Cassis, watercolour on Saunders Waterford Not 425gsm, 141⁄4X251⁄2in (36X65cm)
Provence is exciting aesthetically, it looks good and the light is good, and there are good things to paint at every turn. But how to find a way to depict it that is unlike the countless images made of the place before? That’s the perennial problem that faces any artist visiting a subjectrich and readily identifiable place, be it Venice, Tuscany or Provence. I needed four paintings to make up my set for the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour exhibition in April.
Although I worked with an open mind, four images kept recurring; two were pretty specific, whilst two left room for a little experimentation. The first was of olive trees or vineyards, the second was a hill town, the third was of the ochre quarries at Roussillon and the last was of the dramatic rocky headland that overlooks Cassis.