Oil Painting, Languedoc - Meze

After walking through the maze of narrow streets with their traditional houses, I sat in the central square at one of the cafés behind the bandstand while I had a coffee.  I took in the ambiance as the saxophonist played and groups of people chatted in the shade of the platane trees.  It was one of those perfect scenes for an artist and whilst I took a series of photos two lads, one on a scooter and the other on roller blades, whizzed past me adding an extra dimension and a sense of movement. I couldn't believe my luck!

This painting is the result of my day in Meze, and marks a step change, or an evolution of sorts both in terms of "palette" but also in subject - to have more than just perspective but also a sense of space: not an empty space but one with movement and life that draws the observer in - into that ambiance that I felt on a sunny day in Meze.