Mélou

Biography and artistic approach

I was born in 1947 in Argenteuil near Paris in France.
Argenteuil was a high place of Impressionist painting. Claude Monet in particular painted the banks of the Seine some seventy years before I was born.
The landscapes of my childhood, the banks of the Seine, the hillsides at the foot of the Moulin de la Galette, were traversed by the greatest names of Impressionism.
Perhaps even -less than a century after Monet - did I run through the famous fields of poppies he so often immortalized on the canvas? Who knows?
Often, the child that I was, dreamt by browsing the pages to admiring the images of some art books we had at home.
At the age of 11, I took part to a painting contest organized by the city of Argenteuil.
For the occasion I painted a watercolor and I had the immense joy of winning the first prize! An exhibition of all the works of the contest was held at the Town Hall. My first collective exhibition!
Since then, I have not stopped drawing and painting. Sixty years of indefectible passion!
In the year 2005, by joining the House of Artists, I decided to opt for the status of Artist Professional Author and in 2012 I participated in my first International Fair, "Les Hivernales" in Paris-Montreuil.
Since then, I have not stopped to present my works around the world: Europe, USA, Asia particularly.
What is this motivation, since childhood, led me to devote myself to my art every day a little more?
The wonder! I think this is the best term to characterize this passion.
From childhood, flipping through the art books of the modest family library until today, everything is a pretext for me to contemplate and wonder. I can stop in front of a landscape, a simple meadow of wild flowers, or even an old abandoned barn at the bend of a path. For me, everything is inspiring.
Nature is my favorite theme. I am sensitive to the beauty of the world around us. For my part I do not get tired of marveling. So many people do not see anymore the beauty sometimes very simple of that nature they rubs.
I am sensitive to the beauty of trees. With time it has become the recurring topic in my creative approach.
I'm sensitive to their beauty, and their symbolism, as these trees are anchored in our Earth with their summit in the clouds. In the image of the man.
To rejoice every day to be alive and to marvel more and express it through my work of creation and to try to share even a parcel of emotion: Such is my definition of the life!
Lucien Mélou