Jumping ahead for a second...

Okay, so I'm heading out for Paris tomorrow... but I'm still thinking about the home front. In particular, I'm thinking about this summer/fall and the places we want to check out here in North Carolina when I return - little weekend trips, etc. I'm making a list, here are the first:

1. Shackleford Banks, to see the wild horses. A co-worker told me about this place, and I thought: how cool is that? Wild horses. Definitely on the list.


2. Charlotte. I'm curious about this here city. I hear varying reports, I'd like to check it out for myself. Especially some galleries, including this one. And others.


3. Asheville. For obvious reasons: beauty, nature, culture, Blue Ridge Mountains, cool downtown. Oh yeah, and to see the Biltmore.


4. Pilot Mountain, NW of Winston-Salem, NC. I haven't been there since Easter 1989 (yikes!), so it's time to go back.


5. The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. The animals!

This is, if course, an incomplete list. More to add for sure...

This is one thing I'll miss this coming month.

La Chapelle de Duke.

The Duke Chapel, overcast day. Impressive, chapel-y. Actually, more cathedral-y than chapel-y, given its considerable size: satisfyingly large and imposing.

Website updates.

Ok, I've finally put some updates on my website with new paintings - here's the link: www.dianeandjohn.com/latest.htm.

I've been getting the fabric for these paintings from this great place in Pittsboro, NC, which carries a variety of French and African imports (fabric, soap, ceramics, jewelry, furniture, baskets, etc. etc. etc.) ...here is their website, go check them out if you're in North Carolina: www.french-nc.com.

Speaking of Pittsboro, I'm fond of this house, which is right down the street from French Connections in downtown Pittsboro:

All bloomy! I *heart* spring.

Ahhhhhh, the trees, they are a blooming! Here are some in our neighborhood:

One week to go.

Hi! One week until I head back to France for another class with the good folk at Studio Escalier. I'm very much looking forward to it - a 3 week drawing class in Paris, then some time in Dublin (for fun). Here's an example of one of the paintings I did in the portrait class I took from Studio Escalier in Argenton-Chateau last April 2007:

Another painting.

Ok, here's another of these paintings I've been working on:

carnivore overlord 10"x10" oil on printed fabric 2008 Diane Feissel