Pastel exhibition in Catus.

9 July 2017 Pénélope

Pastel exhibition in Catus.

This summer I will be showing my recent pastels in the Tourist office art gallery in the village of Catus 46150. From the 29th of July until the 11th of august.

The gallery opening hours are as follows:

Tuesday until Wednesday: 9.30 until 12.30 a.m and then 3.pm until 7.pm.

Saturdays and Sundays and public holidays: 9.am until 12.30 a.m

In this year’s Catus exhibition I am showing only pastels.

‘Terres Sauvages.2.’ was inspired by a field between Crayssac and Catus, below the prehistoric plage au ptérosaures. I returned there many times this winter, interested in the particular sparse nature of the landscape and a sense of history that it evoked. I was thinking about the constantly evolving landscape and the layers of change. the tug between cultivation and natural vegetation portrayed in the abandoned farm building and the fruit trees turned wild. The man sits alone in the landscape in contemplation.

The small landscapes I am exhibiting were painted on site, mainly around Catus. There is a series of small studies which were worked at ‘Camp du Berry’ up above the village, looking down on the valley and across to the distant hills. I was interested in portraying the changing light and colours induced by the evening and afternoon sun.

I am also including several portraits in this exhibition. A new series of paintings are inspired by my love of Roman and Renaissance statues. Technically I am interested in experimenting with textures, collage and paint combined with pastel. I am also trying to push the boundaries of 3 dimensional illusion. In ‘Composition in blue and gold’ the figures appear like relief statues emerging out of the textures background.

In these pictures am more interested in using models to represent the human condition, than specific likenesses of individuals. As in the landscape work, I am generally moving towards a more spontaneous use of colour, rather than closely observed naturalistic flesh tones, this allows me to play more feely with the background relationship.

I want to paint the quiet things that can escape our notice, the fleeting visual beauty of shadows, reflections, light and crumbling texture.