Dear Voyageur,
The Seminar will begin in the evening. The first of the summer series will begin August 29th and end on Sept. 5th, 2009. I will pick up everyone from the Montpellier Airport in the Van. It is important that we coordinate our flights to within a couple of hours. We then travel to the lodge, "L'Auberge Cevenol", above the village of Vallerauge, where we will have our meals, above the river l'herault.

The first day, because of the jet-lag, we draw and paint in the region, and I give a local tour with the Van. This way we can come and go from our rooms easily, to catch-up on our sleep. We have two meals a-day in the Restaurant of the Auberge, breakfast and dinner. Each morning, after breakfast we prepare our lunch in the three story house across the street. We bring the lunch in the van with our art supplies and eat picnic-style, during the day's journey at each respective location. Each day we venture further from our home-base, beginning with the neighboring town of Vallerauge, on the river.

The next day we go to the medieval village of Sauve, on the bottom , Roman on the top of the mountain. We set up our easels on the beach next to the river and paint, draw and photograph, all day, returning for dinner and discussion in the evening.
On another day's journey we go to Couvertoirade, where one of the major points of the Crusades began. On that day we pass through Cirque de Navacelle where the cascades fall around the mountain of the Virgin Mary, a walk up a hill, which for many, is a pilgrimage.

By the fourth day, we will be ready to travel into Arles and set up the easels where Van Gogh painted the arena and the famous restaurant. We will also go into Nimes where the Maison Carre', next to the Roman Arena and Jardin de Les Fountaines with the Roman Baths of Diana are in the park. It is the destiny of the water from Uzes which travels over the aquaduct, Pont du garde, in the vicinity of the Fine Arts Academy in Nimes. We walk through the old quarter and do a workshop on how to make quick sketches of the people passing by, while were having a refreshment in an outdoor restaurant. The other villages visited are for outdoor markets, as each day there is a different schedule for their location. We'll go to Le Vigan and Gange, for example, because their outdoor markets are fantastic for gift-shopping.

The plan may vary slightly, according to weather conditions or other considerations, for the comfort of the group. We have a "going-away" party on the last night, which is great fun, dancing included. I then take everyone to the airport on the the last day. Those arriving from the States will return home on the same date, because of the date change.

Any other considerations, such as the gallery part of the website, please contact "Les Ateliers de Mark Strickland" at: Mark@paintinfrance.net. Hope to see soon you in France!

Mark