A look at the artist's universe, more particularly his work around ferns

by illustrator Caroline Parent

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FILICOPHYTA

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It is thee raw material that Claire uses for her compositions.
It shifts from a natural surrounding to the workshop where everything is transformed.
It, that is Filicophyta :  it is what it is called in latin, this fern that claire picks up in the forest ;

because this is there that it all begins : a generous crop of ferns.

Claire draws us to a space where Paint et Nature meet, where rhythms and  colors mix to give birth to a living art form...

The fern tells its own story, through its sudden burst  and  secrets.

Master of ceremony, Filicophyta reveals itself under its  many different apparels.
Though what truly catches us are  its numerous ways to print on the sheet, to lay down on paper. 

Sometimes it spreads all across the given space of the sheet.
Unveiling the grace of its shape ran aground, it lays autumn greens, reds and browns, pale yellows and deep blues...
Backbone of the painting , it spreads and stretches its structure, deploying its leaves as tiny fingers :

Through the sensitive unevenness of their outlines, the fronds gather  paint and color.
Soaked in acrylic, they lay down their whole and textured prints.

Several ferns may meet in one composition. The axes of the petioles draw their furrows, the straightness of a thick stem slices from top to bottom next to a fern curvature.

The Filicophyta are parading  : their leaves brush each other and entwine

In other parts, the fern unveils itself and leads us to more intimacy.

Filicophyta let us peep under leaf, at its tiny bags called sori: subtle patterns, these tiny dots are nonetheless the expression of the fern's fertility.
These sori sometimes poke through the inner hollow of a leaf, a droplet of paint made a little secret.
On other paintings, these sori appear in larger numbers. Overlaid when ferns get multiple pressing, they give birth to scores of small  dots  teasing the surrounding space.  They are  alike a dancing  chaos,  a picturesque sizzle that enliven the artwork.

The fern gives the beat. The gaps between  branches coming and going. Meanwhile the white paper underlines the outlines of the fern and enhances its power. The overlaying of the pattern conquers the white paper,  multiplying and rustling the textures. these ever varying gaps bring rhythms and variations.  

At last, when the paint finally fades, the fronds come in lighter : the fern and paper chat in the subtle whisper.
Contrast in the density of textures gives Claire's  art all its wit.
This manual press that Claire spins is a passage/travel for Filicophyta. 

Coated in acrylic , the fern lands on a pre-painted sheet of paper. It is on this stage that Filicophyta slips across ready for action. The going under the press holds time ... Claire spins the handle, the ferns embosses in the paper, fortune may smile under the roller. The print unveils traces of random mishaps.

In the final stage, watercolors  tiptoes in subtle splashes here and there, highlighting through dilution the density of the paint, enhancing the light.

Claire's work gathers dynamic forces and on the edge leaf sensitivity. It is both vital thrust - one of creation - and revelation of her inner self.

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