Pretend this is France. . .

Raffaldini in June . oil on panel . 8" x 10"



Just kidding!  Did I have you there for a second?  This new "tiny jewel" painting is NOT France, but let's get crazy and dream.

 

A good, dear friend just returned from that memorable place (France) and we had a long chat today about her experiences - the way of life and where people place their "currency" so to speak.  You know, that thing we all live by - our credo - our manifesto that says this is important, this isn't.  I've also been reading a great little book by Penelope Rowlands, "Paris Was Ours."  Thirty-two writers reflect on the the "city of light," and it just makes you want to shut the book,  buy a ticket, lock the door and go.  NOW. 

 

Sometimes I have a feeling we've gotten it all backwards - and often breathe a sigh of relief that my child seems to have reverted back to anything that doesn't call for a stressed out, ladder-climbing, step-over-the-bodies kind of lifestyle, full of "I've got this, I've got that."  Her family loves the outdoors, relish growing their own vegetables, love their family time, simple things.  My generation played a different Monopoly game, collecting houses and hotels and anything else that wasn't nailed down.  But that's neither here nor there. . .I'm rambling.

 

Let's go to Italy instead. . .or maybe a little closer to home!  The painting above features a view of Raffaldini Vineyard in Ronda, NC.  Just off the beaten path, about an hour from Winston Salem, it features an Italian styled farmhouse tasting room looking out over a 40 acre vineyard - that's the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance.  I was there in June, just before noon. . .the painting captures the last of the morning glow disappearing into midday.  It is a charmed day indeed when you can sit around outside having a leisurely picnic-style lunch with a North Carolina backdrop.  Trust me, that little fact does not whiz by without great appreciation and gratitude.  We didn't drink the wine that day, but I brought home a bottle of red to be savored later that birthday week.  

 

So, next stop? 

 

How about next door?  Toby the dog striking a proud pose while being a faithful, resolute (entirely too serious) bird-watching fool!  Thinking he can catch those tiny birds who have nested in the hollow of the dogwood tree.  I sure do admire his "can do" attitude:

 

Toby Bird Watching . oil on panel . 10" x 8"

And very thankful he never succeeded in my presence!

 

So that's my tour today folks. . .thank you for coming along.