Louise Fournier – Fine Art

My Art

“Art does not imitate nature, it imitates a creation, sometimes to propose an alternative world, sometimes simply to amplify, to confirm, to make social the brief hope offered by nature.”

This quotation is taken from “A Sense of Sight” by John Berger, and it speaks to my heart.

I strive to create a context for a view into a world, a world that has no time, that doesn’t even capture a moment, it simply is, and will persist as it is.

I love painting nature and living things – people, animals, birds, and landscapes. For me life is what I like to capture and I like my portraits to show a person or persons in a natural setting (see Portraits).

At this time, I am fascinated by natural pigments that have been manufactured with stones, rocks, and earth pigments. I like the earthiness and texture of fresco, and my recent works strive to capture these textures and subtle tones and values.

The bird paintings (see Birds) illustrate the methods developed for painting with watercolours and gouache on wooden boards. I have painted directly on unprimed wood, wood with a transparent ground (to preserve the wood grain), and wood with a titanium white ground.

These natural earth pigments, stones and semi-precious gems have a natural lightfastness. The painting “Amethyst Crow” has watercolour tube paint made by grinding amethyst gems. Some of these natural paints do not have pigment numbers. All pieces are finished with a matte varnish that is archival and provides excellent UV protection as well.

Stay tuned as the blog page will contain the results of my research into the methods that have been developed to support this vision. As well, other topics are under development to provide a forum for artists and art lovers to connect.

Study

Ottawa School of Art

Life drawing and portrait painting in oils with Robert Hyndman. Anatomy of the Portrait, Portrait drawing and painting with Dana Brezina. Still Life studies with Lucia di Marinis.

Many other courses including plein air painting, and oil painting skills development,

Co-taught Introduction to Portraiture with Dana Brezina (2020)

York Studio

From 2004 to 2014, I studied at York studio, where the training is personalized, tailored to the level (professional, advanced) and to the needs and aspirations of each student.

The study methods applied are linked to those of the former Higher School of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid and ensure the learning process from the simplest to the most specialized.

Formal courses in composition, advanced portraiture, still life, colour theory, colour mixing as well as coaching on individual projects.

Dana Brezina founder of York Studio – A Czech born artist, attained her formation in arts under professor Francisco Merayo Maestre at the Academy of Classical Arts in Madrid.
Dana’s forte is the art of portraiture. Her paintings and drawings can be found in private collections in Canada, Spain, and Czech Republic.

Other

2015 – present

Dana Brezina – Mentoring and advising.

David Kearn – Oil painting courses featuring an Artist’s work, plein air painting and courses for ongoing skills development.

Dianne Mize Studio courses and mini-courses, on-line, covering a wide variety of topics:

Cracking the Color Code, Mastering Foreshortening, Conveying the Light Source, Composing, Values, Gradation, Perspective, Colour Harmony and more