Can Serrat 5

This morning bright and early the Norwegian artists packed their bags, their big canvases (rolled up in ski bags), ate their breakfasts and headed back to Oslo. They will be missed.

Skol my dear friends and tuk tuk tuk!

On our last evening together Marcel showed us how to judge the age of wine. If you're a Catalonian you must know wine. It is so good here and so well suited to the food.

We had strawberries, whipped cream with mint and bubbly for dessert. Marcel is an amazing cook and even accommodated a raw food vegan one time. He and Karine have worked diligently to see to everyone's comfort and special food requests.

Kind Olianne bequeathed me some canvases when she departed so I did some mark making exercises this afternoon.

Mark making is like your own signature. It's a good thing to investigate in color, mood and variation. Yours will look nothing like mine.

I was invited to sit in on the summations at the end of the painting sessions. Here Markus makes comments of the paintings by one artist. Most of the artists made what I consider an amazing amount of work in their nine days here.

All of them carried sketchbooks and worked on their fields of interest. This woman made a number of moving self-portraits.

Felix is resting here while his mate Luna delivers four precious kittens in the night. I'll get photos for you later but right now the mother is very protective.

Marcel allowed me to use some of the pigments left over from the painting of the monastery. I will treasure these paintings (which are not finished) simply knowing they contain them.

Another canvas just begun. 36x36 inches square.

I love the way the pigments separate and flow.

New grape clusters are starting to form on the vines that wrap around my balcony. And today it was hot.

Karine prepared our food today while Marcel rehersed his part in a regional performance.  A light asparagus soup and Salad Nicoise with Dijon mustard dressing. I love all the seafood, tiny lettuces, traditional French and Catalonian food we've experienced. I did not expect to be pampered like this.

And how do I spend my time here? Well, loving my journal, exploring paint, reading, observing myself trying to fit in and exploring a new experience from head to toe.

The old farmhouse has uneven tile floors, odd little rooms, skylights and many stories that it holds close. One story is of a Chinese artist who was to have arrived tomorrow but who was turned back at the airport in China for having a passport that someone forgot to stamp. A little procedural glitch that makes us all sad as we were looking forward to exchanging acquaintances with him.

Time for a sip of wine or tea with my friend. If you want to see some beautiful photos taken in the past week they are here at the Can Serrat site. These photos were taken by Marcel and you can see Melissa's goodies here.

Namaste. Take care of each other.