Another Piece I'd Been Looking For

"View from the Gîte”
12"x16" pastel on Canson paper
©2005 Diana Moses Botkin

Recently, I've shown work here at my blog which I have now finished after having set it aside months or years ago. Or, as in the case from my last post, finished art was hiding in my studio.

This pastel study is another one I had been looking for, from that 2005 journey to France. After spending time in Paris on that trip, we drove to eastern France and stayed in a gîte we had booked ahead of time, online. 

The drive from Paris was lovely except for the crowded conditions in the vehicle we had rented. The description online for what I signed up for was, I thought, something like a minivan. It was supposed to seat seven people.

The rental company was obviously thinking of seven small French people. And, in order to accommodate that number, the third row of seats when unfolded in the Opal, obliterated the luggage space. All seven of us had a suitcase. After scratching our heads awhile and inquiring if there was a bigger vehicle available (there wasn't), we folded up the third seat, stacked our luggage there and put the two smallest family members (my youngest, and me!) on top of the pile. That left 3 to squeeze in the back seat. My husband drove and my second child navigated.

It was a very chummy drive but we made it to the gîte, where the friendly owners met us and showed us the place. The house was clean, roomy and reasonable. It fit our low-budget trip to buy groceries nearby and cook our own meals. The location was a beautiful setting and I did several plein air studies while there, a few in oil and this one in pastel.