BERNADETTE VAN BAARSEN

After an eventful life as a punk singer and then an academic career, Bernadette moves partly to France in 2015. She becomes fascinated by the power of shape and colour in the Provencal landscape, where the raw nature contrasts with the geometries cultivated by man. With changes in wind and light intensity, trees, bushes and hills seem to move in relation to each other. Paths meander like rivers in the landscape, with the sky as the mood maker: the pink and yellow 'shell sky' or the dark thunderstorm skies with that special light that peeks out from under the clouds. Nature never stands still. At the insistence of an artist friend, she starts painting in 2018. For her, each painting is a search for the unknown in nature, the balance between the cheerfulness of colours, light and movement, humour or even wildness. People regularly compare her work with that of the fauvist. With her paintings she wants to convey the passion, emotion and wonder that nature contains. In her portraits she strives to let the nature in the background reflect the person portrayed. Bernadette paints almost daily at home or in the field, sometimes with artist friends. She usually works with oil paint on canvas but also uses pastel for my bird portraits and studies.

 

Photos: Marc Heppener

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EXHIBITIONS

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2024

20 November - 11 Décembre: LITTLE TREASURES, Galleria De Marchi, Bologna, Italy

2/3 & 9/10 November: KUNSTLIJN HAARLEM, Galerie Loef, Bloemendaal, Pays-Bas

23-25 August: ARTIST MEETING, Grand Casino, Knokke, Belgique

Juin - September: Château Mauvanne, Hyères, France

Mai - Décember: Domaine des Féraud, Vidauban, France

3-4 Februari: ART EINDHOVEN, Klokgebouw, Eindhoven, Pays-Bas

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2023

22-28 September:  "CERCLE DES ARBRES: - Exercices de Style", Cercle des Arts, Cotignac, France

 

2022

1-7 Juli: "CHÂPEAU - 12 Portraits in Landscape", Carré des Arts, Cotignac, France

 

2021

Juin - December: Restaurant La Crémaillière, Le Val, France

 

2020

October - December: Château Roubine, Lorgues, France

September: Bar de l'Union, Cotignac, France

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