Squareface seeks Light
Sep. 22nd, 2026 08:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smokingboot'You have a Celtic face,' he said, he being this gentleman (https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/explore-artists/martyn-baldwin-rba). We were having a drawing and painting lesson at Lac de Peïroou, where he patiently tried to teach me about perspective and using a geometric approach to working it out, instead of my trace and guess method which is rubbish. I may have forgotten most of it due to natural haplessness, but it was a beautiful day and he was an excellent empathic teacher. One of the amazing things about my mother was her ability to freehand draw a scene with almost perfect perspective. She just could, very quickly and almost without a thought. I alas, have not inherited that gift. But I tried. As can be seen from the link, Martyn enjoys depicting heads and figures, hence the comment. I was intrigued and asked what he meant.
'Well, it's a very general term,' he replied, 'but I mean you look like someone with Breton or Cornish ancestry, or maybe Irish-Scottish. You have that kind of face,' he nodded, 'quite square.' Cheers Martyn! He's not the first person to tell me something like this; I had the great pleasure of being at one of Asphodel P Long's (https://asphodel-long.com/) lectures decades back, and she told me I had a Celtic head. Of course she might just have been accusing me of carrying one in my handbag.
Martyn's was a great lesson, and if we find ourselves in Saint-Remy-De-Provence again, I'll be back on his doorstep for more. It's a charming town/village, one of those places that stays sumptuous even after the lavender fields have faded; well-heeled, sophisticated, clean and easy, a place of friendly people, great food, tempting shops, and adored little dogs.
We visited a few other places too, incuding Avignon, where I got stung by a wasp which fell into my dress(!), Chagall's old haven Gordes clinging dramatically to the cliffsides, and Eygalières. Now, Eygalières is a strange one. Our hostess was gently dismissive of it, her shrug at once barely perceptable and thoroughly palpable.
'It's a small village,' she said.
Well,yes it is. And who knows why the likes of Hugh Grant and Alain Prost have bought homes there?
Truth is, it could not be more French. The central square looks like something out of every WWII film ever; the innocent place the Germans take over, the cafe where all the resistance members gather, the joyful town where liberation is celebrated. It's hopelessly beguiling. There are wonderful markets in every village (the one in Saint Remy is much bigger and more well known) but this place made me actually want to buy those big blocks of Marseille soaps, kitchen stoneware, and iron napkin rings. It might be a bit quiet on non-market days, perhaps Saint Remy is more me right now. Hmm, close call.
I had heard a lot about the light of Provence and didn't know if it was a particular phenomenon occuring close to the sea, or affected by the purple fields. Neither were to be found in the here and now. I did not notice a colour touched quality as I had in Syracuse, where the light reflected buttercream walls and white earth, pure gold under a turquoise sky, pouring itself into me til I was utterly suffused with it; lots of that please! This was pellucid, welcoming in the village/by the lake/ up on the crags. For me there's a great healing in it and when I saw my husband's face relax after 5 weeks of Covid, the death of a dear pet, and other considerable pressures, I knew it was healing for him too.
'Well, it's a very general term,' he replied, 'but I mean you look like someone with Breton or Cornish ancestry, or maybe Irish-Scottish. You have that kind of face,' he nodded, 'quite square.' Cheers Martyn! He's not the first person to tell me something like this; I had the great pleasure of being at one of Asphodel P Long's (https://asphodel-long.com/) lectures decades back, and she told me I had a Celtic head. Of course she might just have been accusing me of carrying one in my handbag.
Martyn's was a great lesson, and if we find ourselves in Saint-Remy-De-Provence again, I'll be back on his doorstep for more. It's a charming town/village, one of those places that stays sumptuous even after the lavender fields have faded; well-heeled, sophisticated, clean and easy, a place of friendly people, great food, tempting shops, and adored little dogs.
We visited a few other places too, incuding Avignon, where I got stung by a wasp which fell into my dress(!), Chagall's old haven Gordes clinging dramatically to the cliffsides, and Eygalières. Now, Eygalières is a strange one. Our hostess was gently dismissive of it, her shrug at once barely perceptable and thoroughly palpable.
'It's a small village,' she said.
Well,yes it is. And who knows why the likes of Hugh Grant and Alain Prost have bought homes there?
Truth is, it could not be more French. The central square looks like something out of every WWII film ever; the innocent place the Germans take over, the cafe where all the resistance members gather, the joyful town where liberation is celebrated. It's hopelessly beguiling. There are wonderful markets in every village (the one in Saint Remy is much bigger and more well known) but this place made me actually want to buy those big blocks of Marseille soaps, kitchen stoneware, and iron napkin rings. It might be a bit quiet on non-market days, perhaps Saint Remy is more me right now. Hmm, close call.
I had heard a lot about the light of Provence and didn't know if it was a particular phenomenon occuring close to the sea, or affected by the purple fields. Neither were to be found in the here and now. I did not notice a colour touched quality as I had in Syracuse, where the light reflected buttercream walls and white earth, pure gold under a turquoise sky, pouring itself into me til I was utterly suffused with it; lots of that please! This was pellucid, welcoming in the village/by the lake/ up on the crags. For me there's a great healing in it and when I saw my husband's face relax after 5 weeks of Covid, the death of a dear pet, and other considerable pressures, I knew it was healing for him too.
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Date: 2026-09-22 03:53 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you were there and that it had that effect on you both.
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Date: 2026-09-23 07:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-09-24 12:15 am (UTC)And I felt my own self relax, reading about the healing light. Lovely.
Thank you!
Date: 2026-09-24 11:03 am (UTC)And yes,light, so many forms of it. I love it. For many years I had no idea of how incrediby important it is to my healing.