Paris Journal
In May 2026 I spent 12 days in Paris getting inspiration for future paintings. I had been to Paris with a friend the previous year as a tourist and the energy of that visit helped me to solidify my desire to return to painting. This time my goal was to interact with as many people as possible and sketch my impressions of them discovered through brief and lengthy conversations. Each 3 to 5 minute sketch hopefully captured my intentions.
Like a young child hidden under an umbrella with her father on a rainy day.
An old man that I unfortunately hit with my cane and almost toppled him over while he was carrying home a single baguette probably still warm from the ovens.
. A man in a garden cafe waiting out the rain, looking at a map and murmuring to himself his dismay over its complexity.
A young couple in the Louvre hidden in a quiet corner behind the French furniture collection of gilded tables and carved chairs while the man went on bended knee to propose to a woman who said no to his proposal (painting in progress). The area was so quiet that another couple somewhere in this space could be heard by their sharp intake of breath when she turned away.
Men exercising in the Tuileries garden annex .
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A runner who stopped, thinking I was lost who I talked to for four hours as I sketched her at rest. She explained to me why she always wore an exotic hat running and hightop sneakers.
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The gelato maker who took me into his shop after I accidentally smashed my gelato into my coat when I tried to maneuver my cane, payment and gelato simultaneously. He cleaned me up, explained to me his gelato making process and once again I had another sketch.
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The myriad of people in museums and my impressions of one of them.
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A dog walker soaking wet while he scurried along with his charges. The poodle Sam stopped to sniff me and was oblivious to the rain. When his handler tried to pull the dog away Sam hunkered in and we gave the man our extra umbrella, a bright yellow one, that had been gifted to us by someone outside the Bon Marche (painting in progress).