This painting shows a view looking down from Crillon-le-Brave towards Caromb church, which is seen through the gap in the olive trees. Beyond lies Avignon and the Rhône valley . It was painted over several days in the late
spring of 1998, just as the acid green leaves of the vineyard on the right began to open. The canopy of trees not only forms the window through which the distant church is seen but also provides the rich shadow that
outlines the brow of the road and the bank, before they fall to meet the lower track
A Road in Provence
May 1998, oil on canvas.
Private Collection, London.
A view towards the Dentelles de Montmirail from just outside of Beaumes de Venise
Evening Road
61x41, oil on canvas, June 2000
LeCelle Gallery, San Francisco, USA
A house in the mountains
73x60, oil on linen, Nov 1998
Private Collection, Uk
A period of settled weather in early January enabled me to work over several days on this canvas at an altitude of over two thousand feet. 'Le Rocher des Trois Luisants' which is on the Plateau de Vaucluse above the pilgrims chapel at St. Gens, is the prominent buttress
on the right framing the snow capped Mont Ventoux in the distance.
Le Rocher des Trois Luisants, above St. Gens
73x60, oil on linen, Jan 1999
Private Collection, France
The Chateau with its castelated tower strides one of the two gates to the once fortified village. The church and the 'Hostellerie de Crillon-le-Brave' on the left occupy the highest point. The little road traverses across the steep
north facing slope under the village and gave me a strong diagonal element with which to lead the eye up to the main focus of the motif. The buidings which along with the tree on the left and the line of the right verge
provide horizontal and vertical containment for the zig-zag figure, formed by the shadow, the left verge and the top of the bank.
Le Chateau de Crillon-le-Brave
41x33, oil on canvas, May 1998
Private Collection, France
Painted, despite appearances,in a mistral which made it almost impossible to use an easel, the main elements the row of pines, the old 'mas' (Provençal farmhouse), the distant plateau de Vaucluse, and the field of wheat were roughed in and then
worked up in the studio. The sky owes a lot to Monet.
A field of wheat at St. Pierre-de-Vassols
46x33, oil on linen, June 1998
LeCelle Gallery, San Francisco
A painting of the small chapel just down the road from my studio was painted in early March. As you can see the trees are not yet in leaf. The sky, when facing north away from the sun has a depth of colour which is often breathtaking, set off against the warm colour of the local stone.
Notre Dame D'Access, Crillon-le-Brave
46x55, oil on canvas, March 1999
Private collection, New York