I had painted this last month without knowing that the beloved city that means so many things to so many people, were to meet with attacks (for want of a better word, as I refuse to sensationalise as the perpetuators wish) this tragic Friday 13 Nov 2015.
The piece is a tribute to travels and Paris, inspired by a little yellow boat called "Paris" that I have come to watch out for every morning, at the PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) terminal when my bus to work emerges from a long dark tunnel every morning.
I have been to Paris twice, once on a europe students tour which whipped in the highlights - Eiffel, Notre Dame, Louvre - in a whirlwind, where I just remembered that I must come back to Monmarte again with the romance and idealism that it holds for struggling artists. The second was a much longer backpacking trip traversing all over France, which was one hack of a colourful trip with many funny episodes, good and bad, but definitely memorable. I may have encountered a few prickly French as I don't spout any and had a communication issue, but it is hard not to love the country for its beautiful cities, quaint towns, scenic landscapes that look like they come out of an art book, its absolutely rich and fascinating cultural and freedom of artistic expressions that produces so many great artists, and the sheer encouragement of it that is in the psyche of the French which is to be admired and emulated. And Paris with its Eiffel symbol, is an epitome of freedom, and an artist's dream. The current episode will not dent this spirit that has stood the test of time. May the Parisians move on with strength and resilience and continue with their celebrated way of life that should be the way it is, with the ideals to inspire the rest of the world.
Title: Untitled 6 (A47)
Description: Red pink whimsical vintage Paris painting of little child in colorful surreal swirl of Eiffel Tower, carousel, yellow boat and green toy bike. 2015.
Medium: Acrylic on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 76 x 76cm.
Purchase at: yen.artfire.com
This is an interesting piece that seems to provoke rather diverse comments. When I created it, I was simply looking to develop my cloud series and found this moody cloud-church pic from my europe trip 3 years ago.
I had a busy time in Paris trying to catch as many museums as I could which was a bit tricky with all their er.. brief opening hours ;p Literally, with like minutes to closing, I had dashed into Rodin's Musée Gardens to visit The Thinker and chanced to look up and saw this in the distance. So I snapped an under-exposed photo to capture the cloud drama around what I thought was some cathedral. It was only when I was naming the painting that I did some digging and found that this was no ordinary church. The Église du Dôme is the most striking feature of the Eglise Saint-Louis des Invalides royal chapel specially constructed in 1679 in an extensive ex-military complex that holds the tomb of one Napoleon Bonaparte..
With a grandiose title like that, I'm not sure if I've done justice to the history behind the dome, but this was one piece where I literally gave full play to the clouds and made the colours swirl from the dome to the moon, and back. I wish I could give some logic to what I did or intended but this was a purely instinctive work, so the interpretation is really up to the eye of the beholder!
This work will be displayed at the 6 perspectEVEs exhibition from 17 ~ 28 August 2009 at The Art Loft @ Volvo.
Title: Cloud Series ~ The Dome (O17,SA8)
Description: Moonlight serenade of the dome of Les Invalides in Paris. 2009.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 50 x 50cm.
5 comments:
shu laang said...
Nice, very dreamy and deja-vu :-)
serena said...
There's a magical Disney-like quality... Sorta like Aladdin.
jeffrey said...
I thought "The Dome" had a religious touch. Domes in Churches are somewhat like repositions of the heavens above and many domes carry paintings of God in the center of the Dome (which suggest that God is watching over the people on Earth). The brightly colored clouds that seem to come out of the Dome in this painting seems to represent "Hope", "Life" that comes from the heavens above.
weishian said...
I especially like the Clouds – Dome and the Mornington Peninsula – Tea at Boathouse.
kmwatkins said...
a great painting, yen!
One of the fun things that my art class taught me was that masterpieces are not as hard as they look to reproduce. It is the process of creation, coming up with the idea, the composition, the colours, the textures, the sum of the parts to achieve the iconic piece, the thinking and meaning behind it, that is the genius of the artist. And this we learned by each choosing a masterpiece to paint. At the time, the most obvious choice to me was Starry Starry Night. I thought it would be very difficult. To my surprise, it was one of the most relaxed pieces to do because all the artistic decisions had already been made by no less than Van Gogh, haha..
Much as I am anti-copying, I learned that it is a very useful practice to emulate works of masters, if only to open my eyes to possibilities that I have never thought of before and to gain an insight into the thinking process behind the works.
The works of Cezanne have always fascinated me and the best part was I could not fathom why they were so intriguing until I started painting and reading up on art literature. He is not called the Father of Modern Art for nothing obviously, having shown the way, post-Impressionism, to artists like Picasso. I love his impossibly-genuis compositions and use of greens. Plus, he paints the most luscious-looking apples ever period ;p
So here are some of these masters "copies" or influenced works..
Title: Learning from Van Gogh ~ Starry Night (O11)
Description: Learning piece. 2005.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 50 x 40cm.
Price: SOLD.
Title: Learning from Cezanne ~ Pines and Rocks (W2)
Description: Learning piece. 2008.
Medium: Watercolour Work.
Dimensions: 26 x 19cm.
Price: S$35 (USD29).
Title: Learning from Cezanne ~ Under The Trees (W3)
Description: Learning piece. 2008.
Medium: Watercolour Work.
Dimensions: 23 x 16cm.
Price: S$35 (USD29).
Title: The Binary (A5)Description: This piece was created for the fill-your-walls Apple-on-Canvas launch exhibtion on 12 Dec 08, and a nod to my favourite artist, Cezanne. 2008.Medium: Acrylic on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 25 x 25cm.Price: SOLD.
2 comments (starry):
jeffrey said...
Not bad!
beibei said...
Niceeee... I like Van Gogh...
A couple years back, I took a hiatus from work and went gallivanting in France & Scandinavia for a good 2 months, which was altogether fun, funny and challenging since I speak no French.. ;p But I had to visit the art museums in France (and they are really good - when they are not closed ;p ) and pay pilgrimage to the land of my favourite Impressionist artists. So naturally I made my way to Provence and ambled into Arles, which I learned to be Vincent van Gogh's place except there wasn't a painting of his there and his studio had been destroyed in WWII. Nevertheless, I was much inspired by the place, especially the lovely uneven buildings with multi-coloured tiled roof intertwined in a fascinating maze of narrow winding streets, which probably accounts for this being considered Van Gogh's most creative period.
So it was that I painted this particular piece from a reference photo which was actually quite muted in colour but the feeling and atmosphere of my stay in Arles came through in the gay colours I put to the buildings of this street scene of a middle-aged lady going home. The bags may seem heavy but the mood is not, with hope and warmth represented by the strong lighting that I added to the scene. This was also one of my first oil pieces using painting knife and I found that the splattering effect turned out well on the buildings and pavement :)
The painting will be displayed at the 6 perspectEVEs exhibition on 4 ~ 28 August 2009 at The Art Loft @ Volvo.
Title: A Street In Arles (O6, SA1)
Description: Inspired by the narrow winding streets of Arles, Provence, France. 2008.
Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.
Dimensions: 60 x 50cm. SOLD.
Mini-Acrylic Work (with burgundy cardboard frame) 24x21cm: S$45 (USD30).
5 comments:
mary c. aikens said...
I really like your paintings very much. You have captured the use of color. I also use much color in my artwork. The "Street Scene in Arles" and "Tea At Boathouse" are among two of my favorites of your paintings.
beibei said...
I like this
valerie said...
I loved your painting of Arles. I hope to visit someday. In the meantime, thank you for capturing and sharing with us this beautiful place through your works.
teckmeng said...
I too like your piece of Arles. Been to France before but never knew that place even existed.
huilin said...
i like this one =) inspiration from??
