I love travelling through small towns and villages that are not out there in the open but hidden from everybody. I have recently been in a small town called Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert which is home to less than 300 people. It is not far from Lodeve and Montpellier in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France.

There are many shops with local handcrafted items such as staffed toys, clothes, jewellery and a lot of wine of course. One of many shops is a gallery of contemporary art with paintings by Armelle Bastide d’Izard. She is a french artist with a local media exposure and a list of exhibitions. Her exhibitions were mostly local but Armelle also exhibited in large cities such as Montpellier and art capital of France – in Paris.

Her artworks are bright and colourful, full of life. Some paintings are figurative, depicting surroundings – street views, landscapes, and some are abstract. The weather was nice during our visit and sun filled the room, which made the paint even more vibrant. The artist was there herself and I assumed that she worked on the top floor as some works were shown in the process as in the artist studio.