Marc Rieu Shows His Art Works and Paints Skies

Marc Rieu Shows His Art Works and Paints Skies  

Maastricht local, by Cindy Verhoef

Saturday, May 16th: Soon, for the sixth time he will exhibit with his artworks in the Vrijthof Theatre, but last week art painter Marc Rieu was in the south of the country participating in a workshop and painting skies. Together with ten students he traveled through Belgian and Dutch Limburg to capture the beauty of nature on canvas.

Sunday at dawn he started in Plombières. "Painting skies is not quite so easy. There are certain factors you as a painter should keep in mind. The sunlight changes constantly and therefore you should only keep visualizing just one position. Otherwise, it all runs together and you’ll continuously be busy. You also need to take the time into account."

Monday, Chateau Beusdael was on the agenda. And Tuesday, he departed for Belgian Hombourg. To find a subject comes easily for the Maastricht artist. "My eye has to catch something immediately. Something in the surrounding area which gives me a feeling right away. And normally that is what it will turn out to be." It's the second time that Marc participated in the workshop of painting skies. Last year he traveled to nearby Venice where he painted the beautiful Italian scenery. And painting skies means that the artists have to create their works in the open air. "It is important that you first fill the canvas. Otherwise you will stare yourself blind on a white surface. For this I prefer to use pastel shades. Soft pink, yellow, the underlying colors connecting the objects with each other and so you achieve a nice finished product afterwards. "

Ships at sea
"During the course we use canvases of 30 by 40 cm. These are more feasible for the time involved. There are still a lot of hours involved in producing a finished product. I have been commissioned to create a painting of 1.50 by 2 meters. It is my biggest project ever. What it is going to be? It will be something nautical. A seascape. Ships on the open sea …. with beautiful clouds, of course. "

Dream Works
Clouds are typically the trade mark of Marc's paintings. In many of his works a cloud deck can be admired. Even landscapes are his favorites. He describes his own style as "suggestive illusionism." This self made-up word he likes to further explain it as: "In my paintings, I offer suggestions of reality to the viewer. I like to magically change reality on a canvas with my brush as a wand and hope to bring out your curiosity with a playful character."

The paintings of Marc literally fly all around the world. "Off to Jordan, South America, Africa, you name it. There's a couple from Australia who visit my exhibition every year. And that makes working a lot of fun." Painting in order to become rich is not necessary for Marc. "I'm rich because of my wife, my children. I paint for them, as an example, to pay for food."

The exhibition at the Vrijthof Theatre starts July 3, simultaneously with the show of his father André.

The pictures below were taken last year during his exposition in the Theater on the Vrijthof

Thank You! To John for the Translation of This Article