Magical Moments

Few things in life satisfy my sense of adventure like travel to Europe. The beauty and culture fascinate me - and the colour! Light bouncing off the limestone buildings is a yellow both intense and pale; rainy days are a million shades of grey and the sunny days, an azure blue-as-blue can be. Where I live in Canada is magestically beautiful but there is something about the light here. As my the flight descends in Europe I feel as if I’ve come home again - despite having no family history in this part of the world. These trips have for me, been rich with culture, beauty and mystery that I’ve claimed for myself with the help of a camera. This time, I wanted to bring my paints to capture the essence and true colours - more so than using photographs as subject matter for my paintings. So for the first time, I packed my art supplies with my baggage - how brave of me, I thought.

I was returning to a familiar place in Burgundy with historic vineyards, city-wide cellars, well-worn buildings and cobblestone walkways. Early in the day my partner went off to his business meetings, and with easel in hand, I walked to a less-travelled neighbourhood, spotted a beautiful balcony and set myself up. I’ve often been surprised as I lift my head from the canvas and realize that hours have disappeared - so it’s understandable that I didn’t see or hear a small crowd of tourists gather behind me until someone asked if I would sell my painting. The people were trying their best to speak to me in French - that in itself was pretty funny. Clearly they thought I was a local. Eventually I couldn't help myself and laughed out loud. The bidding between them started - I didn’t say a word - and before I knew it, someone handed me $20,000 in cash. Handing over my little painting felt surreal. Truly, I was stunned.

While walking back to my hotel I came upon Librairie de la Renaissance and stopped in to buy a familiar black Moleskin to record the details of my adventure. The experience was so extraordinary, I didn’t want to forget any part of it. I only wished I had a Moleskin with me earlier so I’d have sketches to remind me of my magical day. Not surprising, re-telling this story has brought doubtful looks from friends - until I show them the notebook. It’s no wonder why I keep returning to Europe, inviting serendipity to guide my way. It will take an extraordinary tale to top this one, but at least I’ll have that Moleskin as proof of the magic.

Oh, and my partner? He was pretty surprised to see the $20,000. The rest of our trip was spent tasting Beaujolais nouveau at a small vineyard owned by friends. I was introduced to ‘riding’ the large barrel, leaning to the left and to the right while taking a sip at every chorus sung by the small crowd, intended for spills and slips from what seemed like a great height. What the crowd did not know is that I had horses back home in Canada, and no way would I be falling off the barrel - no matter how loud or how long the singing and how many sips of wine I took. The next morning (with foggy heads) we arrived for a late breakfast only to have the local newspaper tossed on our table. A certain Canadian girl was on the front page. Ooh la la! That Moleskin got a workout on the flight home.

Only a small part of this story is fictional, and I am, in fact, transcribing it from the pages of my Moleskin.

Beverly Furer

Toronto, Canada