Our holiday house swap this year was in the home of an artist … which can’t help but be inspirational, right?

I’m not sure I’d like photos of my house floating about the interwebs, so I created a wee video of some of this striking (and very untraditional) interior (and totally used the wrong year in the title – it’s 2014!)

My favourite piece was most definitely the gnome – it was truly difficult to resist kidnapping him!

Gnome Selfie

He represented everything I was feeling about all of the traveling we’d had to do to get there – and also the really crap weather ..

All that rain and surrounded by art, I did what any self-respecting artist holiday-maker would do – I immersed myself in some trashy novels on my Kindle!

There was that one day, though. A bottle of good Bordeaux and the intention to practice some sketchbook watercolours …

Burgundy Farmhouse Watercolour

Flavigny Window Art

Flavigny Statue Watercolour

It’s my first time sketching and watercolouring – and although I’ve clearly no idea how to go about it, I absolutely loved it. I do hope to find the inclination to keep going …