Dear readers,

I have not been writing for a while, since I have been camping in the Ardeche with my family.

It has been a really inspiring vacation.
The Ardeche is a very beautiful and wild region in the South of France. In the summer it gets really hot and very crowded with tourists, but last weeks it was just perfect.
I have been very inspired for a couple of reasons, of which I will name three.
The first one was the incredible nature. Because of the calcareous limestones, deep canyons and wonderful rock forms have been formed.
The very wild character of the landscape, and the beautiful rough rock forms have deeply impressed and inspired me.
One of the impressing things that I saw is the famous Pont d’Arc. I remembered being there when I was a very little girl, at that time I was awestruck by the huge rock bridge. Now I went to see it forty years or so later, and it is still an amazing place.

The second thing were the beautiful cave paintings of the cave of Chauvet. It contains the earliest known and very well preserved cave paintings in the world.
I did not expect to be so moved by the paintings, painted 30.000- 32.000 years BP. They were very beautiful in themselves, but I found it very moving that artist from so long ago are able to communicate with us.
It made me very much aware of how short we are living, how long humans have expressed their experiences through art and how much art can be touching.

The other impressing things from the paleolithic times were the dolmen: the stone-made structures (used for graves, or for worship maybe?). It is incredible how people have built them. I really loved their forms.

The third thing were the beautiful medieval villages, with their small winding streets, all made of the stones of the surrounding environment. I loved the organic way these villages have grown, the colors, everything.

Here below I post some pictures.

I will need time to catch up with my ‘usual’ work, but I hope to start painting again soon!

Thanks for visiting,
Simone