Sarah Anderson In the morning we drive to Goult and I draw in the local cemetery which has amazing topiaried trees. We go back to the studio and do paintings from the drawings. After lunch I go for a walk in search of the hermit nun I have heard about. Evidently I don’t walk far enough …
This article was first published in the Times Online, on September 13, 2006 Sarah Anderson travels on the Trans-Siberian Railway and stops in Russia on a trip inspired by a host of literary greats A journey to Siberia by train in search of Shamans, Old Believers and following – albeit in relative comfort – in … Read more
We’re dropped off in Joucas and the theme for the morning is to paint the whole page simultaneously with a tapestry of colours. I start off with the church which appeals as it has a cypress tree each side of the main door – and at the moment I love drawing and painting cypress trees! … Read more
This article was first published in the Times Online, on September 29 2006 Sarah Anderson traverses the small towns and tall tales of Eastern Europe, to find a country of bears, frescoes and sad histories After flying to Bucharest where the temperature was in the 90sF, we took a six-hour train ride to Suceava: “a … Read more
Drive to a spot where we can see the red stone houses of Roussillon in the distance – but we are soon rained off so spend the rest of the morning painting in the studio. In the afternoon the rain stops so we go back to paint Roussillon.
Mark tells us that human sacrifices took place on the flat rock which I spend the morning painting – but another theory is that it was used as an observatory. We are encouraged to use a reduced palette with just one range of colours. In the afternoon we drive to a local forest with wonderful … Read more
In the morning get taken to the market in Isle-sur-la Sorgue. It’s a particularly vibrant market and as usual at a French market I am struck by the wonderful displays of vegetables. Why can’t we do the same here? In the afternoon we go out to a local chateau  with limited materials and draw with … Read more
This article was first published in the Times Online, on April 21, 2006 A fascination with bookshops leads Sarah Anderson to this invigorating city to explore the literature it inspired The Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC) opened in Bangkok’s Emporium Centre in November 2005. This enterprising organisation aims to let the world know that … Read more
Get on a train just after 7 am at St Pancras and 5 ½ hours later I’m met at Avignon by David Atkinson. The beginning of a week’s painting in Provence at Les Bassacs. We are 12 students in total with Mark Cazalet, whom I’d known from England, as the teacher. Les Bassacs is a … Read more
This article was first publishing in the Times Online, on January 25, 2006 Sarah Anderson wanders the streets of Venice with only literary greats as her guide So much has been written about Venice – what is there to add? But of course there is always something new and for me, initially at least, it … Read more