Abstract Landscape

Very quiet morning in the Studio, and a great light to work with… until the sky darkened. The clouds are thickening in this afternoon… but, Hey! One cannot qualify this as unusual… May has been very strange in the London area so far, and we felt very blessed, a couple of weeks ago, to enjoy truly fantastic Spring weather. 

April and May are, perhaps, the times of the year where I feel the most productive and creative : The change in the air, and the freshness of the colors and vivid contrasts are arousing my senses. While outside, I find myself looking intensely at these changes, trying to capture their essence. I want these impressions to trigger my work and inspirations, and while working, I want to dive in these visuals souvenirs.

In my last pastel painting, I tried to render the energy I felt in these changes in Nature, as well as the sense of Harmony I never fail to sense while enjoying Spring beautiful days. Here it is :

Abstract landscape – Pastel painting
(70 X 50 cm)

This painting came out quite fast… It was pretty much spontaneous, and I now work very naturally with Pastels. I might have said it a thousand times (?) : to me, nothing feels like the joy of rubbing pigments on paper, the touch, the grain, the saturation… However, I recently added a bit of Photography to my creative process…

I already enjoy photography as such, and as a creative activity… and, while the picture above is a faithful reproduction of the pastel work, I found myself playing with the digital file to create some monochrome variations of the painting. I am not a natural photographer, but the play of creativity, the joy of doing, led me to what are, I believe, interesting results…

Below are some of the iterations I mention… either drawing me towards dark matter, very high contrasts and energy (a bit like when I was playing with Chinese ink and attempting at calligraphy…), or leading to some atmospheric composition. I definitely liked it and will try to dig this further, when time, and inspiration, allows…

For now, time to clean up the studio, sort the pastels out, and enjoying the rest of the day with a bit of drawing….

Going back to work…

A very busy start in 2018… Different trips, work – and a strong cold – kept me away from the Studio. Difficult not to blame the necessary distractions of life, and not to feel the frustration of having to remit creative instincts! This time ‘away’ had to stop and, last weekend, I forced myself into to studio…

Starting to work again, I dived into my pastel box, in the search for deep colors… I ended up rubbing an abstract composition, playing with contrasts – Deep blue is always a source of rest, for me – and I enjoyed working on a smooth and velvety texture, completing the first painting of the year.

Who knows what 2018 will be made of? I will surely continue to explore abstractions in colors, but also feel the need to go back to drawing and enlarge the scope of subjects I depict: after all, Art is also an exploration – a way to craft reality, and shape it as per our dreams and senses… I hope 2018 will give me more time to dive in my world.