The Importance of Being from Somewhere Else

June 15, 2010 by Erin Hill Sketching

This is just fabulous. Here we are being photographed in Chantal’s garden and this appeared in the local paper this week. As I’d said earlier, the idea of Jackie bringing overseas painters to their village is giving the locals a real sense of pride. If this happened in our own backyard it wouldn’t make a ripple at all. So we are almost famous. Left to right – Connie, Glenys, Erin, Karen, Niki, Ellen, Nancy and Jackie ( with Paloma the […]

Categories: My Artist Friends, Painting holidays, Painting in France • Tags: Rural French Gardens, Travelling Painters

The Toll houses of Pont en Royan

June 8, 2010 by Erin Hill Sketching

Another of Jackie’s great finds. Painting locations which are different, challenging and historical. Pont en Royan is one of the villages high in the Vercors national park in France. These gorges are some of the most famous in Europe. The medieval toll houses are 16th century and actually suspended over the river. It is breathtaking I can tell you. At the time tolls were collected at the pass from traders wishing to pass through the gorge. People still live there […]

Categories: Painting in France, Places of note, Plein air painting • Tags: Challenging Compositions, Original Watercolour, Travelling Painters

Sketches from Lyon

May 20, 2010 by Erin Hill Sketching

I remember seeing this on a previous visit. It’s just fantastic as an illusion. You begin to be uncertain which windows are real and which are painted. Of course there is no Bibliotheque, it’s all a painting. Only had a day really before leaving for Chelieu, but Glenys and I did a few sketches around this lovely little city. I like the Tour Metalique which does remind me of another! Hope you are getting the nicer days than we look […]

Categories: Plein air painting, Quick Sketches • Tags: Line drawing with Watercolour, Painting the essence, Travelling Painters

Painting with Friends in Tuscano

February 28, 2010 by Erin Hill Sketching

In May this year is another ‘Painting Week’ in Barga, Tuscany. Introducing Niki and Glenys. We started painting together in 2002 in the Greek Islands. It was the first organised painting trip we’d done with a group and we’ve developed a bit of a passion for it . In 2008 we did the Italy trip through Tuscany and Umbria. We just have such a glorious time together and have the same mad humour and dedication to getting paint on paper […]

Categories: Gorgeous places to stay, My Artist Friends, Painting in Italy, Travelling & Painting • Tags: Painting Friends, Travelling Painters

Tuscany Painting in Exhibition

January 17, 2010 by Erin Hill Sketching

I have created groups of work for the exhibition, according to which country they were painted in, and then the regions. The painting trip I was on last year was through Italy – Tuscany first then on to Umbria. Several works from this trip are in the show. Luckily  I’d thought to take this photo. Honestly, I wish I did this more. Most of the time it seems everybody else is in the shots, but try and find one with […]

Categories: Exhibitions, My Artist Friends, Painting in Italy, Travelling & Painting • Tags: Painting Friends, Travelling Painters

Sketches, Italy

November 28, 2009 by Erin Hill Sketching

              I found these 2 sketches while sorting out watercolours for my exhibition. Let it be a spontaneous response to what I see. That’s what a sketch is. Just an impression of what you see in that moment. Actually we had such a great time doing our sketches that day. There was Glenys, and Niki and myself in Florence as part of an art tour. Great views to paint here is a bit like […]

Categories: Food & Wine, My Artist Friends, painting in italy, The little things in Life, Traveling & Sketching, Working Artists • Tags: Art appreciation, Favourite Restaurants, Sketches, Travelling Painters

Painting Inspirations

November 20, 2009 by Erin Hill Sketching

We met several years back when Glenys and her family moved to Sydney. I popped in to have coffee as we had mutual friends in common. There on the walls were magnificent flower paintings and when I discovered she was the painter, we knew we were bonded.

Categories: Art appreciation, Artists, My Artist Friends, Travelling & Painting, Working Artists • Tags: Art appreciation, Painting Friends, Travelling Painters