David McEwen, painter, to have his work displayed in Lodeve, France
Some photos from a guest …
David McEwen in his studio with students. Photos by Rich Rawling
Warm chevre salad ala Sally McEwen and Rich Rawling paints at La Couvertoirade in France.
Sometimes David feels like adding to his blog. Sometimes he doesn’t. Luckily Rich Rawling, a recent workshop participant, sent these lovely photographs proving that David DOES, indeed, exist and is helping people to paint. Looking at Sally’s warm chevre salad and David’s studio makes me long for the South of France… –Kate, webmistress.
A mentor, a gallery opening and painter’s block
This painting of Venice has been lurking for four years.
Our town, Lodeve, is known as the town of the Artists. That’s not all that special as about ten other towns in this part of The Midi are known as the same but there are quite a few painters here; good, bad and abstract (so they don’t really count… I may get letters after that comment). Anyway, we met a painter shortly after we arrived in the area, his name is Shelley and he has been a painter for a long, long time. He paints the most beautiful landscapes in pastel on brown wrapping paper and uses acrylic to produce some rather unpleasant nudes. Shelley is the only person, apart from my brother, who I’ve ever allowed to paint on my pictures; they are both exceptionally good teachers.
How I’m working on this Garde Republicaine series.
Watercolour in progress
I‘m having a ” never again” moment at the moment. I’m sure that you’ve had them too, for one reason or another you wake up and think, I’ll never EVER do that again as long as I live and you make all kinds of promises to all kinds of people and Gods, that if only…
One of the Falkland Island series ...
Well, a few years ago I was invited to The Falkland Islands where I was given a commission by a Marine Company to produce fifteen board room paintings. I was really pleased and I did many drawings, took hundreds of photos and sailed almost four thousand miles around the Islands before coming back to my studio in the warmth of France to decide which images to put onto canvass. Several months later as I got towards the end of the commission I thought that if I ever had to paint another wave or ripple, or even see one that it would be too soon. I thought that I would ” never again “ do a series of so many of the same sort of paintings.
How the years make us forget !
Dogs, horses and The Garde Républicaine
When we were in Lincolnshire I worked on about 600 commissioned paintings between 1992 and 1997. In the main they were watercolour portraits of horses and dogs but there were a few oil portraits too. To make sure that I had enough work I had to market! I hate doing that because some times prospective clients check out the work on show and just walk away with “that” look on their faces. I suppose actors must feel the same during auditions.
So screwing up all available courage we would go off to County Shows, Show Jumping Competitions, Point to Point Meetings and anything else we could think of with a five person tent as a mobile gallery and smile, smile, talk and every-now-and-again sell paintings or gain a commission.
When we moved to France we had to work an 18-hour day building up the painting holiday business, B&B, teaching, cooking, cleaning, and all the other 1001 things that cropped up on a weekly, sometimes daily basis so paintings took a back seat. Until recently!
Waiting and painting…
So, as we sit and wait to see what happened to the art we sent to the U.S. for sale…
I’m working on a series of watercolours, pastels and oils of The Garde Républicaine for an exhibition in Paris at Easter. We’re going to see the Colonel of the Regiment in Avignon on Friday with some works in progress, which I hate doing, I don’t like anyone but Sally seeing things half done, but he’s the boss.
I hope to have about eighteen ready in the end. The series is teaching me a lot but it’s boring to go from painting of Gendarme to yet another painting of yet another bloody gendarme. I do hope you understand that the life of a painter is not all drink and wild bohemian parties, it’s HARD work.
The next stage in selling (I hope).
So. We’d found two galleries; distributed our excess baggage into two new suitcases and flew back to Paris. There we spent a long morning in the C.D.G. Airport, slept on the train back to Montpellier, got home, unpacked, slept and woke up the next day feeling like…
DEATH.
After the jet lag and residual “amazing” food lag gradually died away I began to think of the huge amount of work we had to do… choosing the work to send back to the gallery in the U.S.
Watercolour by David McEwen
When I go out with other painters to the various villages and places of outstanding natural beauty we have here. I not only teach but I paint as well. So after twelve years, I do have alot of small to medium sized watercolours in various portfolios to choose from. Some I like, some, as one Victorian writer put it, ” Look upon them, I dare not.” Because they’re not very good. (Not every painting one does is worthy of wall space.) So I looked through a huge amount of sketches, and fully worked paintings and made piles of work labled:
- Probable
- Possible
and
- I don’t believe I could paint that badly
Off to the U.S. to find an agent or gallery
Hi everybody, at last I’m starting to overcome my total incompetence with the 21st Century and its technology. Kate, who built this site, has bullied me into writing this blog. This first entry is about what Sal and I are doing right now and how it fits in with L’Atellier du Soulondre.
Right Click on image and choose save target as, to download the brochure. (88 MB)
As you may tell by my work, I’m a modern realist with a classical background so it is difficult, these days, to find an agent or gallery who likes my work enough to take a chance, and give me either an exhibition or represent me to the world. Of course I could be happy to have paintings on the walls of the local bank or restaurant, BUT, I’ve already done that and sold a few… a few… not many though… so think Shakespeare, “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune…” (O.K. so it’s said by Brutus in Julius Caesar – he lost — but still it’s the thought that counts.)
So, Sal and Kate got together and produced a three-fold brochure with eight or so paintings and contact details, and on and we flew to Florida. Why?
There is only one rule – there are no rules!
David drew this doodle in less than 15 minutes during a meeting. Practice wherever you can.
Here are some hints and suggestions which I have picked up over the last 30 years or so and I hope that you will try some, if not all of them.
Remember, there are no right or wrong ways in art – if something works for you – do it. There is only one rule – there are no rules!
If you want to use black – use it – Turner did! If you want to use photographs – use them. (Most painters use them but pretend they don’t!)
There are only two things which come close to be rules:
1. Drawing - This is the most important thing that any painter can do. It teaches you to SEE instead of just looking and then teaches the hand to put on paper what the eye sees.
Draw every day.
2. Practice - Don’t expect to get it right first time. When someone learns to play the piano they don’t start with Mozart’s 21st Concerto - they start with scales and practice them. Painters must do the same – Practice, Practice, Practice. — David McEwen
Workshops in France by artist David McEwen
Sally and David McEwen run painting workshops from L'Atelier du Soulondre, their bed and breakfast in Lodeve, France.
David McEwen is a professional artist living in the South of France with his wife, Sally. His work is traditional, rich with detail, and popular worldwide. With over a thousand completed commissions in the past 35 years, David has learned his craft well.
His mastery of drawing, charcoal, pastel, watercolour, acrylic and oil have earned him many honors including , “Master Painter of the World” by Artist International Magazine, and “Runner-up” in The Society of All Artists “Painter of the Year.”.
With his talent for painting and several education degrees, it seemed natural that he share his gift with others, so he and Sally, began PaintFrance workshops in 1997 as an addition to their bed & breakfast business, L’Atelier du Soulondre in Lodève, France.
Its success (evident by the amount of repeat bookings) is mostly due to the relaxed, entertaining atmosphere created by the McEwens.
