Contact: artnet.ch – Christiane Franquin, 1268 Begnins, Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0) 22 366 42 22 / +41 (0) 76 521 50 60 Email: info@artnet.ch
Studio visits by appointment
Biography
I was born in Basel in 1957 in a family active in the world of the arts. Today I live and work in Rolle, overlooking the Lake of Geneva. As far back as I can remember I have always expressed myself through writing and painting.
A dunce at school, I nevertheless got good marks in writing and painting. Having won a first prize in painting at seven, I swore I would be a painter later in life.
More
Between the ages of 15 and 25, in addition to drawing and painting, I explored a variety of techniques ranging from pottery and sculpture to welding and weaving. I only turned to oil painting in 1992.
I had in the meantime moved to the French-speaking part of Switzerland while the birth of my two children kept me otherwise occupied for some years.
A period of convalescence then provided an opportunity to take writing courses over a four-year period. In 1991 I won a story-writing prize for my efforts, bringing to a close the “writing” phase of my professional career.
The following year, painting definitely became my main professional activity again. Painting and writing had always allowed me to express what was inside me that was striving to come out, although to this day I am incapable of “explaining” a painting. There is nothing intellectual about my art; everything is instinctive, intuitive and sensual.
From 1992 to 1998, I took a number of courses at the Atelier Germinal in Rolle: drawing, academic draftsmanship, charcoal drawing, collage, mixed techniques, India ink, watercolors and, obviously, oil painting.
Finally, from 1998 to 2003. I took advanced courses in oil painting at the Ceruleum school of visual art.
