Yellow House with Sundial, St Chaffrey.
Watercolour, 13 x 19 cm, 2004
How lucky was I to find this wonderful house on wash day?! It is situated in the older part of Chantemerle, as you walk from the Eglise Saint Jacques down to the Guisane river. Alpine winters are so sunny that there’s no need for a tumble dryer and people just hang their sheets over the balcony. Sundials are a traditional decoration on alpine houses too.
In this painting I have explored the concept of complementary colours. Yellow and purple (made from red+ blue) enhance one another. You will always see a lot of purple in the shadows on a yellow object. This painting is perhaps more of a colour and tone sketch, rather than a highly detailed finished work.
