Michel Guerin Interview

Michel Guerin
Italy

AOTW: When did you decide to become an artist?
MG: When I gave up teaching.

AOTW: Were there any influences in your childhood that influenced your decision to paint?
MG: No

AOTW: Describe your childhood? What was your youth like?
MG: Very pleasant and normal, good studies up to m.a. and ph.d in literature.

AOTW : Were you encouraged to explore art as a child?
MG: No

AOTW: Did you draw when you were young?
MG: Yes

AOTW: Do you have any vivid memories of art when you were a child that made an impact on you as an adult?
MG: No, I was living in Nice which is not the top for art events.

AOTW: Did you have relatives who were artists?
MG: No

AOTW: Where did you study art?
MG: Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, Nice and Aix-en-Provence.

AOTW: Have you ever worked in other fields besides art?
MG: I was an airline purser for five years with TWA.

AOTW: Tell us about being a teacher. Where did you teach?
MG: I taught in French high schools abroad, in London, Rome and Tangiers.

AOTW: How old were your students?
MG: From 12 to 18

AOTW: What did you most enjoy about teaching?
MG: I didn't enjoy teaching but had to make a living.

AOTW: What is your favorite painting medium?
MG: Today it's acrylic paint.

AOTW: How long have you been painting in mixed media?
MG: About 15 years.

AOTW: Have you ever worked in other mediums?
MG: I used to work with oil.

AOTW: Have you ever sculpted?
MG: No.

AOTW: Is there another medium you would have liked to try that you did not?
MG: No.

AOTW : Your work is very strongly colored and composed. How has your painting evolved over the years?
MG: Giving up slowly realism using colours which fit my state of mind when an image wants to come out.

AOTW: Do you have a routine to begin your work day?
MG:Coffee and a long look at what I did the day before, a few swear words and straight to the easel with jazz music.

AOTW: Do you paint during the day?
MG: Yes.

AOTW: Do you ever work in the evening?
MG: No longer.

AOTW: Who or what has most influenced your work?
MG: No one and nothing I'm aware of.

AOTW: Do you have a favorite subject to paint?
MG: Woman

AOTW: Do you paint from live models or photographs?
MG: Both or nothing at all (which I tend to do now)

AOTW: Do you paint from memory?
MG: Always, I used to go and see, now I remember.

AOTW: Do you have a favorite piece or more than one? If so, which paintings?
MG: La Robe Rouge, La Casserole de Cuivre, Chez Gaby 9, Hammam 3 and a few others.

AOTW: What profession might you have tried if not one in the arts?
MG: To be a surgeon.

AOTW: What interests you most in art?
MG: I look for beauty even if aesthetics are no longer "in" in the art field.

AOTW: What captivates you in a painting?
MG: The rendering of a state of mind (the artist's!)

AOTW: Do you go to art shows?
MG: Yes, when I am in a city.

AOTW: How has the art world changed in your opinion over the past forty years?
MG: Art as investment has slowly replaced art which was the outcome of a reflection on man and the world.

AOTW : Who is your favorite artist?
MG: Nicolas de Stael.

AOTW: How has the internet influenced your work?
MG: In no way.

AOTW: How has the internet influenced your life as an artist?
MG: Just gave me the opportunity to see that there are good and sincere artists all over the world.

AOTW: Do you sketch?
MG: I always sketch to prepare a painting.

AOTW: Do you offer prints of your original paintings?
MG: No

AOTW: Do you still exhibit your work and if so where?
MG: I still have two galleries with my work, one in Oslo, one in Italy.

AOTW: What words of wisdom would you offer a young painter of today?
MG: I'm not a wise man but I could tell him or her "you can live an exciting and rewarding life provided you're ready to be broke most of the time!

AOTW: Please offer any comments you wish as I am sure I have overlooked something intriguing !
MG: Jean Cocteau said "ce que les autres te reprochent ,cultive le,c'est toi."

AOTW: Thank you, Michel.

more of Michel's work here