"...water so clear the rocks at the foot of the cliffs looked like clumps of turquoise flowers growing on the sea bed."
from The Sea Garden
The modern French painter Olivier Boissinot captures that turquoise by the shore, the brightness and heat of the sea in the South of France in his Calanque de Port Pin, above. A native of Provence, he is a master of strong colour and atmosphere. I love the way he composes a scene so cleverly, then seems to dive straight in with no-holds-barred vibrancy.
I've used his brilliant pictures from the start of this blog, to illustrate elements of The Lantern, and I'm only sorry I can't get to his latest exhibition at the Salle Cézanne in Meyreuil, near Aix-en-Provence. It's on now until February 7, and if anyone is there this week, it will be well worth seeing.
An if that's an impossibility, but you'd like to brighten your day, take a look at this: an online notebook of Olivier Boissinot's seascapes.
6 comments:
I can just imagine how wonderful it must be to see this painting in person. Having been to Provence, I love his use of strong blues and reds and oranges.
Thank you for this Deborah! I love his work. I wish I could see his collection in person. He is brilliant!
He has such a distinctive style. I especially like the sunset themed painting, great colours.
I love the colours! Vibrant!
Writing question: If one has a book that one thinks might be interesting to other people, does one start by finding an agent, or does one start by sending inquiry letters to publishers?
Hello Marcheline, I'm not sure there's a cut and dried answer to that one. It depends what kind of book it is, and what kind of publishers one is aiming for. From a standing start, I think I'd try both: research and contact a couple of agents who deal in the kind of book you have, and at the same time query a few smaller - perhaps specialist - publishers to get a feel for the market. The bigger the publisher, the more likely they will only accept submissions through an agent.
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