12 Figure (format Français) 50 x 61 cm. Oil on Canvas. Unfinished state.
I had an interesting conversation with my neighbour, Monsuier Verdier whose plum orchard I’ve painted here, about ‘la lune rousse’. If the night sky is clear, the april moon will shine with a red tinge & there will be a risk of frost, which can burn or redden (‘roussir’) the fragile buds & baby fruits. If however the night sky is covered, then no red moon & thus no frosts.
Please note that is in unfinished… & still in danger of being nipped in the bud. Not always evident to finish a painting. Can take years. Slow painting indeed. One painting took ten years before I saw what it needed. But of course at this stage it was more like grafting on another painting onto a previous stock. Which is how most fruit trees are raised as well.
As I post this, the evening sky has clouded over.
