What a surprise!!!

 

I was so surprised, but oh so pleased when my friend Céline, of the French blog Céline Chollet Aquarelles, emailed me that she had a surprise for me and that I had to visit her blog to discover what the surprise was!

Céline had to make some aquarels for a new exhibition in the Musée d'Art Naïf de Noyers-sur-Serein (http://www.noyers-et-tourisme.com) and she decided to make an aquarel of my orangery because the warm color palette and the sober character of the Belgian interiors inspired her, she told on her blog.

Can you imagine how surprised I was landing at her blogpage and discovering this most beautiful aquarel of my orangery?!!

 

Can you believe Céline realised her aquarel using only a few pictures of my orangery of which I posted some pictures once?!

Here you see  some of the pictures Céline had filed on her computer. 

Céline behind her desk, working at the aquarel of my orangery.

 

And this is the finished aquarel of our orangery!!! Isn’t it amazing??!! I just love it!!

 

To read Céline’s post about the aquarel, click on logo of Céline Chollet Aquarelles.

If you don’t know Céline yet, you really should visit Céline’s beautiful blog and discover her most amazing aquarels at http://wwwboitedaquarelles.blogspot.com/

So I am a lucky person to have a friend as Céline! And I do hope to meet her in person one day!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH CELINE !!! You are a wonderful friend!

 

Wish you all a wonderful and happy weekend!

xx

Meet our Belgian artist Jan De Vliegher

A few weeks ago, friends of mine introduced me to the contemporary Belgian painter Jan De Vliegher, by showing me one of the publications about his work, titled ‘Treasury’. I really was impressed by all these gorgeous works of art.

Publication, titled Treasury

 

I hadn’t seen paintings of Jan before, so I started googling his name and discovered more about this talented Belgian painter and his wonderful work.

Jan has a beautiful website where a lot of his paintings are to discover.

The landing page of his website is as impressive as Jan’s works of art!

Landing page of Jan’s website.

 

  Jan De Vliegher

 

I emailed Jan asking him if he would allow me to introduce him and his work to the readers of my blog. I was so pleased with his prompt and kind reply giving me his approval!!

Thank you so much Jan, I really appreciate this!

_

Jan De Vliegher is born in Bruges (°1964) and lives and works in Bruges. Since 2003 he is a teacher drawing and painting at the Stedelijke Academie of Bruges.

Jan graduated at the Sint-Lucas Higher Institute for Visual Arts of Ghent (1982-1986) and obtained his
masterdegree in painting (magna cum laude).

He already exhibited in various national as international art galleries (list of exhibitions click here).

Jan’s preference is given to the figurative painting, This allows him to express his love for colouring and poetry of painting, in a more or less free style.

Jan is not adhered to the narrative or the story but he is seeking for universal situations. Ordinary things and events in their own environment are captured on a photo and brought onto a painterly image.

Composition is of much more importance than content.

The artist loves to use a bright and strong color palette to give his paintings a dynamic and expressive character. He brings his paintings to life by playing with light and color.The emotional impact of a work is of a huge importance to the painter.

Jan De Vliegher creates visual beauty of which the essence is vitality and energy.

 

Jan is painting architecture, interiors, people, nature and still lifes.

I posted some of my favorites here.

Enjoy!

 

2008 - dogepaleis1
oil on canvas
240x160cm

 

2008 - villa Pamphilj1
olie op doek
133x200cm

 

2008 - rococo
oil on canvas
45x60cm

 

2007 - versailles
oil on canvas
160x240cm

 

2008 - Versailles1
oil on canvas
240x160cm

 

2007 - venster
oil on canvas
120x80cm

 

2008 - Versailles3
oil on canvas
200x300cm

 

2010 - Gaasbeek kasteel
oil on canvas
120x80cm

 

  2011 - garden5
oil on canvas
200x150cm

 

2010 - San Marco terrace8
oil on canvas
200x200cm

 

2005 - india
olie op doek
200x300cm

 

2011 - v&a3
oil on canvas
110x165cm

 

2010 - schatkamer12
oil on canvas
200x133cm

 

2007 - schatkamer1
oil on canvas
60x90cm

 

2008 - schatkamer8
olie op doek
110x165cm

 

2010 - schatkamer6
oil on canvas
200x300cm

 

2010 - glas11
oil on canvas
120x80cm

 

 

PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO ABOUT JAN DE VLIEGHER AT WORK :

Click on image below.

  Video about Jan De Vliegher

 

To find out more of this talented Belgian painter and to see more of his paintings, please visit Jan’s website :

http://www.jandevliegher.be

If you are interested in one of Jan’s paintings, contact Jan at info@jandevliegher.be .

 

Are you as much impressed as I am by these gorgeous paintings ?

I would be very pleased to know your thoughts!

 

To Jan : ‘Thank you again Jan, for your approval to use the images of your website! And I do hope that my Belgian as well as my international readers will appreciate your work as much is I do!’

All images : website Jan De Vliegher www.jandevliegher.be  Posted with approval of Jan De Vliegher

It is all about craftsmanship

 

One of our clients contacted us with a rather unusual question. A few years ago he had bought a beautiful 19th century gothic styled architectural element for its beauty and the craftsmanship this piece radiated.

So this client asked my company LEFEVRE INTERIORS not only to restore this damaged wooden element but even to design a bookcase in which this element could be integrated! Not that simple!

First of all we had to restore the damaged woodcarving of the existing element and second we had to find the suitable gothic design details in order to start the design of the bookcase. I browsed into all the books I could possibly find about gothic ornaments and here is what we made of it.

Finally our client was most pleased with the result!

 

This is the bookcase brought in at our client’s home.

(picture by me)

 

It all started with this existing gothic element we used as the upper part of the bookcase.

(picture by me)

This is the new gothic paneling of the lower part of the bookcase.

(picture by me)

I can’t find a before picture of the existing element anymore, but you should notice that the wood was mostly uncolored. Our client wanted to have a ‘tobacco’ finish of the wood.

The bookcase now is ready to be filled with books!

(picture by me)

I do love working with antique elements and thinking about a way to integrate them in an interior design project.

As this French walnut 18th century double door I bought in France some years ago. I couldn’t resist its beauty!

The door is awaiting its final destination into a client’s home, or maybe brought in at my own home one day!

Can you imagine this door used in a design project as in these French styled paneled rooms :

(picture by me)

image source : The Neo Lifestyle

image source : www.miresparis.com

image source : Gypsy Purple

source : unknown

source : unknown

 

Isn’t the detailling of the hand woodcarving stunning?

image source : Lefèvre Interiors

One of our craftsmen at work.

image source : Lefèvre Interiors

LEFEVRE INTERIORS

 

Whether you like these shown antique elements or not, it is all about the craftmanship, don’t you agree?!

xx

IMPORTANT MESSAGE

 To the anonymous winner of my Beta-Plus book give away : please send me your name and address!!! If  I have not received it by Friday, March,4th, I will choose another winner.

The decorative art of a painter-artist

 

Earlier this week I was contacted by Christophe Biret-Jacques, a decorative painter from France, who recently installed his company in Belgium.

He wanted to introduce me to his beautiful decorative art : trompe l’oeil, murals, painted ceilings, marble and wood imitations.

I couldn’t withdraw you from the beautiful images he emailed me. So I asked Christophe permission to post them on my blog!

Christophe Biret-Jacques is an autodidact and is very passionate about his “métier”.

The artist’s references are multiple and international, in public or private sector.

Christophe’s recently started company DECORATIVE-EFFECT proposes diverse services, from interior design to decorative art, its notoriety.

‘Decorative-effect’ guarantees the most competent decorative art for all of your national or international design projects.

 

WWW.DECORATIVE-EFFECT.COM, an address to file.

 

Enjoy !

 

The website of Christophe Biret-Jacques www.decorative-effect.com is under construction.

___

 

I’ll be back tomorrow to announce the winner of my Beta-Plus book give away!

xx

Only a few hours left to enter my Beta-Plus book give-away!

Untill midnight (centrual european time)!!

Click on Beta-Plus logo to enter.