Jean-François Le Saint
I live on the coast of Brittany, in France, where I was born in 1971. In 1990, when I was an art student in Paris, I tried soft pastels for the first time. I was instantly seduced by their magic!
I now exhibit in France with the “Société des Pastellistes de France” (French Pastel Society).
When starting to work on a new pastel I have no single method. I may start with a sketch of outlines in sepia or I may apply colors directly and work with shapes both of the actual subject and of negative space. I might instead place light on a dark background and work from there. Often there is no conscious decision on how to proceed; the subject makes it self-evident.
Peace of mind is essential to my creative process. I usually work at night when all is quiet. I believe I am trying to depict an ideal of inner peace and contemplation. I think of Huckleberry Finn, smoking his pipe on the bank of the Mississippi river, watching a steamboat passing by...
For more information about the work of Jean-François Le Saint, visit http://jfls.free.fr or jflesaint.blogspot.com or e-mail jfls@free.fr.
