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"Jill
and Pete you both are great! So accommodating, helpful and
entertaining!
I had a great week and would like to come back again. Thank
you!!"
Lin Sun - Vegetarian Restaurateur - Atlanta,Georgia,USA |
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photo by
painter Anne Miller from British Columbia, Canada. |
When Peter
Evans and Jill Fellows met they found that
they shared a mutual interest in all forms
of art, and especially in the creation of images.
"Pete and I believe that the disciplines of
painting, photography and the moving image are, in principal, very similar,"
says Jill. "All three require an understanding of
the concepts of light, shape, form, tone, colour and
composition."
Peter agrees, "I doubt
there is any photographer or cinematographer worth their salt who has not been inspired by, or learned
something from,
the great painters of the past," he says. "For example, not many people are
aware that the celebrated photographer
Henri Cartier-Bresson |
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studied painting and the arts for four years before ever he
picked up a camera, and that he eventually returned to it,
putting down the camera and picking up a brush for the last 30
years of his life."
Indeed, the disciplines are so closely related that Peter
likes to argue that, "Johannes
Vermeer was the first photographer"
and this suggestion is
sometimes the subject of light-hearted debate during one of Jill's
memorable picnics: freshly baked baguette and pain céréral,
delicious fresh
produce from the local market and a refreshingly cool bottle of
our excellent local rosé.
"Even though Pete goes off for the day where he chooses with
his photographers and I take my painters to my own favourite
spots, we always meet up together at least twice during the
week for a big picnic lunch," Jill explains. "Pete's photo
below shows painters and photographers picnicking together at
King Henri IV's towers in Barbaste,
near Nerac."
 When organising
their very first
Painting
Photography
France season, Jill and Peter realised that some people,
especially
beginners,
might feel a little nervous and intimidated being part of a
group of other painters or photographers. They
therefore planned the holidays they offer to take account of this,
and the format they adopted has proved to be very popular
with their guests. So much so that some people have been
twice or even three times!
Rather than facing the daunting
prospect of a week of rigidly constructed tutorials, guests
find
themselves enjoying a fun
holiday
in a beautiful part of France whilst receiving five days
individual guidance in the development of their hobby -
and the
comments
they leave behind at the end of the week certainly reflect their appreciation of this.
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