Paris

22 new leaves and remembrance

November 13, 2020Art, UncategorizedArt, Art studio, families belong together, JeSuiParis, Paris, pencil drawing, Protest Art, RemembranceAndrew Seal View all 2 comments

666…in progress – Day XX11

…on a day on which we remember all those who lost their lives in Paris 5 years ago today..

In remembrance this was my post on November 15, 2015
Studio 365: Day 319

I wrote, on Studio 365: Day 11 after the massacre at Charlie Hebdo, how I fell in love with Paris on my first visit there as a young boy in August 1962. I posted a drawing I had made sitting in the Tuileries Garden on a beautiful summer’s Day. Now, here I am on Day 319 once again expressing solidarity and sympathy through the best way I know how with all those mourning today in Paris, in France and around the world. The drawing from that same never-to-be-forgotten visit in 1962 is of one of bridges over the Seine, when one of the most beautiful cities in the world inspired a young boy who has felt that inspiration ever since. Je suis Paris.

je suis prof

October 18, 2020drawing, Pen and Ink, Photo Essay, UncategorizedArt, je suis prof, Je suis samuel, Paris, pen and ink drawing, photography, Remembrance, Samuel PatyAndrew Seal View all 2 comments

Dedicated to the memory of Samuel Paty

Once again the Place de la République in Paris today became the “capital of the world” to use the words of Francois Hollande after thousands gathered there and throughout France to protest and remember those lost after the Charlie Hebdo attack over five years ago.

Today they gathered in Paris and across the country to remember Samuel Paty the teacher so cruelly murdered in an horrific terrorist act on October 16th. The words I wrote on my post after the Charlie Hebdo attack on January 15th 2015 were very much in my thoughts today:

In the studio today my thoughts are very much with all the citizens of this great city as they walk in their millions for remembrance, for freedom, for tolerance, for love, for mankind, for the future.

Je suis enseignant
Je suis prof
Je suis Samuel

Looking again at my post from five years ago…

…plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

May Samuel Paty rest in peace.

🇫🇷

Notre Dame

April 15, 2020Painting, UncategorizedNotre Dame, Paris, Remembrance, watercolorAndrew Seal One comment

The great bell of Notre Dame sounded today on the one year anniversary of the Cathedral fire.

Notre Dame

April 15, 2019Art, Painting, UncategorizedArt, Notre Dame, painting, ParisAndrew Seal View all 5 comments

I posted my painting of Notre Dame in November 2015 under the title Je Suis Paris in response to the terrorist attacks that had taken place in Paris on the 13th of November that year.

Today, seeing the sorrowful scenes from Paris of this iconic, majestic landmark engulfed in flames, a landmark that means so much to so many not only in Paris and France but around the world, Je Suis Paris once again.

Studio 365: Day 320

November 16, 2015drawing, Studio 365, Uncategorized365, Art, Art studio, France, JeSuiParis, Paris, pencil drawingAndrew Seal View all 5 comments

The Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, 31st August, 1962

One more page of drawings from my summer in Paris in 1962. I somewhat foolishly imagined myself as a young Toulouse Lautrec as I sketched the cast of characters in the gardens and around the fountain that day: the young boys sailing their model boats, the loving couple out for an evening stroll, the guitarist filling the air with his music and the lady sleeping soundly on the bench. The drawings may be primitive when looked at today but they capture a peaceful precious moment in time in a city that continues to be very much in my heart and thoughts today.

Studio 365: Day 319

November 15, 2015drawing, Studio 365, Uncategorized365, Art, Art studio, France, humanity, JeSuiParis, Paris, pencil drawing, photography, postaday, RemembranceAndrew Seal View all 10 comments

Studio 365: Day 318

November 14, 2015Painting, Studio 365, Uncategorized365, Art, Art studio, humanity, JeSuiParis, Notre Dame, Paris, photography, postaday, watercolorAndrew Seal One comment

Je Suis Paris 14.11.15

Studio 365: Day 317

November 13, 2015Studio 365, Uncategorized365, humanity, Paris, Remembrance, sympathyAndrew Seal View all 4 comments

My thoughts are with friends in Paris and France tonight and my deepest sympathy and condolences to the families and friends of all those who lost their lives on this, another dark day for humanity.

Studio 365: Day 11

January 11, 2015Photo Essay, photography, Studio 365, UncategorizedArt, Art studio, France, je suis charlie, Paris, photography, postadayAndrew Seal View all 2 comments

I fell in love with Paris on my first visit there as a young boy in August 1962. I remember as if it were yesterday sitting and drawing in the Tuileries Garden after being inspired by all the French Impressionist paintings I had just seen in the Jeu de Paume, a stone’s throw away.

In the studio today my thoughts are very much with all the citizens of this great city as they walk in their millions for remembrance, for freedom, for tolerance, for love, for mankind, for the future. In the words of Francois Hollande, Paris truly is “the capital of the world today.”

Photography 101: Triumph – Triumph usually denotes drama of some sort, no matter whether it’s big or small.

The Arc de Triomphe on the last lap of the Tour de France. I confess to taking this photo during this year’s TV broadcast adding a little extra blur to the pelaton to highlight the sense of speed and drama.