Clairette

My name is Claire Chantrel, alias ‘Clairette’, I was born in France in 1979. I started painting in 2017 by myself, I then took classes with Ecole des Beaux Arts Genevois in Annemasse, France and currently with Frabik d’Artistes in Orléans, France. This is the first time I am applying to an art competition. 

Painting to me is an escape from the pragmatic day-to-day of working in an international high-technology corporation. I take my inspiration from professional pictures or personal ones of lovely places around the world which trigger my imagination. I have been specifically working on Steve McCurry amazing photography work of India as well as the beautiful National Geographic collection, a book called ‘Magie de l’instant’. I mainly use acrylic with a knife to reflect the general feeling a picture triggers in me. I let my first touches surprise me and build upon what they create until I reach the point where the result is aligned with what I sense.

My first influence is very clearly impressionism, Van Gogh being my favorite classic artist. I have also been really impressed by the work of more recent artists like Madgazin, Russian artist that I discovered in the incredible Savitsky museum of Nukus, Uzbekistan or John Walsom which I admire for his wonderful mastery of colors and the generous warmth that transpires from his artwork.