We stayed in a residency in Charroux a medieval town in central France for a week, looking around the old village which is on an old pilgrims route.
It is build around and old abbey but the abbey fell into disrepair and only parts of it are left with a large central tower, the abbey and some of the buildings date from the 12th century.
Exploring the village, I sketched motifs from the buildings and carvings, I also came across a sigal on a house which was owned by Robert Charroux, an author who wrote about lost worlds and aliens, his sigal was the sign of Venus and Uranus. Now he is long gone, but has a menhir as his grave stone in the local cemetery, this is what inspired this ‘menhir at night’ print.
The skies where very dark and we saw some shooting stars and bats, such a magical place.
Below is the hares playing the bagpipes print – I was inspired by a carving on one of the house fronts, taken from the abbey when it fell into disrepair.
See also Stones
The abbey tower, which would have been part of a huge pilgrims complex. Today the abbey has concerts and reading events.
Bagpipes with hares are seen in illuminated marginalia of medieval books, also cats and pigs!
My hare was featured in Myth & Lore magazine in the winter 2022 edition
