I learned my color palette from a lineage of artists that traces its roots to Claude Monet. 

It was a thrill to see his actual palette on display at the Musee Monet Marmottan in Paris. (I found out photos were not permitted AFTER I took this one. Luckily my camera was not confiscated, and none of the museum attendants caught me photographing ALL the paintings downstairs.)

I could see the familiar hues of yellow, red and blue --  though their names have changed over time. But what thrilled me was the mixtures they created.  And what surprised me was the paint mixtures on the ages old palette seemed so untouched, uncleaned, and yet so fresh!

When I finish painting at the end of a day, I scrape my palette and save the pure colors and then I scrape up all the bits of color with a palette knife into new mixtures and save them for another day. Though I don't have anything particular in mind for them, I am always amazed at how the same limited number of colors I use can make so many different shades.

In today's batch alone, I came up with 7 different greens! When artists use the same consistent color paints, the finished painting has a color harmony. 

So when people say to me, "I love your color!" it's because it all comes from the same colors.

I wonder if Monet kept his palette scrapings?

I came to touch the time-worn railings and floor, to smell the turpentine, to flick the brushes  and stare at the jars of pigments -- to walk and shop in the same art supply store as Cezanne and Picasso. This is Sennelier, housed on the Left Bank of the River Seine in Paris, directly across from the Louvre museum. 

My recent trip to France provided lots of visual inspiration - the flowers at Giverny, the countryside of Normandy, the seaside towns of Deauville, Trouville, Honfleur and Entretat. Everywhere I went, the beloved Impressionist artists had been before.

But visiting Sennelier, a family-owned business since 1887 - that was retail heaven!