Painting for "Au Soli"

Nearby our new home, in Megeve, one of the most  famous ski resorts of the Alps there is a nice shop, in the center of the village. It is called " Au Soli" (" in the sun" ...reminds me of " At Solsidan" by Carl Larsson).
The owner, one of the most passionate persons I know is a master cabinet-maker and a pure lover of the crafts of our mountains. He is a sort of scholar, incredibly knowleadgeable when it comes to the Alps, their traditions, crafts, history. His shop is a marvellous place that reflects his curiosity, his taste and the energy he puts in his work.
He found me at Maison et Objet a few years ago and ordered me a beautiful folding screen with paintings inspired of A.Calame.

Last year I did several paintings for him.

First a relatively large panel inspired by two different posters of the 1920's and 40's.

Then he talked to me about a very special piece of furniture that he had managed to find in some remote area and copied in his workshop.

He suggested that I create an ornament for the inside of the body and some "golden age" mountain scenes with figures for the inside of the doors.

I must say that I  would not have had this idea, but  I trusted him...and I think it was the right thing to do... the mix is in fact very unsual but it works perfectly.

He also asked me if he could borrow one of the canvases he had seen in my studio when he visited me as I was working on this commission.

It has been installed in the shop he owns down in the valley.

This painting was some sort of exercise I did for the exhibition of Salon in Versailles two years ago.

The mountain in the background is the Mont Blanc, pretty much as  we can see it from home.

The two figures are "borrowed" to Van Honthorst, a dutch painter of the XVIIth century. 

In May, I also painted this little chest of drawers for him. 

I covered the whole thing with paper and painted an "academic" alpine landscape inspired by paintings of  A. Calame, one of the most talented romantic mountain painters ever.

And finally I also painted four more small panels in the same style as the first one in this post.

They are all inspired by 1950s italian and swiss advertizing posters for ski resorts.

I have sometimes copied them quite literally and some other times I have made changes , in the backgrounds particularly.

Here are three of them in the shop " Au Soli" in Megeve.

It is a pleasure, and a pride, to be able to coopoerate with inspiring people like this man.

A New Year

Dear "Demeures Peintes" members, clients and friends, I am happy to wish you a prosperous and beautiful year. 

I am also very pleased to announce you that our new studio is now located in a charming village of  Haute-Savoie, Domancy, between Geneva and Chamonix.

I took some pictures in the studio just after we had moved ( in August) 

and here is another one I took tonight.

Tribute to " En passant par la demeure"

The book " En passant par la demeure", written by the designer Jean-Loup Daraux has, because of the talent and creativity of its author been very influential in the french taste for decoration in these past ten years.
The title of my own book "Demeures peintes" respectfully refers to it by the  use of this same word, "demeure" which means mansion or "family house" but also suggests  refinement , peacefulness and time enduring values.
My client is a fan of Daraux's book , and I now understand that when she and her designer stopped at my booth  on Maison et Objet in Paris they immediately knew that I would be able to paint in the same style or spirit .

On our first meeting in her home, a charming early XVIIIth century castle of the east of the country...

The huge cedar in the garden has been planted by the first owners, around 1730!!!

 ...she asked me to use one of the paintings of "En passant par la demeure" as a model. I was glad to follow such a lovely example. Furthermore, some of the paintings in this book have been done by my friend Jean Carrau, now a designer himself , based in New Rochelle and for whom I often paint murals and ornaments.

The design chosen looks relatively simple but is in fact extremely delicate and perfectly appropriate for the master bedroom. I made a sketch for the color scheme and it happened to be almost in the same harmony as one of the watercolors the owners had brought in this place. This old plate has been our guideline for  color mixes.

The old cupboard will be moved to some other room of the castle and a new one has been designed and basecoated ready for a little bit of decoration...I will be back on the job site for this just before Xmas.

  In the medallions we decided to illustrate music, hunting and vineyards/wine, all themes that are  of importance in my client's life.

Grisailles I

I have painted many grisailles, of different types ( landscapes, ornaments, bas-reliefs) and I still do. I like them for their strong decorative potential.
Here is a selection of the bas-relief type. I could have showed them randomly but finally I though it was more interesting to point out how my style of painting has changed from the very first example to the most recent ones.
This one,  the very first I did , years ago, was painted , with acrylics, on canvas glued up on panel .

This other one is the first I included in one of the collections I create for Maison & Objet. It is painted with casein. The style is still a little tight but it is already looser and more decorative than the previous one.

Six month later, after a visit to some florentine villas, I painted this one, and later on added a version with two small side panels for a french wallpaper company.

Then I found a nice XVIIIth century sketch that I turned into a bas-relief grisaille...

...and also worked from an old black and white picture I had bought at a flea market . Here are two versions painted from this picture.

This one was meant to look like a real bas-relief . At this point ornamentation becomes trompe l'oeil.

The last two are quite recent and if you compare the last one with the first of this series you will see how I got from tight to loose... from a nice exercise or "beginner's" panel to a painting where trying to show off is not the pont any more...the point is to try and capture the simple but fascinating magic of painted ornaments.

A show in Provence

My first personnal show , as a decorative painter, took place a couple of years ago , in Uzes.
Uzes is a gorgeous small city located at the confine of Languedoc and Provence.

The show had been organized by two art agents, Francoise Kerjean-Benaksas and Katherine Poulachon, in one of the XVIIth century mansions of the center of the town, l'Hôtel des Consuls.

The place is used for art shows but has been left "dans son jus" as we say in french ( untouched , as it was decades ago) and my paintings had been very harmoniously installed in this place of great character...

...cut off canvases that I created for a booth at Maison&Objet had been used to decorate the doors to the rooms...

and I had installed a temporary studio in the attic for some last minute touch-ups ...what a place!

Francoise has organized another show in the same location this year. My paintings were exhibited with the exceptionnal pieces of furniture and chandeliers of Pur Lustre, the whole thing was brilliantly showcased by  interior designer Richard Goullet...I will post pics one of these days...