Lilas IV

The rich luscious quality of the oil paint itself, and the way it is applied to the two dimensional picture plane within a dynamic composition, are the aspects of painting which are of primary importance to me. My aim is to capture the freshness, the vitality of my subject, whether it's been painted a hundred times or only once, and to share the spirit of my own unique artistic vision with those who view my work.

Art does not reproduce the visible, it recreates it.

Lumley Creek, Winter II

Biography

R. Dupuy was born in 1950, in Southampton, England, and emigrated to British Columbia on Canada's west coast in 1957. A move to Salt Spring Island in 1973 followed, where the artist has lived since, with several years spend travelling and working in France.

In 1988, Dupuy began to study painting with B. L. Woodward, from whom a basic knowledge of materials and methods was learned. Since this beginning, being basically self-taught, attending regular life-drawing sessions and workshops, and studying the great painters. Winner of several awards, and with work in numerous private collections in Europe and North America, Dupuy is an active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists. Work is currently represented by Federation Gallery, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC, and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, in their Art Rental and Sales Programme, and may be viewed on the Federation's website's Studio One Gallery, at www.artists.ca/gallery/dupuy.html.

Koï III

Chez mon Beau Frère

Working Methods

Oils are my medium of choice, providing me with the rich warm colour, and buttery consistency I love. To assure my work`s integrity and longevity, I use only high quality, professional materials and methods. Stretching my own canvasses, I find they are more responsive than manufactured ones. These are sized, then primed with one coat of acrylic gesso, followed by a coat of titanium oil primer. This provides a flexible, archivally sound support, and keeps a nice “tooth” to the working service.

Either working directly from life, or from a series of thumbnail sketches, I lightly map out the composition onto the toned canvas using willow-vine charcoal, then Gamblin`s Gamsol, mixed with a small amount of pigment. Glimpses of the toning (usually a vibrant red-orange, or a softer gold-pink) and hints of the gestural line of the block-in, will remain visible, giving a lively quality to the finished work.

I now set out a fairly limited palette with large amounts of paint, and begin to work rapidly over the whole surface, getting down the essential colour and value masses, leaving details for later. The paints are seldom mixed on the palette, as this compounding of the colours muddies them, causing them to lose their pure hues. Rather, the paints are allowed to mix in the brushes and on the canvas as I work, keeping them fresh and vibrant, letting them “mix in the eye”. In this way, the main body of the work is painted wet into wet in one to three day-long sessions.

A confident, bold beginning ensures that I carry the vital energy of my original sketch or plein air study through to the finished work, and helps me to retain the interest which drew me to paint the subject in the first place. A favourite quote of mine, from the American painter, Howard Pyle, is “Throw your heart into your current painting, and jump in after it!”

Iris Field in June, diptych

Contacting the Artist

R. M. Dupuy
Mt. Tuam Studio
300, Mountain Road
Salt Spring Island, BC Canada
V8K 1T8

e-mail:roz-saltspring@hotmail.com

Telephone: 250.653.4614

Education

1990 - 2006
1988 - 1989

Self-taught
Private lessons with B.L. Woodward

Group Exhibitions

2004

2003

2002

1997

1996

1995

1991

1990

Solo Exhibitions

Ganges, Salt Spring Island, BC
Pegasus Gallery; Salt Spring Island, BC

Awards

Jurors’ First Choice, Showcase ‘90; Salt Spring Island, BC

Donations of Work

Art Spring Art Auction; Salt Spring Island, BC

Works are represented in numerous private collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.