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Today is Isabelles's birthday and I want to dedicate this travel post to her. Isabelle is my wonderful sister-in-law. A painter, she lives in Paris and adores to come to Spain to paint our mountains and trees here. We spent many of her holidays in the Spanish fields together, painting among olive and almond trees in front of these weird Spanish mountains which seem to stand on old elephant legs...

Last time we met it was 2 years ago, in January, on the Costa Blanca, The almond trees were just blossoming, a real feast for the eyes! Day after day we went to the same place at the entrance of a charming village called "Altea La Vieja", installed our tables and paints and brushes and pads, and started painting trees and mountains. Now, those who know me, knows that I can paint trees and mountains with deep pleasure for a while, but not again and again and again! In this point Isabelle and me are totally different characters, she can paint the same subject day after day, and with increasing pleasure and dedication.. It always amazes me, and I often wondered  what that says about our souls... I guess what it says about me is that I am a restless character! And perhaps that Isabelle needs roots?

Now Isabelle had arrived specifically fron Paris to paint the blossoming almond trees, and I couldn't let her down. I had to find a way to curb my restlessness. One evening I spoke with my friend Susan Cornelis, in the USA, about that problem, and she advised me to try to see it differently and make something else out of the scenery. Next morning as I sat in front of the trees, I searched for an alternative reality switch in my brain... and I found it! Suddenly the trees started to look  look different, on the way to humanisation,

Yes, suddenly the trees started to look like people... most of the time though like people in despair, or at least in a dramatic situation...

Yes, suddenly the trees started to look like people… most of the time though like people in despair, or at least in a dramatic situation…

and I was so confused and also excited by all these weird people inhabiting the fields that I even forgot to paint their blossoms! I guess they would look less dramatic without them!

Anyway, these days were the start of an immense artistic adventure. For a while my brian was totally switched, I couldn't look at a tree in nature without seeing people, and soon even all other nature elements started to look human, the rocks, the flowers... well, I started at some point a series called "The Fantascapes", technical variations of the initial watercolour and pastel sketches of people-trees which was the start of many new series, which, I must say, brought me a lot of success and good money, not to be sniffed at! I often think how that adventure began, through boredom in fact, and I am so glad that my restless character, always in search of "the new", does not allow me to stop too long... in fact, I was never one to take roots somewhere, this might be the deeper reason!