Simonne De visscher
Nature is the common thread in my life.
Each Nature experience brings me closer to the delicate thread of connection that weaves together all life on earth.
Be it working in my garden, travelling, painting.
What I'm going to say about my paintings is not false modesty, just honest words inspired by my philosophy of life.
In the galleries that have shown my work in Belgium and abroad they use the word artist.
Actually it never occured to me to become an artist.
As a child my dream was to become a painter to be able to express my love for nature.
I have been painting for more than 50 years now.
My husband Raf has a travelling microbe, living in perfect symbiosis with my own painting virus.
His sense of adventure helped us to discover pristine places in the world. Painting in such untouched paradises has been a real joy in my life.
Letting paint and brushes follow my intuition and emotion has always felt like a meditation.
Pleinair painting has been my true vocation.
I never felt the need to follow fashions and trends and just kept doing it my way.
All my paintings are witnesses of my connection with Mother Nature and my concern for the future of our wonderful planet. Painted messages for all those who open their heart for the happiness nature provides.
Travelling made me also discover the beauty of the oldest materials of the planet, stone, rocks, minerals. Old mother earth as a source of inspiration.
In 2004 I was painting in petrified forest in Arizona.This painting has been documented in the monograph about my work and in one of my films on youtube.
Painting in petried forest in Arizona was the starting point for a different kind of painting.
I started collecting minerals .
My mineral collection is not just a source of inspiration, some specimen find their way in my paintings where they are embedded and become part of my "mineral" landscapes.
"Landscape" will always remain the heart of the matter, my so called mineral landscapes offer a challenge to explore new techniques .