You started painting at almost 50. Is it a transition that took time?
Actually, I've always loved it. When I was a kid, I loved drawing classes. But between family life, work, and three children, we don't have much time. When they were old enough, I had more time and started painting in 1998. I took classes with Corinne Peress and started a painting club in Louey. I also took evening classes at the Tarbes School of Arts, doing sketches and working with live models. And then I took watercolor classes with Monique Pujo-Monfran, who specializes in Blanche Odin.
After 25 years of painting, what motivates you to continue?
I love painting. I need to paint every day. If I don't paint for two days, I miss it. Painting a picture is like writing for a writer. You need it, but you have to be able to start with a blank page. You have to think about what you're going to do, how you're going to set up your painting, think about the colors, what you're going to put on the canvas. Sometimes it takes a little time. So to relax, I do other things, like painting little cats on pebbles.
What are your favorite subjects?
I paint whatever I feel like. I'll see an image online, I'll take a photo when I'm in Paris. It might be a street in Montmartre, a landscape, and two days later I'll paint a still life or an abstract. I find myself wanting to create a subject on the spot. I don't have just one style; I paint a wide variety of things. I like streets, landscapes, and anything old. But always doing the same thing doesn't interest me. I like to discover. Like when COVID-19 hit, I watched a lot of tutorials and tried lots of things. I got into abstract painting, even though I'd never been interested in it before. But I discovered it could be really interesting. I'm also evolving my style. I started with specific things, but now I'm letting myself go with my paintings.
Your subjects are varied, and so are your techniques!
Yes, I do pastels and acrylics. I started with oils a little, but I prefer acrylics; they're faster. I also work with texture to bring out the paint differently. And I've started pouring.
What's pouring like?
It's acrylics mixed with water. We mix paints of different colors and add a special medium that liquefies the paint considerably. And the paint comes out like that, dripping onto the canvas. You can use a hairdryer or blow through a straw to spread the paint, or a tip to draw on the colors. But you never really know what's going to come out. You can do abstract work, you can create a background for something else.
Have you exhibited a lot?
Yes, I exhibit quite a bit. Solo exhibitions, in Peralta in Spain, at the Tarbes tourist office, in a pop-up store in the Alhambra gallery for a month, at Les Petits As, or at the Montréjeau tourist office. And many fairs and group exhibitions. For 20 years, I've been with the Tarbes Friends of the Arts fair, of which I'm the secretary. Every year I go to Terro'art in Tarbes, the annual fair in Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre, in Bizanos. And many places in the Hautes-Pyrénées and Toulouse in the Basque Country. It allows me to meet many people, other artists, people who come to see the paintings. I also do Christmas markets with other productions, like small scenes of cats painted on small pebbles.
With trophies and medals in your living room!
Yes, it's a pleasure and reassures people about the interest in your paintings. I won first prize at the Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre fair two years ago, the City of Tarbes prize at the Tarbes Friends of the Arts fair, the A tout cœurs prize at the Séméac Amicale fair. And a few others.
What are your plans?
To continue having fun, discovering new things, and enjoying myself. And to exhibit more.
See Elisabeth Moliner's works
She continues to exhibit. In Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre, she will be showing abstract paintings in a few weeks. After that, she will be in Sauveterre in the Hautes-Pyrénées in the former presbytery. She will return to the town hall of Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre from July 1st to September 15th, this time with figurative canvases. She is also present on social media, from Instagram to Facebook; there is plenty of room for this prolific artist. There are many things to see, especially her cats painted on pebbles, staged in small compositions.
I paint whatever I feel like. I'll see an image online, I'll take a photo when I'm in Paris. It might be a street in Montmartre, a landscape, and two days later I'll paint a still life or an abstract. I find myself wanting to create a subject on the spot. I don't have just one style; I paint a wide variety of things. I like streets, landscapes, and anything old. But always doing the same thing doesn't interest me. I like to discover. Like when COVID-19 hit, I watched a lot of tutorials and tried lots of things. I got into abstract painting, even though I'd never been interested in it before. But I discovered it could be really interesting. I'm also evolving my style. I started with specific things, but now I'm letting myself go with my paintings.
Your subjects are varied, and so are your techniques!
Yes, I do pastels and acrylics. I started with oils a little, but I prefer acrylics; they're faster. I also work with texture to bring out the paint differently. And I've started pouring.
What's pouring like?
It's acrylics mixed with water. We mix paints of different colors and add a special medium that liquefies the paint considerably. And the paint comes out like that, dripping onto the canvas. You can use a hairdryer or blow through a straw to spread the paint, or a tip to draw on the colors. But you never really know what's going to come out. You can do abstract work, you can create a background for something else.
Have you exhibited a lot?
Yes, I exhibit quite a bit. Solo exhibitions, in Peralta in Spain, at the Tarbes tourist office, in a pop-up store in the Alhambra gallery for a month, at Les Petits As, or at the Montréjeau tourist office. And many fairs and group exhibitions. For 20 years, I've been with the Tarbes Friends of the Arts fair, of which I'm the secretary. Every year I go to Terro'art in Tarbes, the annual fair in Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre, in Bizanos. And many places in the Hautes-Pyrénées and Toulouse in the Basque Country. It allows me to meet many people, other artists, people who come to see the paintings. I also do Christmas markets with other productions, like small scenes of cats painted on small pebbles.
With trophies and medals in your living room!
Yes, it's a pleasure and reassures people about the interest in your paintings. I won first prize at the Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre fair two years ago, the City of Tarbes prize at the Tarbes Friends of the Arts fair, the A tout cœurs prize at the Séméac Amicale fair. And a few others.
What are your plans?
To continue having fun, discovering new things, and enjoying myself. And to exhibit more.
See Elisabeth Moliner's works
She continues to exhibit. In Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre, she will be showing abstract paintings in a few weeks. After that, she will be in Sauveterre in the Hautes-Pyrénées in the former presbytery. She will return to the town hall of Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre from July 1st to September 15th, this time with figurative canvases. She is also present on social media, from Instagram to Facebook; there is plenty of room for this prolific artist. There are many things to see, especially her cats painted on pebbles, staged in small compositions.
@bigorre_org