For whom the bells toll

Just an overview of June and the beginning of July. It is about a month ago that I last posted something so a few things have happened since then.

2019 is six months old. The Charles the B quest and artwork have been on the back burner for a while because there was a lot of stuff that had to be done for art school (end of year activities such as the open days, plein air painting etc.), real life (clearing out houses, taxes, etc) and extracurricular activities (reenactment). I have been updating IG with about a picture a day but I haven’t updated the pages of this site yet.

1. Open days

There were many adult students and children graduating from the academy this year. Their exhibition took place in a local museum that has been temporarily emptied for renovation works later on. I didn’t take any photographs of the exhibition, though. It was very hot and crowded during the opening weekend so I didn’t bother.

The open days of the other students took place in their own ateliers. I was there for demo painting on Friday night but didn’t achieve a lot (apart from chatting with friends, Romans and countrymen :/).

*The painting atelier. It’s usually not so tidy during the year, but full of pupils, easels and workbenches, etc.*

On the hottest day of the year so far we had our yearly “Place du Tertre” event where students (volunteers) sit down at their easels and draw or paint people (volunteers and models) in public. Here is a view from my easel on the square where the museum of the exhibition is located. For privacy reasons no pictures of my drawings or the general public.

The building is the old prison. It looks medieval but it’s not that old. It’s a small museum now.

2. Random things

Too hot to hike but there was a guided tour of the church belfry of the Roman + many other ages church a week ago. It doesn’t happen often and it’s something I wanted to do for quite some time.

The church with the bell tower on the left. You enter the tower via a small door at the bottom.

The first floor can be reached via a narrow spiral staircase.

From one of the windows of the tower one can see the gothic church. Building ended in around 1470 but it was never actually finished as it was intended to be at least 2,3 times as large.

The carillon at the top under the vaulted ceiling. Originally it dates from the first quarter of the 18th century. It can be played automatically or manually.

Counterweight of a clock, one floor down in a side room.

The thing that intrigued me the most was the dark room beneath the counterweights. The floor is sand/dust and what you see is a wooden walkway. It was not accessible.

Interior. I took this during a previous visit.

3. Reenactment

Spent the weekend at Hélécine, at the medieval weekend. My grandparents used to live in a neighbouring village, just a couple miles away, so I know the domain quite well. I didn’t camp there, however. Some pictures made with my phone in a rush, so not great quality.