Painting as a Leisure Activity
History of Painting
Humans have been painting pictures since roughly 15,000 to 17,000 years ago. How do we know? The oldest known paintings were found on the walls of a cave near Lascaux, France, by in 1940 (by a dog named "robot" who led four boys into the cave). These extraordinary cave paintings (of very large animals: horses, bulls and stags), were tested through carbon dating and determined to have been done in Paleolithic times. Here are photos of the oldest paintings:
http://www.culture.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/.
What's the lure? Why do so many people paint in their leisure time?
Painting for leisure was just the right medicine for one of the most celebrated and respected leaders in the history of England, Sir Winston Churchill. While most of the Western world's educated citizens are aware of Churchill's intellect, wit, diplomatic greatness and uncompromising resilience during World War II - especially after Hitler's Nazis had seized most of Europe and were bombing England mercilessly - few know he was an accomplished painter. "Painting is complete as a distraction," Churchill wrote in his book, Painting as a Pastime (Churchill, 1950). "I know of nothing which, without exhausting the body, more entirely absorbs the mind. Whatever the worries of the hour or the threats of the future, once the picture has begun to flow along, there is no room for them in the mental screen." Moreover, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain wrote, "Even if you cannot portray" the scene you are painting, "as you see it, you feel it, you know it, and you admire it for ever."
For readers interested in learning more about the subject, another internationally renowned celebrity offers some valuable insights into the wonder of painting for leisure; he is Leonardo da Vinci, and his words are published in a book called Leonardo on Painting (Kemp, 1989). "If the painter wishes...to produce places or deserts, or shady and cool spots in hot weather, he can depict them...[and] if he seeks valleys, if he wants to disclose great expanses of countryside from the summits of high mountains, and if he subsequently wishes to see the horizon of the sea, he is lord of them..."
Globalization of travel opportunities for painting enthusiasts
Although since September 11, 2001, the travel industry has slumped in the United States - and to a lesser degree in Europe - there are signs that travelers are getting back into the air and going places again without the same intense paranoia toward potential terrorism as most felt two years ago at this time. Meantime, painting enthusiasts who are on the lookout for good deals at great locations - and are not shy about hopping on board a jetliner to Europe - could certainly gain a lot of painting experience near Bordeaux, France, at the "Les Peupliers" resort. And since the oldest known paintings are located in France, it would be appropriate to paint in France. The opportunity provided by the group calling itself "painting-photography-france.com" (www.painting-photography-france.com) is a wonderful excursion not only into the Bordeaux wine country, with his rolling hills of verdant greens and two large rivers converging, but into the world of relaxed leisure painting.
The typical week's stay for a traveler/painter is not overly expensive: in May, the cost is around $643; in June, it's $776; July moves up to $804; and August, a busy month for tourism in France, the cost per person is $931 per week. Of course, one pays in Euro, but it's not hard to convert dollars into Euro: for example, the May weekly fee at Les Peupliers is 560 Euro, or $643. Getting there from the U.S. isn't very expensive, either. American Airlines offers a round trip flight from Dallas, Texas, to Paris, France, for $499 (as of 9/27/03), and that is a non-stop flight. Connecting flights from Paris to Bordeaux are abundant and inexpensive, and the Les Peupliers' staff offer free taxi service from Bordeaux (or nearby train stations) to the resort.
Painting enthusiasts will stay in a 200-year-old brick farmhouse, which has a nice swimming pool and spacious grounds - and each guest room has full shower facilities and a patio (when traveling in Europe, one does not always have private bath and shower so this is luxury). Arriving on a Saturday, visiting painters get a day to unwind and de-jet-lag, and then on Sunday there is orientation and a walk along a canal. Monday it's down to business with a trip to nearby mountains for landscape painting instructions and opportunities. Tuesday, more landscapes in the country; Wednesday, it's "townscapes" and "architecture" in French towns nearby;...
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