Student angst

Every night I have to shoo my current hardworking students out of the studio so I can get to bed by midnight. Li and Sheri are convinced that they are hopeless and aren't making any progress, so tonight I asked a friend with an upmarket gallery in Rocamadour to see if he could tell the difference between the still life studies by me and those by my students. In both cases, he was wrong! Which either means that I am a brilliant teacher or a lousy painter... (ps- the first pear and plate of apricots are mine.)

Life drawing evening

Starting in August, I am organising an evening of drawing from a model every Monday from 7 to 10 pm in my barn studio in Rignac.

I am looking for fellow artists- anyone who is interested in drawing is welcome. The class will be uninstructed, though a review of work with coffee or wine after the class might be fun. I am asking for a contribution of 8 euros for the evening. Participants are requested to bring their own materials.

Please contact me via email, catherine@catherinestock.com, or telephone 05 65 33 69 40 for more information.

I am also looking for models- both nude and clothed. Please contact me to discuss payment.

Green

I have trouble painting green, and warned Vitali before he arrived about the lush verdant summer we are having here due to heavy rains. But he manages somehow to paint green succesfully. He has spent a week in my barn/studio painting the immediate surrounds of my village (and me- see below.) For more of Vitali's work, check out his website: www.komarovart.com

Any serious artist who wants to spend a week or two painting here and staying in my studio can contact me.

Self delusion, or the difference in five years?

Ok, I painted the self portait on the left about five years ago, and yesterday my new friend Vitali Komarov, a painter from Russia and living in the Czech Republic painted the one on the right. So which one is me? I guess they both are. I like the confident self portrait, but I definitely recognise the more reflective sadness of Vitali's portrait. I of course now want to do another self portrait...

Open doors

With the helpful direction of Bokassa, one of the stars of Handspring Puppet Company's Chimp Project, Mayor Daniel Wattier of Rignac cut the ribbon and launched my gallery on June 6th. For years the gallery has been so much talk, but now it's a reality. Art will be posted so stay tuned.

Handspring directors Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones are friends from Michaelis School of Fine Art days in Cape Town, so it was wonderful to have them in Rignac for the occasion.