Reflections in the Louvre

The last full day in Paris was spent in the Louvre - I was there at nine for the doors opening, and had permission from my husband to stay until closing time.

The place is huge. Mega huge. By four I had seen all the paintings and a few other things on the way past but was absolutely knackered, brain fatigued, and decided to leave. So once again I missed out whole sections - most sculptures, decorative arts and historical areas.

But what I did manage to see! Between here and the other galleries I have visited I really feel I have seen the whole history of painting in a few days. My sketchbook is full of notes, ready to be worked on now I'm back home. But one of the interesting things for me was a clarification of the kind of art I like - simple, often people based, colourful. Big set pieces like in the Rubens room, for example, leave me utterly cold.

One of the ideas I had before going was of using the building in some way as a subject for paintings. So I took my camera - and many, many pictures were taken. All of windows, doors and chairs. The guards were giving me funny looks - but a "je suis artiste" got them nodding!

This is the start of my first painting on the theme - a kind of self portrait, reflected in a very grand mirror which also shows the buildings of Paris behind me. There are also a couple of cases of stuff, which will be clearer later.