From letters to shapes

Hi everyone,

I hope you feeling good in these difficult times. I had recently to stop checking news because it’s all fucked up. And when I see my parents spending their day watching news channels wondering if Trump is going to invade Iran or not, I must admit it makes me sick.

So I try to create to escape this mess. And if you follow me regularly lately you will see that I draw less letters and more geometric shapes. I do less lettering and more painting/drawing. My style does not evolve really but the medium I use does. I spend more time on canvas, playing with paint and pastels. And this is the way that helps me the most dealing with all this shit around.

Not so long ago someone I don’t know told me he could see I am used to work with letters. I asked him why and he said that the whole illustrations are organised like letters or words: there is always balance between shapes and counter shapes, there are regular spaces, there is a kind of homogeneity between the shapes. Not one is way bigger than the others.

And he ended saying there was a kind of symbolism or language in my work. Especially in these two paintings:

Interesting thought no? Without really realising my work evolves to something maybe more spiritual. And in fact, this is true. I try to share my love for Nature, and I learned from ancient population how they communicate with Nature as a kind of goddess. It may be something I try to share too.

But yes, in my illustrative work, in my paintings, I always try to keep the same structure I have with letters. Sometimes it is organised differently but the idea is the same. This is a kind of visual communication.

In the first half of the year, I will have the chance to participate to an Art fair and have a solo exhibition. The fair is Solid’Art, located in Paris and will take place beginning early April. If you are around at that time, don’t hesitate to come say hi :)

The second exhibition will be a solo exhibition I will have at La Maison des Frères in Brétignolles sur Mer, where I live now. The place is really fantastic and the name of the exhibition will be “paysages intérieurs”, in English “Inner Landscapes”. The poster is not ready yet check out the place:

I share regularly sketches on final stuff on Substack. And By Substack, I don’t mean this publication, but their own social media tab, called Notes. It is a kind of Twitter built inside their App where owners of newsletters can share anything they want. And the more I use it the more it becomes interesting for me. And there are 2 main reasons for that:

1. the algorithm is not fucked up (yet) so people reading my newsletter see my notes. Also these notes stay alive for some time so you can still have reach 3/4 weeks after publishing them. And lately I can see there is more reach there than on Instagram for me. Instagram does not like my posts anymore and my stories get 300 views max. Here on Substack it can go over 2000.

2. And this is the most important point: posting there helps people discovering your newsletter! I post regularly so I get regularly new subscribers. Thes discover my work and they want to see more. And for that, they just have to click on one button. Check the screenshot below. S’abonner means Subscribe.

And then, like this, people will receive your newsletter in their inbox. I find the system pretty awesome because right now this is for me the best way to stay connected. This is way more efficient than posting on a platform where 70% of new followers never hear from you after they subscribe. Crazy Instagram.

Also, the Notes tab on the Substack app is great to find really good quality art without all the noise and ads. Just like every other platform Substack is not perfect and has its lot of Nazis. But you can live without them.

So, yes, if you want to be sure to have regular news outside of here, check my Substack Notes page.

Last thing for today, this morning I spent some time printing some new t-shirts for the founders of that newsletter. I am pretty happy with the outcome and really excited to ship them next week. If you are interesting in joining the club, check this page out:

The tshirt will be available for sale at some point. Let me know if you are interested, it can motivate me to print some more :)

Have a nice weekend and take care,

Francis