Gaétan CaronEntitled Blueberry Island, this 2024 acrylic on canvas board scene from Ontario, Canada is by contemporary Mendocino/Bay Area artist, Gaétan Caron (b. 1964), co-founder of Lost Art Salon in San Francisco. Gaétan developed his own technique of integrating oil paint with raw clay on stretched canvases to create organic texture in his work. The black clay is harvested directly from the bottom of a valley on his land in the Mendocino hills. After painting a first layer with oil paint, Caron hand molds the clay applying it while still wet, using a strong archival adhesive which remains flexible. This process allows for durability as well as for the natural craquelure to organically form as the clay dries and transforms into the texture of this abstract painting reflecting a romantic love between two pairs of sky blue eyes. "And just like bark on trees naturally breaks and chips, it is perfectly all right if with time bits of dry clay fall off to reveal the beauty beneath." says the artist.Gaétan lives and works in his off-the-grid home located in an heirloom orchard in the Mendocino hills of Northern California, a stone's throw from the wild California Coast. His work documents the textures, colors, forms, as well as monochromatic shadows and reflections found in the natural world through contemporary abstract, botanical, still life, landscape, seascape paintings and Fine Art photography."Caron's paintings with clay are simultaneously visceral and imaginary. They transport us at once to the strange inner reaches of the mind and the reassuring, marvelous textures of the earth." Larry Rinder, Contemporary Art Curator and Museum Director (BAMPA 2008-20)2024 Acrylic on Canvas Board 13.5"x16.5" framed, 9"x12" unframed Initialed and dated lower right. Framed in a contemporary wood frame with a beveled face and linen center. Good condition.
