chateau de bourgane

chateau de bourgane (oil on wood 30cmx30cm) David Atkinson

I painted this a few kilometers away from here at the chateau de Bourgane - it's a very modest chateau with beautiful dilapidated gardens.  I think it has an wonderful atmosphere, and I have painted there quite a lot.  This particular painting was made in a box hedge labyrinth with huge cedars growing up between the hedges.  It gives a fantastic structure of verticals and horizontals that provide a huge range of painting possibilities.

farmhouse near st saturnin

farmhouse near st saturnin (oil on linen 60cm x 40cm) David Atkinson

This is a ruined farmhouse that I have painted, drawn and made etchings of over the last few years.  This painting I really struggled with.  It's a bit bigger than I have been working on lately, and it just died as I painted it.  I reworked it several times, introducing random elements to disrupt the surface and keep me interested.  As a result, it has ended up with a lot of paint on the canvas!