Think of the wall you pass on the way to the bathroom, four times before coffee. Nobody hangs anything good there. That is exactly where this one works, because it catches you when you are not looking for it.
A woman on a balcony, warm light coming in from one side and falling across her shoulder. Patterned fabric, the edge of a table, geraniums. She is between two things – not posed, not looking out at you, not waiting for anybody.
The one thing she allowed herself
Everything is ochre and indigo, warm and quiet and slightly faded. Then there is that coral geranium, the only fully saturated colour in the whole picture, and it will not let your eye go. It reads like the one small thing she decided to have that morning. Take it out and the painting is calm. Leave it in and the painting is hers.
Isabelle Moreau frames close and crops generously – part of the room, part of the figure, never the whole polite portrait. Nobody in her pictures knows you are there. That is the point. As one critic put it, it captures a tender moment with an inviting, intimate warmth.
What happens after it is up
Mornings it goes gold. Late in the day it settles into the indigo and gets quieter. It is a good thing to walk past on a hard week, and a very good thing to give someone having one.
Getting it on the wall
Canvas with a visible weave, so the paint reads as paint rather than a photo of a painting. An inch and a quarter deep, image wrapping the edges, stretched and ready to hang out of the box – one nail, no framer, no surprise bill. Matte, so a lamp or a window opposite gives you her face back instead of a reflection.
Landscape. Most people take the 20 x 16 in (51 x 41 cm) at $149 – a high quality print, made to order, free shipping in the continental US. Go 24 x 18 in if the wall is generous, 14 x 11 in for a narrow hallway.
One honest thing
It is soft-spoken. If you want something loud over the sofa, this is not it. If that sounds right, take it home – or spend ten minutes with the rest of Isabelle’s work, and follow her so the next one reaches you first.
One is a piece. Two is a set. Three is a collection.
Almost nobody stops at one. A second work by the same hand turns a wall into a pairing. A third turns it into something you chose rather than something you bought. There are 6 other works by Isabelle Moreau available.
While It Cools – Isabelle Moreau | Digital Download$19
Half Finished – Isabelle Moreau | Digital Download$19
Twice Through the Same Line – Isabelle Moreau | Fine Art Print Price range: $129 through $229
Unfolded Again – Isabelle Moreau | Fine Art Print Price range: $129 through $229
Twice Read – Isabelle Moreau | Fine Art Print Price range: $129 through $229
Before the Day Starts – Isabelle Moreau | Fine Art Print Price range: $129 through $229
