#42 - Back in the U.S.A.

                                        "Luc en peinture celebrates 20 years this weekend"

                                                            "Courgettes de Luc"

 
                                                      "The chapel in Amblie"

                                            "Beach Scene in Saint Aubin-sur-Mer"

Fellow Art Lovers:

Well, I’m back in the U.S.A., and I have a lot to tell you.  But this time I don’t have any stories about hours and hours of painting and soul-searching in France. This time there are more stories about feeling good about being a grandfather and participating to a great event in France.  

I don’t know if I ever mentioned an event called Luc en Peinture, a painting competition carried out a few villages down the coast from the village where we stay in Normandy during the summer. Basically, artists have from 9 in the morning to 6 in the evening on a Saturday to produce a painting, with the general theme Luc, which gives each painter a lot of leeway. The event just celebrated its 20^th anniversary, and I’ve been participating in it for seven or eight years. While the main event is painting, the event also includes an artists’ dinner Saturday in the evening, and an exhibit, auction and prizes on the following Sunday.

This year, I was a big winner, even though I did not win an official prize. Producing a valid painting in one day is a big challenge, and I enjoy the excitement. The artists’ dinner is always raucous fun, and I love meeting other artists and sharing ideas with them. I felt great this year because our two granddaughters participated in the children’s section, and they were thrilled when their paintings were purchased during the auction. And, just the day before the event, a friend told me that I was featured in an article about Luc en Peinture in Ouest France, the newspaper with the highest circulation in France. I didn’t believe it until I actually saw it.

If you want to know more about Luc en Peinture, you can access the Luc-sur-Mer website (www.luc-sur-mer.fr) or send an e-mail to the dynamic person in charge of it, Fabienne Curet. (curet.fabienne@wanadoo.fr).  If you have any questions, I’d love to share what I know.

In addition to being a grandfather, I did visit a lot of art exhibits and galleries in Paris, and I have a lot of ideas for my future painting. I think I’ve mentioned to you before how I incorporate new ideas into my painting; I leave it up to my subconscious. And, I did actually paint a bit, which you can see from the photos above. The painting entitled “Courgettes de Luc,” was my entry in Luc en Peinture. In case you’re wondering, the produce store where I was painting, and you see a bit of the storefront and the sign, had squash from Luc on sale.  

As always, I’d love to hear from you, if you have any comments.

Thanks for your support,

William Kosman