Isabelle Bos - Peintre-Calligraphe
"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun This quote pretty well characterizes my career, my experiments and my artistic work in general!
10 years of drawing in the studio, but in reality I've been pencilling since childhood, 15 years of theater and singing, dancing since childhood, saxophone and guitar later, photography since forever (my 3rd eye!) and suddenly, as if by Evidence and Necessity in the 90s, I threw myself wholeheartedly into calligraphy and oil painting in parallel, using and testing a host of different tools and techniques, under the guidance of experienced professionals.
This visceral need to create, create, create was then fulfilled.
Abstraction, matter, light, movement, balance and harmony guide my eye and hand, both in painting and in calligraphy.
My paintings and calligraphies are an expression of my emotions and my life.
Calligraphy is a spontaneous form of writing that combines breath and freedom of gesture.
It allows me to apprehend the full and the smooth, the counter-forms, the letters, the bodies, any element of nature declined with tools going from the brush to the pen, while passing by the calames (bamboo), automatic-pen, cola-pen, piece of wood, cardboard, crate, pipettes, etc by using Indian ink, walnut stain, colored inks, pastels, ?
My aim is to evolve and achieve greater freedom of gesture. So it was with "La Chancelière" that I began to work on my scales, as in music. Mastering different forms and styles of writing enriches the possibilities of composition. The eye is sharpened, and the perception of rhythm and balance deepened.
Work and pleasure are intimately linked: always trying, tirelessly, experimenting with supports, tools, inks, materials, light? it's like opening a window wide to take a breath of fresh air and then starting all over again?
Last but not least, I practice calligraphy in a way that is not classical or literary, but rather intuitive and, above all, playful. It's curiosity that drives me, meeting and sharing with other calligraphers, with those who have accompanied me so far, that allows me to dare to explore the various (infinite) worlds around calligraphy, which are always so different and rich!
Personally, photography preceded drawing. For me, photography is my 3rd eye, an anchor point, an initial encounter that I let settle until I can imagine the density of a pictorial creation, drawing, painting, calligraphy? This is often my initial source of inspiration?
But nature and its textures are also an invitation to graphic play, a wonderful source of inspiration. The possibilities of composition and interpretation are infinite.
Sometimes I create with a sense of urgency, sometimes it's a visceral call to join paper, inks, materials and tools.
The starting point of a calligraphic work is first of all concentration, a kind of meditative state, being in the present moment, with a sobriety of means, very rustic and improbable tools, then comes inspiration, simultaneous breath and gesture, tracing, chance, the right balance, purity, joy?
I love this moment when my body and the gesture that prolongs it enter into a choreography, translating a state of mind that itself brings the ink into another form of dance mixed with drawing.
This is also what I do in my Art-Therapy workshops with different audiences. Trace can then be seen as an emotional experience.
WORKSHOPS
No prerequisites to take part in a workshop: just a desire to experiment, to learn how to free your gesture (which implies letting go of your mind). Please contact me beforehand on 06 20 75 32 38
Duration: 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Workshop for adults and children aged 10 and over
The schedule is indicative, as I adapt to each individual and my workshop is not set in stone - it's always evolving! :
role-playing, relaxation, breathing, even dance
exercises in letting go of gesture on paper - various exercises designed to encourage surprise, play, explore creativity, dare, trust, overcome resistance, etc.
individual calligraphic phrases and group work
personal compositions: we can imagine that you've started your own Creative Diary or something similar (feel free to bring along anything you've already done!)
Feedback from the calligraphic gesture workshops
"Super positive in every way. It was a discovery for me. You gradually achieve astonishing results through play, in a state of total letting go. I recommend it " Nadine
"I really felt the benefits of calligraphy and your approach this week in my life and in my creativity. Thank you." Emilie
"What a pleasant surprise to let go with you. A blank sheet of paper, eyes closed, with the right or left hand, after having cleared the air, after having blown, you pencil anything; and you discover a surprising work. Funnily enough, still with your eyes closed, you draw a sad face, a happy face? The surprising result is that Picasso is in us. A workshop I'd recommend, fun, surprising, a great therapy for letting go. " Didier
"Thank you Isabelle for this wonderful discovery" Nathalie
"Thank you very much Isabelle for your kindness and this workshop. It was a great time Elodie
