L'oiseau bleu for Les Petit Fours exhibition

It's only a week until Les Petit Fours opens at Friends of Leon Gallery in Sydney! Here's my completed work for the show, 'L'oiseau bleu'.

You can view all of the pieces available at www.friendsofleongallery.com/exhibitions or for the collectors preview with full details & pricing email or call Gallery Director, Leon: leon@friendsofleon.com

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'Les Petit Fours' International Group Exhibition
Opening Reception: Oct 22, 2015, 6 – 8 pm
Exhibition Dates: Oct 22 – Nov 8, 2015

'Les Petit Fours' is the successful culmination of an 18 month collaboration between beautiful.bizarre and Friends of Leon Gallery, born from a mutual passion for figurative art and portraiture. 'Les Petit Fours' is a carefully curated exhibition that brings together works from some of the best Australian and international New Contemporary artists and showcases the diversity of female figurative art from around the world. From sublime realism, through graphic and fashion illustration, to pop surrealism, 'Les Petit Fours' explores our society's infatuation with the female in art. It is a diverse cross-section of the New Contemporary aesthetic brought together to tempt and delight.

ARTIST LINE UP
Syd Bee | Jana Brike | Young Chun | Rose Freymuth-Frazier | Sonya Fu | Atsuko Goto | Melissa Hartley | Melissa Haslam | Meghan Howland | Ruben Ireland | Emma Leonard | Tracy Lewis | Alexandra Manykyan | Pippa McManus | Gabriel Moreno | Hieu Nguyen | ONEQ | Cate Rangel | Emma Sheldrake | Kelly Smith | Kazuki Takamatsu | Kelly Thompson | Ania Tomicka | Henrik Uldalen | David Wells | Kate Zambrano

L'oiseau bleu
acrylic on gessoboard, 2015
34 x 34 cm artwork
50x50 framed

The painting “L’oiseau bleu” was inspired firstly by her love of French culture and the extravagance of the Rococo period. Prior to painting her “mood at the time was quite light-hearted so I knew I have to include the blue bird as a symbol of happiness”. It was only after doing some research on the blue bird that she came across some of the very first fairy tales ever written, penned by Madame d’Aulnoy who coined the phrase ‘contes de fées’. Madame d’Aulnoy wrote a tale titled “L’oiseau bleu” in 1657 which centres around the main character, beautiful and kind-hearted Florine. All is done to prevent her from marrying her Prince Charming who is cruelly turned into a blue bird. Melissa’s painting “L’oiseau bleu” is a tribute to the tale and the strong hold love can have over one’s heart.