I mostly paint live at weddings, and I travel all over France to paint my couples. This time, I stayed on the French Riviera and did a live painting for a birthday party! The birthday girl chose the beautiful Château de Castellaras in Mouans-Sartoux to blow out her candles.
This splendid medieval house is located on the heights of Cannes. The panorama of the sea is amazing : you can see a 180° view from Antibes to Nice. There is a special charm once you are inside the castle. The furniture, the tapestries, the frescoes, all the interior decoration seems period.
But let’s go back to Mrs. R’s birthday! She had chosen to hire my live painting services for her birthday party. She really liked the concept of having a painter who paints live in front of her guests. Her choice of live painting focused on several moments: I had to paint different moments of the evening, the venue of course, but also the cocktail hour, the musicians, the dinner, the various planned entertainment, and of course, the cake!
Big problem when arriving at the castle in the afternoon: a storm hits us, strong winds, torrential rain… And the birthday party was, of course, planned to be held outdoors… The weather forecast predicts clearing in the late afternoon and evening… We wait… Peter, the event planner from Riviera Organisation, remains calm, and eventually decides to set up the cocktail hour on the outdoor terrace, the dinner inside, and the cake also on the terrace. The rain stops, the wind gradually clears the clouds, the sun reappears. I can finally start my live painting! I go down to the beautiful garden and sketch the first lines of the medieval castle.
Then the evening begins, and the guests are welcomed by a young woman in a champagne dress!
So the cocktail hour takes place on the castle terrace. The sea view through the arches is absolutely charming. The guests, while sipping champagne, enjoy live music from a band.
Dinner time approaches, and the guests head towards the reception hall inside the castle. The imposing fireplace and wrought iron chandeliers set the tone for the medieval interior decoration.
After dinner, another musical performance from the band gets the guests dancing. The guests then head out to the terrace for the rest of the evening. Dancers adorned in sparkling, mirror mosaic costumes accompany the arrival of the cake.
What a beautiful birthday party! And here is the painting, once the live painting is finished, that perfectly captures the entire evening!
And you, What is the next event you would like to have in live painting? Your birthday or one of a beloved one? A professional event? Contact me to give me details about your next event!
As you may already know, I use to draw during my trips. I have been creating travel books for several years now. I would like to share with you my latest travel to Thailand (it was the last time that I took plane and traveled far). It was just before the health crisis that we are still going through… In fact, it had already begun, but I was not yet aware of the seriousness of the situation and of the magnitude that it would take in the coming weeks and months… It was February 2020…
So let’s travel a little in Thailand thanks to my notebook… before we could soon go again to discover the world!
Excerpts from my travel book in Thailand
I draw my travels in watercolors
First step: Bangkok
We have made our first walk through Bangkok by night, through the Khao San Road area. Many street vendors offer skewers and other tempting dishes. The olfactory sensations are contrasted: it alternates between the foul scent of the street and the delicate fragrances of Thai food. The day after our arrival, we have walked to discover the flower market. Saleswomen are spending their days putting on (not pearls!), but flowers, to make crowns for temples.
Our visit to the city continues to a colorful long boat, on the canals called the khlongs. We feel like in an Eastern Venice, with multicolored gondolas! The houses are authentic wooden huts on stilts. The laundry is hanged to the windows. The vegetation is lush. Golden temples scattered here and there. It’s nap time. People living here are swinging around in their hammocks. Only a few goannas are awake and waiting for their prey in the shade…
Travel book in Thailand: typical Khlong in Bangkok
The next day we visit the Wat Pho temple, a complex of buildings with colorful roofs (not always tasteful!) and chedîs (bell-shaped architecture).
A multitude of golden Buddhas smiles at us in each of the temples. The lying Buddha (45m long!) is really impressive, and seems stuck in his little home!
Travel book in Thailand: Wat Pho temple in Bangkok
We discover the mango and sticky rice: a real delight! Rice cooked in coconut milk, accompanied by fresh mango! Unfortunately, I never had time to draw one along the journey ; we ate them too fast every time!!
Second step : Sukhothai
We flew to Bankgok-Sukhothai. On arrival, the airport was tiny! A beautiful traditional wooden building, planted in the middle of coconut trees!
Sukhothai airport
Visiting the ancient city of Sukhothai is absolutely charming. We ride our bikes to wander among ruins; remains of red brick temples, immense chedîs, Buddha sculptures in the middle of palm trees, and other exotic vegetation. The place is almost empty… We fully appreciate visiting this UNESCO site without the hordes of tourists that it should attract in normal times…
Travel book in Thailand: Old Sukhothai
Third step : Chiang Mai
We have 200kms to travel by bus to reach our next stop: it will take us 5 hours and a half! I have not yet specified that the driving of Thai people is veeeery cool compared to other countries! As much for taxis, buses or tuk-tuk!
The geographical location of Chiang Mai is central to visit many nearby sites. We start at Doi Suthep Temple, 15 km away. As soon as you leave the city, the road climbs very strongly, and you find yourself surrounded by dense vegetation. The temple is located at 1500m altitude, it is cool here! To reach the temple, we have to climb the 300 steps of the magnificent staircase (the railing is none other than the body of a giant dragon!). The decoration is very rich: gold is omnipresent! The large central chedî is also made in gold!! The pilgrims go around it three times with a flower in their hand, then prostrate themselves before Buddha.
Travel book: Buddha in Doi Suthep temple
We will discover the next day a village Hmong: Doi Pui, which is located in the surrounding mountains. The place is a little sad. Houses made of cheap materials; wooden walls, dried palm roofs for the prettiest, but for most corrugated sheets…
Travel book in Thailand: Hmong village
No tourists here yet, but we find ourselves in a village full of gift shops… Many fresh and dried fruits (dried strawberries and mangoes, yummy!), traditional Hmong costumes add to the usual memories. We’re in the country, chickens and roosters are roaming free. I enjoy drawing the pretty embroidered outfits of the villagers. What patience work all these embroideries by hand…
Travel Book in Thailand: Hmong villagers
The experience of Thai massage!
It is hard to come to Thailand without testing Thai massages! We choose an address recommended by a touristic guide. It is really professional. They wash our feet with salt and lemon. Then they give us loose clothes. The massage is far from relaxing! It feels more like an osteopathy session! She massages me with her whole body, makes me take very special postures… Anyway, I know what Thai massage looks like now!
Local market experience
I love to stroll through the markets of all the countries I visit. We always discover unknown food or objects. The olfactory, sound and visual environment is full of surprises! We leave to the Warorot market. It is really typical. There are only local people. You can buy everything: fruits and vegetables of course, but also dried fish (beware of smells!), spices, golden buddhas, shoes, clothes, beauty products and jewelry! The restoration is done directly on site.
Travel book in Thailand: Warorot market
We buy some very typical souvenirs, tomorrow we go back to Bangkok, and the day after tomorrow in France. A last little sketch near the hotel before leaving:
Travel book in Thailand: Bangkok
So, I hope I have made you travel a little with these excerpts from my travel diary!
Did you know that these travel books are the source of my wedding books?
It was in 2014, for my brother’s wedding, that I created my first wedding book!
Would you like to see what it looks like in the “wedding ” version?
As you may already know, I have been creating travel books for many years, during my travels in Europe, America and Asia.
The global health crisis we are going through has changed a lot my travel plans … Now, if I plan to travel, I limit myself to trips in France.
So I have decided to take out my travelbooks, and share with you my biggest trip: my four-months road trip in the United States!
A camper-van trip across the United States
First of all I present to you our traveling companion which carried us for more than 15,000 kilometers.
It was an old machine which burned a LOT of gasoline … But it was really comfortable for traveling with my 4 months-old baby … and above all … its price was very interesting !!
For this long trip, we had decided to make a road-trip from Montreal (where we were living at that time), to go to the West passing Chicago, to discover Western parks, to reach California, to drive on the famous Road 66 to go back to Eastern, to visit Louisiana, and to go up to the North.
Here are my best travel sketches (and my best memories!).
I complete my illustrations with a few words extracts from my travel book.
Chicago
Chicago and its Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park.
“The town and the little people we are, are reflecting in it. The sculpture is very popular: a crowd is gathered all around … it is difficult to take a picture … I take my pencils! “
Sketch of the Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago
Deadwood
Deadwood and its Western atmosphere! Go back to a century before, to the time of the gold seekers! A little bit touristic, but some buildings still have an old-world charm.
Mount Rushmore
“After a bend, the four pairs of eyes of presidents staring at horizon … It is a real impressive sensation to see them in real… Carved in a light rock, their faces have beautiful contrasts thanks to the morning light â€.
Arches National Park
“A winding road climbs among the blood-red peaks. There are many photographing breaks, we want to keep in memory all these oddly shaped rocks, this huge hanged rock, fairy chimneys, and of course, the stars of the park, those which bring curious tourists from all over the world: the famous, the incredible, the breathtaking arches! “
Valley of Gods
“Valley of Gods, a rough diamond untouched by mass tourism. Difficult to put words on a so hoped landscape that we finally have in front of our eyes … We appreciate to its full value the solitude of the place. Incredible evening in this grandiose landscape with fire tones »
Las Vegas
“Landscapes are desert and arid. Mountains of sand and a few rare green tufts showing a little plant life. Las Vegas is profiling in the distance, a two million inhabitants agglomeration , on a plain surrounded by desert mountains … The climate is stifling, we have the sensation of being in an oven … It is 46 °C in the shade…”
Bodie, a ghost town
“A city which had twenty thousand inhabitants at the time of the gold rush … A fire has destroyed Bodie in the 1930s, and she became a ghost-town in 1942. We discover abandoned houses, a saloon, a general store, a church, a school. Everything is in an exceptional state of preservation. We spy through the yellow curtained windows, the interior of each wooden house. Everything is covered by a thick layer of dust, cobwebs, wallpapers stained with humidity peeled off, mattresses with visible springs … In the kitchens, gas stoves in working order, glasses, plates, pots, tin cans still closed and abandoned children’s games … We have the feeling that people left in a rush, leaving everything behind, taking with them only a suitcase…â€
San Francisco
The Golden Gate Bridge and Alamo Square, two must-sees in San Francisco.
Sketch from Alamo Square, San Francisco
Watercolor of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
Highway 1
“The Highway 1 which runs along the Pacific coast. Black rocks flowing into the ocean. The panoramas reminds me Brittany landscapes. The Pacific winds let irrefutable evidences of their violence on the cypress.” (No wind when I sketched these trees!!)
Monterey cypress
Santa Barbara Pier
The route 66
Return to Eastern : we join Route 66, with the famous Hackberry General Store.
“The owner’s 1957 red Corvette sits in front of a really cool store. Fifties atmosphere inside with the multicolored jukebox, life-size photos of Marilyn and Elvis, and license plates hanging on the wall. Outside, old, rusty American cars, and obviously vintage gas pumps! “
San Antonio
The “river walk” of San Antonio: A charming walk along green canals: we feel like we are in Venice, but with more greenery … the gondolas are just missing!
Sketch of the San Antonio River walk
Louisiana
The last big step on our road trip is Louisiana. BIG crush!
Lake Martin
I loved the bearded trees in the “Bayou” on Lake Martin!
Sketch of the Lake Martin in Louisiana
New Orleans
New Orleans is a very special city. A very European soul reigns in the city center … which is normal for a district called the “French Quarterâ€!
Urban sketch in the town of New Orleans
Oak Alley Plantation
Oak Alley Plantation, a former property built during the sugar cane plantation era. The mansion is grand and has served as the backdrop for many films, including “Interview with The Vampireâ€! We are admiring the famous alley of three-hundred-years old oaks that leads to the luxurious villa.
Watercolor from the Oak Alley Plantation property
Cocodril
Cocodril is a village entirely built on stilts! I found its amazing, and very poetic, these colorful dwellings on legs!
Cocodril, a village built on stilts, Louisiana.
Here, I hope I have made you travel a little with these extracts from my travel book!
Did you know that these notebooks are the origin of my wedding-books?
It was in 2014, for my brother’s wedding, that I have created the first wedding-book!
Would you like to see the “wedding†version ?!
