Afternoon in Arles, 10x8", pastel, by Lucinda Howe

During my recent trip to Provence, we visited Arles and had lunch in the famous Place du Forum where Van Gogh painted Café Terrace at Night.  After lunch, I perched on a parking barricade near the entrance to a florist shop and started drawing the long view of the street.  As I was drawing the basic angles of the houses and curved street, the shop keeper was re-opening from the lunch break.  He brought pots of flowers out onto the sidewalk, and began to set up tables near and in front of me.  As I was just beginning to draw in the many doors and windows, he plopped several pots of tall bougainvillea plants down on the table in front of me.  So I quickly adjusted my plan  added the flowers in to the drawing, made notes about the story, and moved on.  Fortunately, I had a photograph of the street and was able to complete the architecture that attracted me after returning home.