Isabelle Jacopin | Contemporary Artist: Artworks & Biography

Isabelle left her native Brittany in 1984 for the Dordogne region where she opened her studio. Self-taught, she began using a technique of painting on silk. She then tried pastels before choosing oil paints, which is her current medium. A desire for exoticism pushed her towards faraway destinations (Morocco, Egypt, China…). She visited New Orleans in 1996 and fell under the spell of this colourful town, moving there in 2004 and creating a second workshop. Alongside her core business she taught children art at the bilingual school. Today, Isabelle divides her time between France, where she resides for four months and the United States where she resides for the rest of the year. \n A trip to Havana made a particular impression on her. She met Cuban artists with whom she shared her passion, and they invited her to exhibit with them on Sundays on the famous Avenue du Prado. Friendships were born of these wonderful encounters, and her works gained in depth. \n Isabelle appreciates very different artists: Claude Monet (French painter, nineteenth century), Niki de Saint Phalle (French visual artist, twentieth century) Sophie Calle (French artist). She loves mixing techniques. With rapid strokes, she works ink and paint together. A few lines suffice to evoke a musician in action, the excitement of the big city or the marshy landscapes of the Louisiana bayous.\n Armed with her ubiquitous sketchbook, Isabelle captures animated scenes (characters, streets, clubs, festivals...). Lively and sincere, her paintings evoke the wonder of the feverish atmosphere of an evening in New Orleans. Her portraits of jazz musicians invade the canvas creating a happy and musical harmony. A dark silhouette of a saxophonist drowned in a din of colours appears on an unstructured background.\n Full of energy, the artist has chosen to exist in the spontaneity of the moment: ""I do not know what my subject matter will be tomorrow because I like to surprise myself, and let myself embark on a new idea that fascinates me... Painting is for me both physical and spiritual, and has always been central to my life.""