Thanks to all the folks who came to the Cultural Arts Center Loft Gallery reception on March 25th. At the invitation of the Cultural Arts Center, we will be moving the show to another city art space, the Jerry Hammond Center. 
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“Lavender Field in Provence”
“Lavender Field in Provence” Acrylic Painting by Nadine Block
A friend and I went on a walking tour of Provence, France a few years ago. We walked 10K a day, ate in beautiful restaurants and shopped or toured museums in the afternoon. It was a magnificent vacation. Just imagine doing a healthy walk which mitigates a caloric meal! We walked along and kayaked the Gardon River where the beautiful Pont Du Gard Roman aqueducts can be seen.
One evening we went to a service featuring Gregorian chants by monks in a white stone abbey. It was very quiet and peaceful. A large lavender field next to the abbey was magnificent. When I came home, I wrote and illustrated a little book for my grandchildren, “Two Grannies Walking.”
Southern India Foliage
“Southern India Foliage” acrylic painting by Nadine Block
In 2012, I traveled with a friend and a tour group to southern India. From Chennai on the Bay of Bengal we went around the southern tip of India to Cochin, Bangalore and Mysore. Southern India is less populated and has more open space than other parts of India. There were vivid green rice fields, tea plantations and Hindu Temples. Cows, tuk tuks and honking trucks fought for space on dusty roads.
I was blessed by an elephant. He swung his long grey trunk over my head and gave it a slight touch, a blessing. In India, elephants are believed to be holy.
Cheetah in Kenya
“Cheetah in Kenya” Acrylic painting by Nadine Block
The cheetah is a magnificent animal, the fastest animal alive. The black tear marks below its eyes help shield them from the sun. It is a day hunter. Cheetahs are shy and solitary animals. Many tourists never see them in the wild. I painted a cheetah from a photo I took in 1998 on an African photo safari tour with my husband’s bar association. I propped my Nikon camera with a 400 mm lens on a bean bag on the edge of our open Land Rover and got several great photos of cheetahs. Our tour ended in Nairobi on the day of the August 7th bombing of the American Embassy where hundreds of people were killed. Our hotel windows were broken from the force of the blast over a mile away. Our plane that left Nairobi that night was the last one to do so for several days as the city recovered from the bombing.
Istanbul Fruit Market
I hope this painting of a fruit market in Istanbul looks good enough to eat. Istanbul was the first stop of our three-week guided tour of Turkey in 2012. The city is overflowing with amazing tourist sites such as the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. Istanbul is the only city in the world that sits in two continents. The Kadikoy Market we visited is on the Asian side of the city a half hour ferry ride from the European side. There we found food shops, spice shops, and fish shops. Walking through the markets made us so hungry! Luckily, we finished our visit by heading for a delicious lunch and a stop for tea at Camlica Hill, one of the highest spots in the city.
