A review by clairewords
Drawing Lessons by Patricia Sands
5.0
I read [b:The Bridge Club|34859630|The Bridge Club|Patricia Sands|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1492221101s/34859630.jpg|14284427] by Patricia Sands and loved it. Her ability to immerse the reader into the emotional lives of her characters is thoroughly engaging and insightful and the stories of those women characters and the event that brings them all together to share parts of their history together has long stayed with me.
Drawing Lessons offers something a little different, in that this time the main character, 62 year old Arianna, leaves her Toronto home, family and troubles behind, somewhat reluctantly, but with the blessings and encouragement of those she's left behind, to try and heal a little from the heartbreak of what she has left behind her.
It is an interesting an provocative premise. Her husband has been diagnosed with a debilitating dementia and her family have encouraged her to go on this two week artist's retreat/workshop in the countryside and landscape that inspired Van Gogh, Arles to produce over 300 works of art in the frenzied sixteen months he spent there, until driven out by the locals.
She hasn't painted for a long time and is wracked by guilt at leaving. Slowly she will find her way, through the surroundings and with the eclectic band of artists that have come together to reaquaint with their inner muse. And then there is the strange allure of the man from the Camargue.
Living in this area and knowing how much the author loves the south of France and how much of her writing is informed by her own experiences of living a few months of every year here, I wasn't surprised to feel how immersed in the area this book made me feel. She really does capture something of the essence of being in this region of Provence, in the landscape and the town of Arles, adding something of the fantasy of a mysterious artist, horseman, the romance element.
It's a timely read if you're interested in Van Gogh, as this year there was the film Eternity's Gate that came out and he is also the subject of the new show running from March 2019 - January 2020 at Carrières de Lumières in Les Baux de Provence, a truly spectacular and original depiction of works of art, set to music, displayed on the inner walls of an old stone quarry.
Certainly, if you haven't been here and have any interest in open air painting, it's a read that transports you to this place and ignites the imagination and is likely to make Francophile readers wish to visit.
The cover couldn't be more appropriate, it being May and everywhere you go at the moment, the poppies are in full bloom.
Drawing Lessons offers something a little different, in that this time the main character, 62 year old Arianna, leaves her Toronto home, family and troubles behind, somewhat reluctantly, but with the blessings and encouragement of those she's left behind, to try and heal a little from the heartbreak of what she has left behind her.
It is an interesting an provocative premise. Her husband has been diagnosed with a debilitating dementia and her family have encouraged her to go on this two week artist's retreat/workshop in the countryside and landscape that inspired Van Gogh, Arles to produce over 300 works of art in the frenzied sixteen months he spent there, until driven out by the locals.
"In his letters to his brother Theo, he said drawing helped him combat his depression. He knew, as we do, that working en plein air, we are able to capture light and images more quickly and from that create our interpretation."
She hasn't painted for a long time and is wracked by guilt at leaving. Slowly she will find her way, through the surroundings and with the eclectic band of artists that have come together to reaquaint with their inner muse. And then there is the strange allure of the man from the Camargue.
Living in this area and knowing how much the author loves the south of France and how much of her writing is informed by her own experiences of living a few months of every year here, I wasn't surprised to feel how immersed in the area this book made me feel. She really does capture something of the essence of being in this region of Provence, in the landscape and the town of Arles, adding something of the fantasy of a mysterious artist, horseman, the romance element.
It's a timely read if you're interested in Van Gogh, as this year there was the film Eternity's Gate that came out and he is also the subject of the new show running from March 2019 - January 2020 at Carrières de Lumières in Les Baux de Provence, a truly spectacular and original depiction of works of art, set to music, displayed on the inner walls of an old stone quarry.
Certainly, if you haven't been here and have any interest in open air painting, it's a read that transports you to this place and ignites the imagination and is likely to make Francophile readers wish to visit.
The cover couldn't be more appropriate, it being May and everywhere you go at the moment, the poppies are in full bloom.