We have been in Provence at La Garde-Freinet to visit our friends Andrew and Susanne.
They live in an old house, in a chestnuts wood.
Trees and nature around are source of inspiration and their piece of art. They both paint and draw. Andrew Packard is a zoologist who has worked most of his life in Neaples. According to english tradition, he has always a sketchbook with him (1, 2, 3). Susanne Linhart has dedicated her life to painting, mostly oils but also collages, watercolors and illustrated tales for her grandchildren.
At the age of 80, she paints from life and in her atelier every afternoon: objects, nature around her or portraits of friends. Every one or two day, a new painting is finished. We also tried a portrait party but probably where too involved in our conversation to have a good result. I like so much the way Susanne aproaches art and life all together. She can cook or paint with the same happy and creative touch. A “childlike need to capture the joys of seeing every day, with a divine sense of colour”, Andrew wrote about her. Thousands of paintings, a huge collection mostly spread in houses of friends and clients in different countries, not a book or a web site published, a few exhibits. Spending days with her and Andrew has been really wonderful.
Other pages of my sketchbook here.
