Artist Danielle Richard is the winner of the first BoldBrush Award. Danielle's BoldBrush entry, a pastel piece titled Quelque Part, was selected by BoldBrush Painting Competition judge Carol Marine. The BoldBrush Award has an estimated value of $2,600 - which includes $1,000 in cash. The award was introduced with the June 2013 contest and is sponsored by FASO. I set up an interview with Danielle shortly after she won the first BoldBrush Award.

Brian Sherwin: Danielle, you are the winner of the first BoldBrush Award. Can you tell are readers how you feel about that experience?

Danielle Richard: When I looked at the numerous paintings and the quality of some of the works in the BoldBrush competition, I almost abandoned the idea of receiving any award! I was really glad to receive the BoldBrush Award!

BS: Your artwork often focuses on scenes involving young women and children. Can you tell us about that choice? Is there a specific theme that you strive to convey with those subjects in mind?

DR: I am related to the world of women, children and water. I paint women because I know them from the inside and I realized that they can be the perfect ''support'' for the feelings and emotions that I want to communicate with my art. Also, as a mother of five, I felt that I had more to express about femininity. We are strong and vulnerable at the same time. These are the two poles, if you will, that I like to visit when I talk about the feminine world.

As for my connection to water, lakes and rivers have always been in my environment. I love calm water, I love summer houses with lakes, I love the reflection produced by the end of the day Sunlight, no rush...the day is ''tired''. In many of my works, the water is used as a metaphor, an element that sets the figures apart from their surroundings that also seems to embrace and protect.

BS: Can you go into further detail about what motivates you as an artist? For example, are you making a social statement with your choice of subjects?

DR: It might sound a little too simple or too general to say it this way -- but I am fascinated by the harmony and balance of beauty. My intention is not to tell a story or make a statement... I would rather say that it's a poetizing; my poetizing of reality and its magic moments... without focusing on a message under the surface.

As an art student, I was swimming against the tide. I was more interested in notions of beauty than ''concepts'', provocation, and innovation at any price. I humbly choose to express a more poetic and optimistic view of a potential world...

BS: You mentioned art school... can you tell our readers more about your academic experience?

DR: At secondary level, I began to be fascinated by ''making art''. I soon develop a passion for drawing and painting. It slowly brought me to choose the visual arts as my concentration. I studied for 2 years at College (CEGEP) in Plastic Arts. I then spent 3 years completing a Bachelor of Arts degree at Laval University in Quebec.

To be honest, I really preferred my years at College in Arts as it was more centered on the technical aspects of making art, without the philosophical art theories which prevailed at the University. After receiving the Elizabeth Greenshield's grant I and II, I followed a summer session in Oxford studying the watercolor in the English Landscape. I also painted in France with C.W.Mundy in the summer of 2006 (En Plein Air Masters). I learned a lot from these experiences.

The art school (University) didn't bring me what I was searching for in technical and traditional art instruction. I therefore decided to alternate my school semesters with traveling to Europe and the United States. I visited museums in order to learn from masters. The observation of the work of Sargent, Zorn, Larsson, Klimt, Carrière, to name a few, was the best form of instruction that I could find.

BS: You work with a variety of mediums. Do you favor one medium over the others? Tell us more about your choice of mediums -- and the process of utilizing them within the context of your painting practice.

DR: I like to work with different mediums and supports. I work with acrylic, oil and pastels. To pass from one to another is almost like playing music with different instruments... each medium brings its own vibration to the subject. I appreciate them all.

With mediums like oil and acrylic, I usually work in an under-painting made of Transparent Sienna and establish the values...values... I continue to realize how important they are. I work with very thin layers of color, and that's why, sometimes, I prefer to choose acrylics for the facility of not having to wait for the layers to dry for days before I can add a new one. Pastel is also interesting when you don't want to prepare your colors in advance. With pastels you can have only a few minutes available in your studio and still proceed!

Brian Sherwin.

Lien: http://faso.com/theartedge/63554/the-art-edge-inte...