Hello, My name is Hilarie Couture and I love to paint.  My greatest passion is painting people as a subject. For me it is not about producing a photographic likeness, but more about recreating the spirit, energy and mood of the moment connecting as artist to sitter or subject.

Whether painting a commissioned portrait or a figurative work to please myself, I capture souls.  I’ve been told that I can see their pain or happiness and it comes out on the canvas.  This is a natural gift that I have been given, yet when I look at a person , I don’t see “eyes” ,“nose” or “mouth”,  I see the shapes of shadows, subtleties of  the warmth and coolness in their skin tone, or how light wraps around their silhouette.  

On  very rare occasions I have been so in tune to my work that the image is before me on the canvas even before I’ve made a mark.  Those are the best times!  I am most content when the image seems to breathe a life unto its own and it’s only then that I feel I have completed a work of art.

My most desired  process is direct, working “Alla Prima”  all at once, from life although I also work from photographic references or  whatever influences me . .  Looking at my subject, I will continually ask myself what is the hue, value and temperature  that I see.  How is the light affecting those things and what is the shape of the lights and darks. I  typically mix my paints directly on the canvas realizing that it is the relationship of the colors next to each other that influence the outcome.  I love when strings of another color are evident in one brush or knife stroke, but also using the knife to put down bits of pure clean color and texture.  I will assess the piece, being aware to economize my brush strokes and think about the play of opposites, thick/ thin, smooth  /rough, warm/ cool, line/shape, all while striving to create a “painting.”

 Moving past my own Achilles heel, I struggle to translate the value of color to my canvas, to make the painting sing with glowing light through correct harmonic relationships and also trying to keep fresh energy.  I need my work to have meaning, tell a story, and express and evoke a response in the viewer as well as achieving a sense of sophistication that words can’t describe.. that is my goal…

My style expresses my sense of Romanticism through the subjects that I choose to paint. I have to stay true to my passion but  I am constantly working on different elements striving always to better my craft.

Basé(e) en Bretagne, mon travail explore une figuration romantique et impressionniste, capturant la lumière, l'atmosphère et l'émotion humaine. Mes œuvres font aujourd'hui partie de collections privées à l'international."