A Bright Sunny Day

It's so wonderful to be up early in the morning and to see the sun greeting the day instead of dank dark clouds filled with rain.It also means if I  paint a silk  screen it has some hope of being dry so that I can print with it today and not have to wait until tomorrow!So  I have been playing with the faces of ladies that i encountered on my travels in France. I am particularly drawn to the ones that look out into the world. So I took a photo of one at Bayeaux Cathedral- I am not sure what period she is of- whether it was part of the original building or a later period as the cathedral was consecrated in 1071 in the presence of the Duke of Normandy and his wife Mathilde. The Duke of Normandy is  also know as William the Conqueror, who defeated Harold of England at the battle of Hastings in 1066 and thus became King of England.The wonderful Bayeaux tapestry records the battle.It is one of the things you will see if you come on a tour of France with me ( and yes it will be happening again in 2013 so contact me if you would like details).

This photo is of the sculpture I was drawn to  ( the cathedral is devoted to Notre Dame) and as I looked at her I wondered was she  inspired by Mathilde ? Was she made contemporaneously with the life of Mathilde or is she from a later period?

Anyway I tried drawing her- a not very good likeness I know but I did like the face and well it's my hand and eye translation of a photo.The odd thing that did occur in the translation is that instead of looking slightly up and out she is now directly looking at me- yes i know my bad drawing....

And then another translation onto my silk screen. because it is not possible to make short strokes with the  squeeze bottle it changes yet again- the nose became much longer and the eyes are looking even more directly.You can see the finished lady on Voyageart, but here is a stitched detail.She came out quite quite different than I expected and the breakdown printing process really added to the end result.