Bonheur bunnies, Bordeaux, Bath, and beetles

Sketching and enjoying Rosa Bonheur on a quick trip

Happy Easter

I was so happy to see these bunnies, and more of Rosa Bonheur's work, last week:

Marcus and I had a short break in Rosa Bonheur's hometown Bordeaux - we mostly walked, read (him) and painted (me). Then we regrouped like Dougal and Florence, over Bananagrams and coffee.

Here are a couple of my sketches - the horses were a copy of Bonheur's horse painting in the Bordeaux Museum of Fine Arts. The gouache was of the Jardin Public park, looking towards the Science & Nature Museum. The taxidermy animals were inside that museum.

I share my sketches on Instagram and Faceache - they can be reserved with a comment, and bought direct from my website for £40 including UK postage:

Thank you for all the messages about the SWA show in June. Please contact me for more info if you're thinking of visiting the show.

Looking ahead to future projects, I have some great portrait commissions booked in, and have been studying insects, finding ways to add iridescence to oil and water based media.

If your life is incomplete without beetle drawings, these too can be yours!

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen... this great idea for a trompe l'oeil round canvas was a recent commission: the client arranged their favourite knife, spice pot, and ingredients on their chopping board, and I painted the scene from life. 

Lastly, I've added these plein air Bath paintings to my website, and given my online shop a makeover.

Have a great week, I hope you've got some nice plans?
Gail xxx