St Aubin de Cadelech

‘St Aubin de Cadelech’
Watercolour.
29 x 42cm (16 x 11,5 inches).
© The Artist.
sold
Rows of Cabernet Franc on the heights of the Dropt valley. Sunset, long blue distances turning cobalt violet (series three winsor & newton substance that comes at a price).The silouhouette of Lauzun chateau faintly on the horizon (not that you can tell this from a blogger jpeg), the vine stocks captut mortum (again not that you can tell this from a jpeg – the colour in the shadows are nearly always crushed to black. I don’t use balck but adhre to a prismatic palette, with violet as my dark point).

The vines are going shaggy with the spell of bright days & frosty nights these last seven days or so. Their leaves turning brown crispy then falling off, whilst others give up their last grasp with a spectacular colour show of reds & golds. The neat rows of vines with ier summer haircuts all trim are going wild & spikey, like punk rockers, their hair all rebel. It is at this time that the wild trailing nature of the vine is loosen from it’s trellising & training & disciplining. In a month’s time, the annual task of pruning will begin & the cycle will start over again.