As I entered the class, I remembered drawing my first apple. Outside of school, I'd never really drawn, and I didn't think I was very good at it! Gilbert's explanations enabled me to start with the apple, then the bottle and the vase, and finally the portrait of Voltaire. Little by little, my pencil began to glide more easily across the paper. What a pleasure to discover that I could draw!

Step by step, I followed the path of the different structures to better understand the composition of a painting, the play with shapes and colors. Studying and analyzing masterpieces has enabled me to broaden my view of the works I'm looking at, and to be more attentive to nature and the objects that surround me.

For me, even if everything is not so simple and easy, it's a real pleasure and enrichment to study art history and above all to be able to put into practice what I'm learning, or at least to try... What a joy to study and use colors, with the support of structures and to let my imagination live, to express my inner world.

I'd like to quote René Berger, who wrote a very interesting book, "Découverte de la peinture".
"Is it really necessary to understand painting? As if it weren't enough to look at it, or even to feel it! But it's not enough to look at it, or even to feel it, it's also necessary to appreciate it, that is, to know and love it with discernment.

I really like this reflection, because I'm now better able to really feel what it means. I've come to realize this during lectures given at the workshop, by viewing the various paintings presented and by visiting exhibitions.

Here's my little testimonial, and I'll let you discover some of the work I've done over the past year.

Chantal Summermatter