Artist of the month - Renée French

Renée French was born in the early 60’s in rural New Jersey and now her and her husband split their time living between the US and Australia. Up until very recently, graphite was her preferred medium, however now that she has begun using paints, her works have concentrated in that field. French’s works are small-miniature (typically only a few square inches) and sometimes she has to get creative to allow herself to work smaller than her instrument may allow. Her work has hung in galleries across the globe and often the entire show can travel in an envelope. Renée's art carrer began through working in comics as both a writer and illustrator, where she was honored with the Inkpot Award, and is also the author of two children’s books under the pen name Rainy Dohaney. The switch to painting came from living in Australia and wanting to learn classic techniques. After learning the oil methods of the masters, French realized that painting in acrylic is where she felt the most comfortable and less stressed during the creation process. This also allows her to paint where and when she wants (the same way she draws). The Bunny painting I have highlighted is one of these paintings and despite the brilliant gold background, the painting shows her fondness of a muted palette which I adore. Follow her work using some of the links below and discover the farcical and often worrisome, fuzzy fleshy and squishy characters that Renée French has become synonymous with.

Instagram - 
https://www.instagram.com/reneefrench/

​Twitter - 
https://twitter.com/reneefrench