Elodie.M Richard

 “You are the fairy tale told by your ancestors.”
― Toba Beta

''Slavian'', black ink on paper, by Elodie Richard, 2015, France

''Hungarian violonist'', black ink on paper, by Elodie Richard, 2015, France

"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage - to know who we are and where we came from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness." -- Alex Haley, Roots

Black ink on paper. Peasants world. People who have a sense of belonging to Earth and connect with it to make a living. Noble hearts who work hard and have sense of values which is often lacking nowadays. My family roots. Nostalgy and visions of the past, my familiar ink ghosts living on paper.

En transition....Une periode d'attente tres difficile que je vis en ce moment je l'avoue..

The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Black ink on paper. By Elodie Richard, Saint-Germain d'Esteuil, France, 2015.

 ''Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values.''

Ralph Ellison

What  I am working on at the moment..:)

Maybe the only thing each of us can see is our own shadow.
Carl Jung called this his shadow work. He said we never see others. Instead we see only aspects of ourselves that fall over them. Shadows. Projections. Our associations.
The same way old painters would sit in a tiny dark room and trace the image of what stood outside a tiny window, in the bright sunlight.
The camera obscura.
Not the exact image, but everything reversed or upside down.

Adam McLean has a tantalizing thought suggesting that alchemical engravers might have encoded a geometrical message into their emblems. He takes the example of the 'Speculum Sophicum Rhodo-Stauroticum' of Theophilus Schweighardt, pointing to the "underlying geometric skeleton structure upon which the symbols are arrayed." He goes on to write,

"The evidence of these drawings certainly convinces me that there is another level to many of the emblematic engravings of this period that has yet been fully considered - the key of their inner geometry"

I have long been fascinated by the interesting geometries that show up in alchemical illustrations. There is certainly a huge need for studies of these images that take into account the impact of geometrical planning on the visual project. What does this geometrical element do to the alchemical message? It resonates with neopythagorean potential. But I have not found much useful information on this topic, and I would love to hear anybody who is like me interested in alchemical geometry. Here are some of the images that McLean directs our attention.

The Salon des Refusés, 1863 

Of the works that were accepted to the 1863 Salon, in France, Alexandre Cabanel's Birth of Venus  was the recipient of much acclaim and was even purchased by Napolean III.  Cabanel made several copies of this painting which was influenced both by ancient art and the Renaissance.

In fact, more than half of the works of art, over 2,000, that were submitted by artists were refused. Which is why in that same year the first "Salon des Refusés" was held, giving those artists another chance to exhibit their work.  The idea for this alternative Salon was that of Napolean III who felt that the jury was much too strict and that the public should have a chance to decide for themselves.

As Robert Rosenblum writes in the book 19th-Century Art:

"Napoleon III himself, having seen samples of the rejects, could find little difference between them and those selected for the official Salon, and the temporary exhibition space seemed a happy compromise.  This so-called Salon des Refusés, however, immediately took on the stature of a counterestablishment manifestation, where artists at war with authority could be seen and where the public could go either to jeer or to enlarge their ideas of what a work of art could be.  The counter-Salon opened two weeks after the official one, on May 15, and immediately attracted hordes of Parisians, who numbered as many as four thousand on a Sunday, when admission was free."*

Not every artist wanted to be part of a "reject's gallery of art", but Édouard Manet submitted three paintings which he displayed as a triptych.  The centerpiece of this, and perhaps one of the most well known works of the 19th century is his Luncheon on the Grass, a work that also reflected Italian Renaissance ideas but with subjects shown in a modern setting.

While it was ridiculed by some critics at the time, it was also praised by writers such as Emile Zola.  The Luncheon on the Grass was instantly an influential painting and many artists were to be influenced by Manet's contemporary style, broad brushstrokes, modern figures and flattened areas of color.  It appeared to many to be a painted sketch that would have later been turned into a finished painting.  Manet was influenced quite a bit by the Old Masters in much of his work, in particular this work shows influenced by Titian and Raphael.

Manet was not alone in presenting unknown subjects using loose brushstrokes.  James Abbott McNeil Whistler's painting known as The White Girl, was more focused on all the different colors that white can appear in a work than on its subject, who was his mistress.  In this painting we see a work with no story or historical reference, in this sense neither Manet's nor Whistler's paintings would have been considered hierarchically important enough to have been chosen for the Salon.  Whistler was more concerned with light and shadow and the composition of the subject.  In fact it was Whistler who coined the phrase "art for art's sake" which was not a common concept in the mid-19th century.

 Art was created for many reasons through the centuries: to memorialize an event, to teach, as political propaganda, for prayer and devotion, to pay honor to someone, but the idea of creating art for art's sake was relatively new. 

Nowadays, the ''refused ones'' are still out there, more than ever. Refused because the style is an ''has been'', because it is figurative and has a meaning, or on the contrary, because it as no meaning,...among other multiple reasons to be a ''refused one''. Searching for the 5th legged sheep, it seems to me that galeries accept the everything in the nothing, or...the nothing which is being given the power of the money. The 5th legged sheep... Creating art for art's sake became a  motto on which many artists evolve like on a sharp razor.  What about the artist's sake? No the same thing eh?

Acrylic, structural paste on canvas. France, 2015

All the quiet things..''Sand Dollars'' from Florida. 2015 (Structural paste and acrylic on canvas, by Elodie Richard, France). Let’s say you are walking on the beach, looking under rocks for little crabs, and you find a sand dollar. You know, that round, white thing with what looks like a star on its back. What do you do? Do you throw the shell into the water trying to skip it across the waves? Do you put it into your pocket to take home and show others? Do you turn it over a...nd wonder why there is a small hole in the center?
What have you really found? Does an animal live inside the round shell or is the shell part of an animal? Well, if you have found one of these white, round shells, what you have discovered is the remains of what was once a living creature that lives on the beach and in the shallow waters near the beach.
The living sand dollar is not white and it is not smooth. It is a “fuzzy” creature that is “purplish” in color. The “fuzzy” look of the sand dollar is caused by fuzzy spines and tiny hairs called cilia. Scientists can determine the age of a sand dollar by counting the growth rings on the plates of the shell. Sand dollars usually live six to 10 years but some have been found that are 13 years old.

Le Clypeaster Subdepressus……
Pensée des mers, monnaie des sables, sand dollar, dollar des sables...
Cette petite créature mystérieuse, chère aux amoureux des plages mérite une attention particulière.
C’est un membre très fragile de la famille des échinodermes ( oursins, étoiles  de mer…) avec une coquille aplatie et circulaire , ornée d’une étoile et de trous disposés en rayons.
Vivant, son corps est recouvert de fines et courtes épines mobiles, comme un duvet, qui lui donne une couleur gris pourpre et permettent à l’animal de s’enfouir sous le sable.
C’est un être paisible et inoffensif.

Les coquilles mortes dérivent vers les plages où le soleil les blanchit.
Le dollar des sables tient son nom du terme anglais "Sand Dollar", à cause de sa ressemblance avec une vieille pièce de monnaie gisant sur les fonds.
Il est présent dans de nombreuses zones côtières, principalement dans les mers chaudes. Il en existe plusieurs espèces dont la forme diffère selon le milieu aquatique où il se développe.
L’attrait visuel qui se dégage de ce petit joyau tient à sa géométrie radiale qui en fait une des formes les plus parfaite de la nature.
C’est un véritable pentacle naturel qui contient dans sa structure et ses dessins, les règles du nombre d’Or et de la divine proportion ; des symboles ésotériques dignes de toutes les interprètations... :)
 

Comissioned work, acrylic and structural paste, gold, on canvas. France, 2015. (1,30meter x 1,30meter)

My Heart's In The Highlands by Robert Burns

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go.

Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow;
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods;
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go.

I did this painting in th 1990's, one of my first oil paintings, inspired by Van Eyck. It is said that it is an autoportrait, ..but i like to see in him an Explorer of  an imaginary  new world.:)

Rare and mysterious portrait of a woman from the 16th Century.

google.com/+lodieRichard-E

Aboriginal religion has various levels of secrecy, and is only able to be shared with others of the same initiation level. The Secret of Dreaming begins in a dark emptiness that attempts to convey Aboriginal religion 's theory of Creation. The world was ''dreamt up'' in the mind of a supreme being. Human consciousness is marked by the unique capacity to see future possibilities, and work towards their realization. In other words, the ability to Dream.

Each person has an immediate connection with the Dreaming, and through the complex totemic systems developed in Aboriginal society, each also has quite specific responsabilities to the environment. It is only through ritual, that man's knowledge is passed onto the next generation, and the Dreaming is protected. Man has inherited a divine consciousness, and with it goes reponsability for care of the real world. The Essential Truth is that the Spirit of Life rests in the Land, and Man is its Caretaker. A few years ago, as I was living and working in Australia, my aboriginal friend passed me this Story about the Dream time. My friend told me his sad story, how he belonged to the ''Stolen Generation''. He was taken away from his family when he was a child, and all he had left was a child book with beautiful illutrations, telling about the Dream time. One day he offered me to read his book and I was so honored and so touched by his all story.I will never forget what i learned from this Child book and from my friend. My paintings are like a journal to me and they tell stories about Nature, wild life, ancient myths, spirituality from the beautiful people i meet along my path.

After many years of traveling and multiple colorful cultural influences I currently evolve and express myself between two tendances: influenced by the art of engraving, the expressive sharpness and contrasts of black and white, which rejoins my black and white photography. And an abstract world where the essence of Earth, the elements, undefined colors and shapes give endless possibilities to my imaginary world

I do have a dilemma between an abstract world and a very detailed and figurative univers, and I believe that this is due to my eye sight and my life experiences. It seems that I keep searching for answers i cannot obtain and at the same time, i am craving for a calm vision, which , even if uncertain keeps my inner self in peace. It seems though, that abstraction will win.

My empathy towards our world makes  me often feel like a sponge absorbing all these vibrations and trying to digest them through my creations.  I am seeking for authenticity, spontaneity in the act of art, I want to express movement, life, but also the environmental and climate changes issues our modern world must dramatically deal with...and  i would like people to connect with what i do. Future projects will continue to tell the story.

We often learn to know a person the way she turns the pages of a novel, or in the way she walks. Knowing where she comes from, or how she traveled, allows to understand who she is.  The adventurers. The curious. The dreamers also. Those who take their time. And the walking seems to us a good way to feel, to be amazed by landscapes, and be closer to people.

The simplicity and the availability are an integral part of my walker's philosophy. In my journeys, all the conditions are gathered for the opening: opening to the world, the opening to the others, the open-mindedness and the senses, the opening in the creation and the art. And I am telling you: you are not completely the same on the way back. For sure the adventure never ends.

Je ressens vraiment un dilemme entre un monde flou, une nature abstraite, et  un univers très détaillé et figuratif et je crois que ceci est dû à ma vue et à mes expériences de vie. Il semble que je continue à chercher des réponses je ne peux pas obtenir et en même temps, j'éprouve une grande envie d'une vision calme, qui, même si incertaine garde mon moi intérieur en paix.

Mon empathie vers notre monde et tout ce qu'il contient de cultures, d'evenements, et une Terre ennivrante me fait souvent absorber, telle une éponge, toutes ces vibrations, bonnes et mauvaises et essayant de les digérer a travers mes créations. Je recherche l'authenticité, la spontanéité, je veux exprimer le mouvement et la vie, une essence spirituelle et primitive sans nom... Ayant toujours ete tiraillee entre figuratif, la forme et le fond, il me semble maintenant bien evoluer dans un univers abstrait, incertain, en questionnement encore. Je recherche l'authenticité, la spontanéité dans l'expression, le mouvement, la vie, mais aussi les questions environnementales et des changements climatiques que notre monde moderne doit dramatiquement traiter ... Il est grand temps.

Nous apprenons souvent à connaître une personne de la façon dont elle tourne les pages d'un roman, ou de la façon qu'elle a de marcher dans la vie. Savoir d'où elle vient, comment elle a voyagé, permet de comprendre qui elle est. Les aventuriers. Les curieux. Les rêveurs aussi. Ceux qui prennent leur temps. Et la marche à pied nous semble une bonne façon de se sentir, être stupéfié par des paysages et être plus proche des gens.

La simplicité et la disponibilité sont une partie intégrante de ma philosophie de marcheur. Dans mes voyages, physiques et voyages interieurs toutes les conditions sont rassemblées pour l'ouverture : en ouvrant au monde, l'ouverture aux autres, l'ouverture d'esprit et les sens, l'ouverture dans la création et l'art. Et je vous dis : vous n'êtes pas complètement les mêmes sur le chemin du retour. C'est bien cela. L'aventure n'est en fait jamais finie.

http://www.rivagedeboheme.fr/pages/arts/peinture-20-21e-siecles/l-art-abstrait-avant-1945.html

ETATS UNIS

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2012

« Vous avez remarqué que tout un Indien ne se trouve dans un cercle et c'est parce que la puissance de la Terre travaille toujours en rond, et tout essaie d'être ronde ... Tout le pouvoir du monde ne se fait dans un cercle. Le ciel est rond et j'ai entendu dire que la terre est ronde comme une boule, et sont donc toutes les étoiles. Le vent, dans sa plus grande puissance, tourbillonne. Les oiseaux font leurs nids en rond, pour eux est la même religion que la nôtre. Le soleil sort et redescend dans un cercle. La lune fait de même, et tous deux sont ronds. Même les saisons forment un grand cercle dans leur évolution. Nos tipis étaient ronds comme des nids d'oiseaux, et ceux-ci ont toujours été mis en un cercle. cercle de la nation, un nid de nombreux nids, où le Grand Esprit nous a destinés à faire éclore nos enfants. 
Black Elk 
Sioux Oglala Holy Man "

"You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round... Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing. Our tepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle. The nation's hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.Black ElkOglala Sioux Holy Man"

ETATS UNIS

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2012)-CREATIONS

1/ LA DANSE DE SANDY

SANDY DANCE

Acrylique /Acrylic

En mémoire du terrible cyclone qui s'est abattu sur la ville de New York et Long Island, vision urbaine tremblante et instable, dans les couleurs de la pomme , verts, roses et jaunes.

In memory of the terrible hurricane which happened in New York city and Long Island, an unstable urban vision in the colors of the Big Apple symbol .

2/ CRANE DE BISON A LA ROSE

BUFFALO SKULL WITH A ROSE

Acrylique/ Acrylic

Ma passion pour la culture native américaine depuis toujours s'exprime ici, je me suis imprégnée de mes connections et amitiés avec mes amis indiens et ici, sur un fond abstrait de paysage d'hiver, apparaît le crâne de bison qui est un symbole de protection , santé, réussite, bonheur, pour les familles, la rose étant une promesse de renouveau et joies prochaines.

My passion and fascination for the Native American culture expresses itself here, as I am impregnated of my connections and friendships with my indian friends . On an abstract winter landscape appears the mystic buffalo skull which is a symbol of protection , health, wealth, happiness, for the families, the rose being a promis of renewal to come.

3/ WOLF

SUNKMANITU TANKA

Acrylique/Acrylic

Iowa, United states.

Ceci est le portrait de mon ami Sunkmanitu Tanka, de la Réserve de Pine Ridge en Iowa. Je l'ai représenté avec son Totem, le loup noir. C'est à 15 ans que l'adolescent passe sa cérémonie qui fera de lui un homme, il partira une semaine dans le nature et sera assisté par un chamane, le totem est l' esprit d'un animal qui sera votre guide pour la vie, il viendra en vision à la personne et le garçon entendra son nouveau nom en Lakhota, et ainsi obtient son nom d'homme.Le totem et l'homme ne font qu'un, c'est un guide spirituel pour la vie.

This is the portait of my friend Sunkmanitu Tanka, from the Pine Ridge Reservation in Iowa. I have represented him with his Totem, the black wolf which appeared to me as a vision. It is at the age of 15 that the teenager goes through a ritual which makes a man of him, he goes on his own for a week in nature and with the guidance of a shaman, he meets his totem for the first time through a vision. The animal spirit comes to him and so he can hear his new name in Lakhota. The man and his animal guide are one for life.

4/LA MEDECINE DE L'OURS-IOWA

BEAR MEDECINE- IOWA

Acrylique

Acrylic

Semi figuratif

Ours...
Invite-moi dans cette caverne
Où tes sages réponses
S'imprègnent dans le silence.

L'ours nous entraîne à écouter notre voix intérieure et à adopter un rythme plus naturel. 

Sa force est l'Introspection.
L' Ours nous fait comprendre que chaque être détient la capacité de faire le calme, d'entrer dans le silence et de savoir.

Il s'apparente à l'intuition.

La force de la médecine d'Ours réside dans sa puissance d'introspection. Cette médecine se situe à l'Ouest de la grande Roue de Médecine qu'est la vie. Ours recherche le miel, la douceur de la vérité, dans le creux d'un arbre. En hiver, alors que la Reine des neiges marque de mort la face de la Terre, Ours hiberne. Il entre dans la caverne-matrice pour y digérer les expériences de l'année qui vient de finir. On dit que nos buts résident aussi à l'Ouest. Afin de réaliser les buts et les rêves qui nous animent, il faut absolument s'adonner à l'introspection.

Pour imiter Ours et chercher refuge dans la sécurité de la caverne-matrice, nous devons harmoniser nos énergies avec celles de la Mère éternelle et nous alimenter au placenta du Grand Vide. Le Grand Vide, c'est l'endroit où toutes les solutions et toutes les réponses vivent en harmonie avec les questions qui accompagnent nos réalités. Si nous choisissons de croire que la vie suscite de nombreuses questions, il nous faut aussi croire que les réponses habitent en nous. Chaque être détient la capacité de faire le calme, d'entrer dans le silence et de savoir.

Dans plusieurs tribus, cet espace du savoir intérieur se nomme la loge du Rêve : là où la mort de l'illusion sur la réalité physique se superpose à l'étendue vaste et abondante de l'éternité. C'est dans cette loge du Rêve que nos ancêtres siègent au Conseil et nous renseignent sur tous les chemins possibles qui peuvent mener à nos buts. Voilà le pouvoir d'Ours.

Depuis des siècles, l'énergie réceptive féminine, issue de celle d'Ours, a permis aux visionnaires, aux mystiques et aux chamanes de prophétiser. Aux Indes, on parle de la caverne de Brahma, ce qui est en fait la glande pinéale (l'épiphyse) au centre des quatre lobes du cerveau. Si on imagine le dessus de la tête, on voit un cercle où le front est au Sud, l'arrière du crâne au Nord, le cerveau droit à l'Ouest et le cerveau gauche à l'Est.

Ours est à l'Ouest, le côté intuitif qui loge dans le cerveau droit. Pour hiberner, l'Ours voyage vers la caverne au centre des quatre lobes où se situe la glande pinéale. Dans cette grotte, Ours rêve tout l'hiver pour trouver réponse à ses questions et il réapparaît au printemps, avec l'éclosion des fleurs.

Depuis des temps immémoriaux, tous les chercheurs de rêves et de visions ont fait taire les bavardages intérieurs pour cheminer en silence et atteindre le lieu des rites de passage - le canal ou la glande pinéale. De la caverne d'Ours, vous pouvez prendre la route vers la loge du Rêve et vers les autres instances de l'imagination et de la conscience. Par cette carte d'Ours, la puissance de savoir vous invite à entrer dans le silence et à faire connaissance avec la loge du Rêve afin que vos buts se concrétisent. Voilà la force d'Ours.

Bear medecine is an inner call to intuition and introspection, the archaic symbol of the bear appears to us in his cave, this painting is a call to harmonize our energies with mother earth, hibernation is an echo to introspection and the idea that the answers are within us.

5/ TOTEM CHEVAL-LONG ISLAND-NEW YORK

HORSE TOTEM-LONG ISLAND-NEW YORK

Acrylique/acrylic

Considéré comme un emblême de puissance et de liberté, le cheval est ici représenté de dos, pour une composition inhabituelle.

Considered as a symbol of power and freedom for the First Nations, this beautiful horse is represented from an unsual angle which makes the composition interesting to the eye.

POLOGNE - INTRODUCTION

POLAND

2010

« Voici la Terre de l'esprit de l'Ours ,

Libre. »

« The Homeland of the free bear spirit ».

La Pologne est pour moi un retour à mes racines, une connection passionnée avec le pays de mes ancêtres, et j'ai en mémoire de majestueuses forêts, la région des lacs du Nord de la Pologne, les châteaux médiévaux ( Malbork ), la mer Baltique et la Vistule, la vie sauvage, les animaux, ...Une réelle symbiose avec la nature. Et enfin, les traces du mon arrière grand-père polonais qui était , lui aussi, un aventurier.

Poland represents a very strong and very special connection to my roots, the land of my ancestors, and i still have printed in my memories its majestic forests, the great lakes area of Northern Poland, the middle ages castles (Malbork), the Baltic Sea and Vistula river, wildlife, animals...A real symbiosis with nature. And the foot prints of my polish great grand father who was himself an adventurer.

POLOGNE (Masurie)

POLAND (Russian Borders, Masuria) 2011

1/ VISION SHAMANIQUE AU FEU DE CAMP

SHAMANIC VISION AND CAMP FIRE

Mémoires de chasse nocturne, d'un feu de camp, la lune et la magie de la forêt.

Memories of night hunting, a camp fire, the moon and a magical forest.

2 et 3 /RACINES FRANCE POLOGNE

2 and 3/ROOTS FRANCE POLOGNE

Acrylique/ Acrylic

Fusion abstraite de deux toiles , deux pays, mes racines.

Abstract fusion of two canvasses, two countries, my roots.

4/Cowboy masurien aux santiagues, à Elblag , extrême Nord de la Pologne.

Masurian cowboy Boots, Eblag, Northern part of Poland.

Memoires d'une sortie à cheval autour de Elblag, dans les forêts de Masurie.

Memories of a horse ridding day through the beautiful Polish forest .

5/CHASSE EN POLOGNE

HUNTING IN POLAND

Acrylique/Acrylic

Un pistolet aux allures d' un film western, pour une expérience de chasse au sanglier et au cerf, de nuit, à la frontière russe.

A Gun which would remind you of a western movie, for a wild boar and deer hunting experience , by night, on the Russian Borders.