Présentation en anglais de Michel Béquet pastelliste - pastel sec artiste pastelliste

 

When boys were playing cow-boys and indians , Michel was sitting in the poultry yard of the family farm trying to understand the behavior of chickens, geese and ducks.

Walks in the countryside were for him a discovery of the diversity of the flora and fauna of « Les Landes »  where he was born and raised .

When young people, his contempories we having parties, Michel was content to study and contemplate the beauty of nature which deply affected his interior life .

Therefore it was understandable that he went to study horticulture at B.T.S in Antibes and that he refused to do military service but instead did civil service with F.R.A.P.N.A ( association protection nature ) for two years.

Michel's interest in painting came much later, during a long illness. At first he used crayons, afterwards water colour. Then came the encounter with soft pastel . For Michel it was a revelation. He had found a fascinating medium.

Michel attended courses in drawing in Villepinte, Carcassonne, and also in Feytiat during an International Festival of soft Pastel, organised by the association « Pastelliste de France » . His talent continued to evolve helped by numerous lectures and visits to Art Museums. He likes to work alone and sees solitude a necessary foundation for refection and meditation . This is reflected in his paintings.

The choise of subjects for his paintings is influenced by his experiences while growing up in Les Landes . He lived among flowers and animals, contemplating their beauty, their fragility and aolso their strength, defending themselves against the neglect and intrusion of men.

His paintings resemble himself . They are fragil and sensitive yet communicate an energy and force difficult to explain , perhaps it is to see quickly what is essential. Then look simple but they are windows for us to see how the word is managed .

Michel does not use any varnish on his soft pastel . He prefers to leave the material as pure as possible, keeping the quality of the colour.

Since 2005 he has been a member of the «  L'avant théâtre »in Villepinte . This association organises art exibitions every years.

 bequet24@yahoo.fr