The Figurative Artbeat

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I came across  michel guerin’s painting through my Filckr site. His work captured my imagination the minute I saw it. It made me think of the 20’s, of France in the 20′, of people and romance in the 20’s. At least how I have always imagined the 20’s to be.

At the same time his paintings are contemporary in their subject matter, the human condition. Both in groups and in the solitary figure.

michel told me that he is 69 years old and has been a professional painter since 1975. He has a MA and a PhD in literature  from University in Aix en Provence. At the same time he was attending Escole Nationale des Arts Deco.  He taught for a few years and then decided he wanted to see the world. He worked for TWA as a purser and was based in Rome where he began to paint.

He said, ” I began as an abstract painter, but I got fed up trying to paint ideas. I decided I wanted to paint things and human beings.”

michel has had exhibitions around the world and now lives in Italy. He is a resident of the Riviera where “I find the kind of landscapes I like.”

It was so very hard for me to choose which paintings to share with you. michel is nothing if not prolific. His flickr site is full of his interesting work.

He portrays people being people, living, drinking, loving, singing, dancing, he show us it all. He truly reveals that he loves people and show us to ourselves.

This is a photo of  michel in his work space. On his flickr site under this photo he wrote..

1. My favourite colour is RED
2. I believe in friendship
3. I only have female friends
4. I’ve been married for 44years(same wife)
5. I hate sports
6. I love dogs and cats
7. I’m utterly pessimistic
8. I hate cities and crowds,so I live in a small village of the Italian Riviera (27 inhabitants)
9. Went to an art school, was a teacher, was a purser on TWA, became a professional painter in 75 with my  first show in Paris, lived 7 years in London, 4 years in Tangiers and finally Italy
10. I’m painting because I want to stay alive

He left me with this last thought, “Oh yes, I forgot, I’m French, love the sea and women, (married 44 years with the same one!!)”.

Unfortunately, there is no website, but you can see over 100 fabulous paintings of michel’s on his flickr site.

Leave him a comment there, I know he’s loved to hear from you. Tell him I sent you!

Popularity: 46% [?]

I’ve been a fan of Jereme Crow ’s action filled paintings for quite awhile now. His figures are so alive, while his colors are soft and easy on the eye. I want to laugh and tap my feet, I can feel the motion.

On his web site Jereme writes,  ”To attempt to explain my paintings would be an after thought. They  are a celebration and exploration of the beauty of colour and the human form. I am attracted to dance as a source of inspiration because of the endless compositions created by the human form. The beauty, energy and emotion that is captured through movement. Art is beauty. Capturing a feeling, or an idea and  through the use of a subject attempting to create something beautiful.”

In my opinion, he has easily accomplished all of the above and something else as well. An involvement with the viewer.

After I contacted Jereme and while I was pouring over his site to choose paintings to feature here, I noticed a link to Sam Crow. I clicked and was taken to a very exciting blog featuring textile art by Jereme’s wife Sam. To my delight, not just textile art, but figurative textile art.

While Jereme’s paintings require the viewer to move, if not actually, then mentally, Sam’s work is more introspective, slowing the viewer down to  be self  analytical.

She states on her site in reference to a recent exhibition, “For this show, most of the women are sitting or lying down, exhausted or resting, this is because i am suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome at the moment and have to rest and sleep lots…… so i was focussing on that, and trying to incorporate my feelings about that and how it effects me and others, and trying to restrict myself to those sort of postures in a similar way that we are resticted often in our activities and have to force ourselves to stop and rest….which is hard when i work obsessively and have to be dragged away from the sewing machine!

I think as women, mothers, wives, even without chronic fatigue syndrome, we can all relate to those times of shear exhaustion.

I  love this one. Contemplation, a pause in a busy life…. a look, if you will, into the dream.

What a wonderful feeling this pictures leaves us with. Maybe after a good dance, a snugly rest is needed.

Jereme and Sam Crow live in South East Kent, UK

You can find out more about his talented couple by visiting their websites. Jereme Crow’s fabulous, lively art can be seen at Jereme Crow Fine Art and Sam Crow’s wonderful textile portraits can be view at Sam Crow Drawing with Stitches.

Popularity: 70% [?]