( beautifully painted.) and the lavender is delightful.

Another lovely paintung, Thea - cypresses and all!

Thea, this is beautiful...can I give you a minor suggestion? Put a small blue background tree (blue plus very little lavender and very lttle green) on the left side. Put also a very small green background tree (green plus a bit of blue and very very little lavender) on the right side. For the sky put a very almost invisible boundary at the right top corner. Please debate with me, I am try to learn with you..Best regards.

Thank you all very much for your nice comments. I didn't think there would be anyone about with it being a holiday - so I was pleasantly surprised to see any comments at all. Ping, I am not quite sure where you are suggesting putting the trees. Do you mean, on the left side, putting a small blue tree on the hill or behind the two green trees? Also not sure where the small green tree you suggest for the right side goes. Do you mean by the end of the building or on the bit of hill to the right of the tower? Let me know as I can't really think about it until I am sure where you suggest placing these. I also like to debate about all aspects of a painting - it is, as you say, how your learn.

This is beautiful, Thea. I would suggest to put a tree behind the building to separate it from the hill behind and give more balance to the green trees you already painted. Not putting it at the end of the right side of the building, otherwise you loose the fading out effect! On the left side behind the building next to the trees already there. This is my opinion.

Above comments from respected artist aside (who am I to question them) but I love this painting and would be over the moon to have done it myself!

Beautiful colours Thea and your perspective looks good.

Well done Thea

Sorry Ping and Mia. I read the long bit that I wrote about your suggestions again and realised it sounded a bit ungrateful and defensive. Wasn't meant like that at all. What I should have said was - thank you so much for making those suggestions. I have taken them on board and will be having another look at the painting in the light of day. Landscapes are not my best subject and I do have problems with them - no idea why. Anyway, always really, really happy to have your comments and input.

Thea, I think this a really good watercolour, I especially like the way you have done the building. Its quite fresh and bold. The picture works very well. Well done.

Love the light and the colors, Thea! I think you've done a super job. I like the way your shadows picked up the blue of the sky and the purple of the lavender.

Thea, I try to send additional comments to you, but the website is not taking it. The file appears to be too big. Is there any other way to send the input to you?

Lovely delicate painting in your usual style.

Thank you so much Seok Yam and Amanda for your positive comments. It is very nice of you and I really appreciate it. Ping, if you contribute to the forum, you can send me a private email via that route. If you don't use the forum, it is easy to set up the facility even if you don't use it to contribute to the forum.

Ping, just found you on the forum and have left a PM for you.

I love this painting Thea! It is so fresh, so appealing and so very South of France. What gentle colours. Brilliant!

Thank you, Beatrice. I am pleased that you think it comes over as so very South of France - that coming from a French lady is praise indeed!

Very nice Thea, as usual you knew exactly when to stop and haven't overworked it. Lovely colour.

So fresh and sunny....can almost hear the bees on the lavander! wonderful colours.

Lovely scene, beautiful colour and style and so fresh looking.

Just reply your message from the forum route, please discuss with me again.. Thank you very much.

Love the minimalist use of the paint. It works really well here. Great little painting Thea. Jx

It's a beautiful painting, I can almost feel the warmth, I'd love to be able to paint watercolours like these (maybe I'll get there one day)

Hi Thea it is great to see your ongoing great works. You really have polished off your style and works to a superb standard. It has been a great pleasure to see your work over the past few... years blossom into beauty!! Great skills Thea : )

Hi Thea, did you know that you were no 3 in the most looked at gallery images? You beat me again! I'll grudgingly say "well done". :} Seriously though this is a lovely painting. Kind regards., Louise

Congratulations on making top ten again with this lovely painting

Thank you very much Louise and Lesley for those kind words. Louise, I didn't think the order in which the paintings appear had any significance - so being No 3 doesn't mean anything I don't think. Anyway, I can't compete with 3 in the top ten this month!!!

Many thanks for your kind words Thea, I am delighted to get three in,:} I think that the order is definately significant ! That's why you're no 3 ! I meant it when I said well done. Also, you're always so kind to other people here and I for one really appreciate your comments. Looking forward to seeing your next lovely watercolour. I noticed that you hadn't posted in a while. I've put loads on, I'm worried people will be getting fed up with me :}

I haven't posted a painting for about 10 days, Louise, as I have been very busy getting ready to go to EuroDisney with my two little grandchildren. We leave tomorrow morning for 5 days there and I am sure I am going to need a holiday to recover!! I did do a portrait of Hector (middle grandson) but I wasn't happy with it so didn't post it and I am going to re-do it. I have a still life on the go at the moment. Has the new grandchild arrived yet? Do let us know.

Well Thea, the battle you said you had wtih this painting certainly paid off! Congrats on being number three which you really deserve. Thanks for your lovely comment too. You'll only be about 50kms from my house this weekend; the weather forcast is for sun (and still no rain!) so have fun with your grandchildren.

Have a good time. They must be so excited, almost as much as you? ! Perhaps you've already set off ?! My daughter had a baby girl, Annabel. All doing well! I can't express how I feel ! Isn't it just wonderful !

Thanks Thea, My knowlege of email facilities etc is zero ! One day soon I'll attempt a portrait. I still have bad memories of the Terry and Fiona fiasco but my own grandaughter should be easier and definately more enjoyable. !

Well done Thea, but Louise has equalled your 3 out of 10 so is it game on ? : ).

Congratulations Thea on your top ten

Hi Thea. Just read your comments. You are my favourite person and do wonders for my ego! :}Very good of you to take the time, it's always interesting to read your views.! Glad you made it back from Disney in one piece! Time for a good rest now I expect.

This is beautiful, Thea. It's so fresh and light, especially the trees - well done!!

Was that you in the highly commended section at Patchings !!! :) You dark horse, you never said anything! Well done, it's a lovely painting. Bet you're really thrilled, I'm delighted for you Ms Highly Commended!

Thank you so much, Louise. I must admit I was utterly taken aback when I got the letter (actually thought it was just telling me that my entries hadn't got anywhere and nearly threw it in the bin!). It is only the second competition I have ever entered, the other one being the dreaded Terry & Fiona one, so I genuinely didn't expect a thing and especially as Patchings seems to attract some very good artists. Wonders never cease it appears!! I did that painting last year and it has always been one of my very favourites, so it was nice that it was that one.

I have just browsed your portfolio for the first time and can't stop looking at your paintings Thea they are beautiful. We lived in France and this brings back so many memories, going on holiday soon hope I can create some work like this when I get back. There is so much in your paintings lovely colours and lots of sunshine.

Thea - here's a different view. Whilst the artistic freedom we have is an unassailable benefit - and you surely used it to great effect - my personal feeling about Senanque is, that it actually is a solid brick-block and it surely was built in a bit of a pit at the foot of a wooded hill. You shouldn't be too concerned about its imposing, massive character - the monks knew what they were doing. So, if you reflect on its almost overwhelming structure and willfully constructed presence, a more "bombastic" picture could actually work very well. If you don't mind me saying so, you have made it an almost celestial, feminine fata-morgana, which it isn't at all. Like painting Stalin in a ballet outfit. Perhaps the problem is, that too many people have stood at exactly your spot and painted it - it becomes a little like "oh, another picture from venice". Don't be afraid of describing it in 'bold', although I can see it is not your style! I hope you understand what I mean?

Fiona, Thank you so much for your lovely comment, which I didn't find until today as I hadn't been checking on the comments on this painting for a while. I love France and am off there in about 3 weeks - hurrah! More reference material for paintings to do in the dead of a UK winter.

Thank you for your comment, Jorgen and ideas about painting Senanque. The thing is that I don't normally paint what is there - I change the colours, often the feel, leave bits out, add bits in - in fact paint whatever I feel about the scene or subject. The last thing I want to do is represent exactly what is in front of me with accuracy in all the detail. My paintings are always an interpretation. I have a horror of big solid chunks of one colour or a big sold mass as, to me, that can look monotonous and dull. I know Provence and France very well and I am always impressed by the lightness and luminosity of the stone of the buildings against the azure of the sky and I allowed this feeling to dictate how I painted this building as to me this represents the South of France. However, I appreciate all your comments and ideas as one should always encompass a different view on things.

Lovely and fresh Thea. The white paper is just right and the lavendar rows take one's eye in to the building in complimentary colours. Excellent work and fully deserving of the five pages of plaudits

Beautiful! I like the way you manage to minimize the brush strokes. Michelle