Painting and Textiles

1920s French Wallpaper

1920s French Wallpaper

jane Courquin plant pigment on paper 2012

I came across some wonderful old French wallpaper samples from the 1920s that have been invaluable to my work and have become part of one of my paintings from 2012.

Each sample shows a variation in colour way and the green pink and grey one gives a little more information about the design.

I have always enjoyed early 20th century textiles as well as paintings from that era and enjoy the way I can interweave both disciplines through my own work.

My plant pigment sketch is inspired by an anonymous 1930s textile sample in one of my textile books.





jane Courquin ~Art Deco textile print on 100% cotton 2012

Copyright jane Courquin 2012 

 

 We will be exhibiting in the Charente at Atelier 32 from June until September 2013 and at the Verteuil Arthouse Studios continually Sur Rendez-Vous.
 





jane Courquin ~ oil painting on board 2011

jane Courquin ~ oil painting on board 2011



jane Courquin >Le Premier Printemp< Acrylic and Oil on Canvas 80 x 80 cms 2013







Le bol bleu avec quarze, quarze rose,  et jaspe rouge


I started this painting as an attempt at putting more geometry in to my paintings and limited myself to a still life of one blue bowl and three oval gems . I had three to hand which were crystal quarz,, rose quarz and red jasper . Each has its own individual properties that I also considered .The palette was deliberately muted so I felt better able to concentrate on form. However, the colours seem to have taken on an
 unexpected dynamic of their own .

 

 

 

 
 

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Le Champ de Tournesols

 Edging towards an ending , having said almost everything I wanted to say in this painting . There are still a few remarks left to add... perhaps in French Ultramarine . There is still a lot of  >empty< space , but that allows the rest to breathe .

Painting in Progess 18/05/2013

 I am enjoying painting sunflowers whilst waiting for some summer sunshine to flood the fields . This canvas began life as a group of people to illustrate a painting exercise to a student . I rather approve of the way the figures have become sunflowers like the Greek Myth of Clytie. She went into the garden every day looking for the sun in a vain attempt to find Apollo, rather than getting on with her work. Finally Apollo shot her with an arrow and she turned in to a sunflower .

La Charente ~ le Paysage

local sketches

At the end of July and through August the fields in La Charente are awash with sunflowers and the skies are a high dome of lapis lazuli . I have been working from last years sketches and recordings, but I am already thinking ahead to this years crop so there is a lot of imagined time future in there too.
Cycles around the rural roads here lead to concealed buildings and walled potagers , built from the local honey coloured stone .



still life in a landscape with le Creuset frying pan and sunflowers

Still Life with Indian Butterfly

Work in Progress

 

I started this painting a year or so ago and only recently ( a few months ago ) rediscovered it abandoned in my storage of unfinished work . This time i had a better idea in which direction i wanted to go with it . Its still not finished, but is a good deal closer to an ending . The indian butterfly is a mix of indian red and ultramarine and is the most recent addition. It awaits some markings once this layer has dried .

 

 

The spots are added and a few coloured glazes to the front pots and plates . The right hand side obviously needs some attention and resolution . I narrowed the front rhs plate, but will most probably have to re stretch it width wise to balance what sits above it on the picture surface . The halo of light showing its original position is just about discernible. There are also some very tiny orange red marks of distinction to add to some of the white spots on the indian butterfly. 

 

 

 

 

La PeTiTe CaFeTièRe dE fLoReNcE SOLD

>La Petite Cafetière de Florence< Oil on Canvas 2013

A favourite pot given to me by my dear friend Florence makes an appearance in this at once subtle and high contrast Still Life oil painting. The knife and lemon refer to a long line of my painting heros who have treated this simple and evocative subject.

Ile de Ré enamelware with sunflowers & roses 2013

>Ile de Ré enamelware with sunflowers & roses< 2013 oil on canvas

In early April 2013 fellow painter Nichollas Hamper and myself went to the Ile de Ré  , a remote island off La Rochelle with good intentions to paint. We took bicycles and cycled almost everywhere on and off the known cycle routes with a small group of friends . We were fortunate as the Sunday Brocante was just around the corner from the house we were staying in . The enamel treasures I found there have found their way in to my most recent painting .
The plate is a nod to Vanessa Bell's ceramic output..
The sunflowers and roses are plentiful in the Charente and appear in many of my works.
The waves seem to push through the painting from the top to the bottom of the canvas.

tHe bLaCkBiRd ~ Le mErLe RESERVED

jane Courquin  > Le Merle / Blackbird < Oil on Canvas

The > Blackbird< painting was completed in 2012 and rates as one of my favourite . It featured in an earlier gallery window photo, but definitely merits its own post .

La fLeUrIsTe ~ Rue des Halles ~ Verteuil~sur~Charente

jane Courquin >La Fleuriste Verteuil< 2013 oil on canvas

Studies around the French village where I live include several of the local flower shop  in Rue des Halles. They were part of a series of work i did inspired by Eric Ravillious's 1930s shop windows for >High Street<. I visited the Ravillious exhibition at the London War Museum  in 2002 with fellow artist Nichollas Hamper, book publisher David Fickling and Printmaker Publications Publisher Nick Gingell. Another Oxford based friend had lent one of his Ravillious paintings to the exhibition and we were keen to see how it was exhibited amongst the collection.
My >Fleuriste Rue des Halles< painting is Oil on canvas and measures 80 x 80 cms.