Clematis

Absolutely delighted that this floral abstraction was selected by the jury of the Paris Salon d’Automne for inclusion in their 2020 exhibition. This Salon was established in 1903, and in their own words – ‘the Salon d’Automne precipitated the emergence of all the major artistic trends of the 20th century: Surrealism, Cubism, Abstraction, New Figuration, and Singular Art. It includes all the greatest names in modern painting, from Cézanne to Picasso, the Paris School, Dali, Zao Wou Ki and Antonio Manfredi (2014) or Moebius (2015).’

On our return from Oz back to France in May, we were in partial lockdown, and I decided to paint a few of the scenes in our backyard, and this is the Clematis vine that is growing on the gite deck. So, from lockdown in rural France in June to the Salon d’Automne in Paris in October! This is the fourth time in the past six years that I have been exhibited by the Salon, and it is most rewarding indeed to get this sort of recognition.

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Hello, and welcome to my Bluethumb portal. I’m Jean David, and I am an artist and art teacher.

I have had a passion for painting and drawing all my life. These days, I will generally paint and draw anything that will be still enough for long enough to let me! I prefer to paint directly (ie with the actual subject matter in front of me, rather than a photo) either in the studio or out in the elements ‘en plein air’.

To me, a well executed drawing or painting (mine or anyone else’s) can convey a truth more eloquently, an emotion or a feeling of human experience more truthfully than any other form of expression. I can still remember the first time I saw a Leonardo drawing in a text book – I was literally transfixed at how the world could be viewed in a different way other than how I had been brought up. To me, the Leonardo drawings were able to get directly to the heart of the matter, and disregard what he could not be bothered to ‘see’.

Since my decision to become a full time artist some twenty something years ago, I have tirelessly pursued a goal to be able to just do it better. This has inevitable involved me going through a number of stages and phases, all of which have helped me acquire more experience and skills as I moved forward.

It has long been touted that in order for an artist to develop, he/she needs to travel and experience different environments, so the journey is a physical one as well, and my wife (Isix) and I have lived in Australia, England, Wales, The Netherlands , Hong Kong and France, taking in many other countries along the way, including Spain, Portugal, Italy, Scotland, Germany, Croatia, Russia, Sweden, Crete, Fiji, New Caledonia.