Another view of Fayence, this time painted from as one continues Up the Hill on the Grand Rue du Chateau and looks back towards the village. After my mother’s heart attack in 1981, she would walk this circuit, climbing up the hill on the same road that was outside her flat and then circling back around and returning the village below the clock tower you can see in the painting. Quite a strenuous hike for a cardiac patient as every walk in the village seemed to be either walking up or down a steep hill. I’m sure she saw this and decided the view was worth painting and a good excuse to paint in the morning instead of walking.

I particularly like the suggestion of the sky and mountains against the texturing of paint to render the rocks used to build the houses, very different from some of her other landscapes where every rock can have an outline, for example in the Clock Tower painting. Another favorite part is the inclusion of one of the locals on her way home from the shopping which would not be complete without the ubiquitous baguette sticking out of her shopping bag.

This particular painting was given to my father who then passed it on to me.