Jane Aston, painter.

 We have an old Lavoir where the geese like to plunge and clean, the land here belongs to the commune and is also maintained twice a year by 2 men who come and strim all around. No one but the 2 geese use the lavoir anymore. I can't imagine where the future might be for such a thing. Perhaps one day the water will be diverted. It was tested for purity and it came out top grade clean.( we actually have a pump that sends water to the house to use for our showers and I like to water the garden with it too.)

Early spring Polyanthas.

After winter the first thing is cutting back brambles and for these old raspberries that produce very little I have been cutting them back to make way for something else.

Very little has changed here but as you know a trip to the second hand shop always throws up new  random things. This week I took photos too. A card of needles, a crinkled glass old shade that could do with a pulley and smaller bulb and a really nice basket with sturdy leather handles. In the basket are 3 house dresses in crazy fabric. Polka dot, paisley and a blue printed one. 

Polyanthus Stella

 A few new watercolours. I have a panorama button on my camera and I have started using it to squash more into the frame. I love to see little cottages in the landscape so at last I can get buildings all together so that you can see who is near who. Then I have tried painting in the style of these contorted images. It occurs to me now that I could exploit this. I have to piece together paper so that I can elongate my paintings.
Excitingly for me I have ordered a few art materials. I have included some watercolour pans, Chinese they seem quite cheap at £2.15 for large pans and the colours seem quite bright and a little bit unusual. I have also ordered some rough paper to paint on Khadi paper from India. Then more pens, the kind you can dip in ink and draw with as mine get worn quickly. I'm also going to try some new solvent for the oil paint, made from citrus oil rather than using a rather smelly white turpentine. It's quite difficult for me ordering stuff online. I do get free delivery on a £100 which is great but it also means I have to know for the future what I want to do. I can't afford to spend much as I am not able to sell anything from here. The other thing is, obvioulsy you can't just try something and then if it's pleasing go back for more. So I just end up buying a bit of this and a bit of the other. I might look at French mail order, might mean I can do smaller orders.