Isabelle Gautier's ART

Be careful when you encounter a new culture!!

Recently, I made a faux-pas bringing chrysanthemum to a Chinese ceremony. I am generally aware of the significance of flowers, but this time something went wrong. 

As I was attending a tea ceremony at the end of  a Tai Chi  workshop and we were all ready to take photos I saw the white flowers were being removed from the table.

What was the exact significance of white Chrysanthemum in chinese culture?

In Occident chrysanthemums are the flowers of November and for that reason often end up in cemetery. For the longest time the two were strongly associated in my mind. But I have to admit since I moved to the Unted States the mums and maybe specially the yellow daisy became more a symbol of happiness. The secular celebration of Halloween uses it to add colors to the any house and lost a bit of its griefing symbolism.

In  China it is more subtle as the color of the flower is very imporatant.

How can chrysanthemums be symbol- in China-  adversity, lamentation, and/or grief and at the same time symbol of autumn and the flower of the ninth moon, a symbol of longevity because of its health-giving properties?

I went to Wikipedia  and Daily China for  answers and here what they give us. 

WIkipedia 

Daily China

Because  the COLOR WHITE  is strongly associated with death you should never gift white mums.

No harm was done. Grand Master Zhu Tiancai was gracious.

We removed the white mums and began our photo session...

I have always put a lot of energy into my paintings. But as I began my minimalist series i faced the challenge of representing energy . I KNOW there is energy in a non-moving person, or even in a stone. But, how to represent it ?

This challenge applied also to myself on a personal level. 

Nine months ago, I decided I would take time to learn more about energy  and decided to explore Chen Tai Chi martial art.   

One of the basic exercise in Chen Tai Chi is the "Silk Reeling", an inernal art of high power and energy that you practice with outer movements at the beginning, but that a seasoned practicioner can actually exercise  fully without visible expression in outer movements.

This is a very  important movement that take years to master. I have not been practicing enough yet to even understand it all.

But this week end i will participate in a three day workshop by Grand Master Zhu Tian Cai from Chen Jiagou prov, Henan, China and I am very excited. 

Stay tuned.

#chentaichi #zhutiancai #Silkreeling #energyinArt 

Saturday, October 5th, 2019 from 5:00-9:00pm

You are cordially invited to my home studio/gallery open house in Milton, GA.

Save the date!

I am deeply grateful for your support and interest in my art. A special merci beaucoup to all the people who have bought a painting, giving me confidence and energy over the years.

We will be celebrating the fifteen year anniversary of Isabelle Gautier’s Art.

Good food and wine and great conversations are guaranteed.

#openstudio #artistisabellegautier #isabellegautiersart #contemporaryart  #a stractart #isabellegautiersabstract #portrait 

I just made my first trip to Santa Fe and it was eye opening. As an artist my primary goal was to be at the Annual International Contemporary Art Show and visit the city.

I arrived the day before the show, roamed around the historical part of the city, fell in love with the warm architecture, human size buildings with a lot of covered pathways where people can walk, and shop in the shade.

In the historical district the walls are made out of sun-dried earth and straw, painted with warm earthy colors. The houses are built in the Spanish Pueblo and territorial style developed and used in the New Mexico Territory from the time of the American occupation in 1846. Many constructions are one story and originally displayed around a courtyard.

You won’t see many gutters but scuppers coming from the flat roofs, jutting out from of the walls from above your head.

The wooden beans which are the structure of the buildings are exposed and stick out of the outside walls or serve as columns for the pathways.

The soft lines of the remarkable ubiquitous architecture, soft brown concrete is in harmony with the urban design and provides a welcome relief from the busy large metropolitan cities.

At first I saw a lot of touristic artifacts but then discovered the high-end art galleries and beautiful clothes shops around the plaza. My first question was: who are the clients here?

I knew Santa Fe was an artistic city, but it is also a secondary home for people from all over the States and particularly for Californians.

People come to Santa Fe for art, the Native American people culture but also for the outdoor. Santa Fe is a hiker's paradise and harbor 23 Tribes, Nations and Pueblos .

 The number and quality of art galleries and sculpture gardens all around the city of Santa Fe itself is very impressive. The most amazing spot is undoubtedly Canyon Road and its dozens and dozens of galleries, right next to each other. Santa Fe Railyard district also has great galleries and museums. One of my favorites was the Fritz gallery, where the Carlos Estrada-Vega and Lea Anderson installations are astonishing.

I have been told the high season in Santa Fe begins Mid-October but the city in July seemed like a permanent art exhibition. People there see, eat, drink and breath art. It is the center of the city economy and its raison d'être. From the architecture to the shopping and diverse population, everything resonates art. Everywhere, be it indoors or outdoors, original private and public art abound.

Santa Fe, this small city nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (7200 feet) is the third largest contemporary art center in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. Indeed, many of my artist friends are represented in Santa Fe.

I will definitely be back soon. Strongly recommended!

Isabelle Gautier

#santafe, #art, #artistisabellegautier #isabellegautiersart, #expressionistart #contemporaryart #artgallery,

Please search google for :  https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/isabelle-gautier-4711" target="_blank">https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/isabelle-gautier-4711

This is the poem " KEEP THE CHANNEL OPEN , by Martha Graham, read by Meryl Streep that inspired me to paint this artwork

There seems to be no one

on the empty mountain

and yet I

think I hear a voice

where sunlight entering a grove

shines back to me from the green moss

There is a vitality

a life force

a quickening that is translated through you into action

and because there is only one of you in all time

that expression is unique

if you block it

it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost

the world will not have it

it is not your business to determine how good it is

nor how valuable it is

nor how it compares to other expressions

it is your business to keep it yours

clearly and directly

to keep the channel open

You do not even have to

believe in yourself! Or your work!

you have to keep open

and aware, directly, of the

urges that motivate you

Keep the channel open!

No artist is ever pleased

There is no satisfaction whatever at any time

there is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction

a blessed unrest that keeps us marching

and keeps us more alive

than the others

More to come in this Fall-WInter 2019 colors. So warm that it almost feel like being  around a fireplace with good compagny

#FW2019 #FWdecor #FWcolors #FWhome #FWinteriors #artistisabellegautier #homedecor #art 

The past is the past and can't be changed, the future is inevitably unknown for the most part, so only the present seems worth to be focused on. Is an artist stroke in  the present maleable or is it in the past as soon as it happens and should be left alone?. Any "unwanted drop", any "mistake" is the real expression of a moment in time of the life of the artist. Can an spontaneous or Unexpected stroke reeveal  more than a long thought through composition.What If the goal of an artist is  to reflect an instant from his/her.

I really like these drops showing a process. precious present time. What is the value of the present, What is the value a present moment? 

"Enso (formally spelled ensō is a sacred symbol in Zen Buddhism meaning circle, or sometimes, circle of togetherness. It is traditionally drawn using only one brushstroke as a meditative practice in letting go of the mind and allowing the body to create, as the singular brushstroke allows for no modifications". Ensio intergrative therapy

#artistisabellegautier #enso #zen #art #calligraphy #painting #contemporaryart #blueenso #blueart #isabellegautiersart