Pascale Fey’s Phenomenal Paintings

Pascale has exhibited her work at a great selection of galleries in the Algarve including ArtCatto in Loulé, Tavira D’Artes, Lady in Red Gallery in Lagoa and she currently has some of her work exhibited at Fresco Gallery in Almancil.

Pascale has lived in the Algarve for about nine years but has had a strong connection with the Algarve for over 50 years as her parents lived here before her. She told me that her father “came here in 1964 on a motorbike” and that the area between Carvoeiro and Lagoa is her home as even when she lived in France, she had an apartment in Lagoa which she would frequent as often as she could.

Pascale expressed how much she “loves the countryside and the sea”, explaining that she “enjoys the quiet to paint” and likens the Algarve to paradise. However, “her greatest source of inspiration is the city”, often venturing to Nice, Paris or Lisbon, walking for hours, absorbing her surroundings in order to spark new ideas.

Forever Evolving

Pascale told me she has been officially a painter for the last 15 years but has been painting since childhood. Prior to becoming a painter, she did commissions whereby she would create house plates and house numbers for clients in France. I also asked Pascale about her influences and she was quick to tell me that her preferred painter was Klimt and that at the beginning she painted Klimt’s way and then over time she developed her own style with her avatar George. She continues to evolve as an artist, affirming that she is constantly learning and trying new techniques to keep her work interesting.

Artistic Style

Most notably, Pascale always starts by painting her canvas with a dark colour because she cannot paint on a white canvas, be it black, brown or red, from the dark base she builds colours "lux in tenebris lucet" (the light shines in darkness). She works mostly in acrylics and occasionally with pastels, having found that she has no patience for oil. She told me that her preferred colours are turquoise blue and red which you can see in a great range of her paintings.

Pascale is a passionate artist who paints spontaneously and who is heavily influenced by her mood, sometimes waking up at 2am to paint or painting for 24 hours whereas other times her mood stops her from painting for weeks at a time. She explained that she “has to be very invested” to paint and that her work reflects her mood.

In terms of her work ethic, she enjoys working alone in her workshop with just the radio as an added source of inspiration, “I need to hear people talking and I enjoy listening to audiobooks where sometimes I associates stories with my paintings and creating life on the canvas.” She told me that her work is open to everyone’s interpretation and that you can choose the story, which is something that resonated with me as what is most beautiful about contemporary art.

Who is George?

This mysterious figure really captured my attention when first seeing the artist’s work, and I hoped Pascale would shed some light on him but she affirmed that he is open to interpretation but kindly shared how he was born. “One day I had a delusion and I saw a man with a hat and a big coat on a bicycle against the rain and I painted him and I thought I like this man; I would like to paint others. I remember I thought, I have to give him a name, and I remember my father, when he could not recall the name of somebody, he would give the name of George. George is anonymous, it is me, it is you, it is everybody so if I give him a face, it loses that.” George appears in a lot of Pascale’s works and she explained that he is her avatar and that he says to others what I think”. He is her signature figure, everybody who knows her work, knows George and that although she tries to do other things she always comes back to George. I love how she changes his shape and colours every time and although constant, he is also forever evolving, Pascale told me she does not want to be a prisoner and that he changes to reflect her mood and thoughts.

Future

Just like George, Pascale’s work is always evolving but also literally, as she humorously told me that her canvases displayed at home are not safe as she constantly changes them, sometimes even adjusting the colour to suit her mood, which I think is fantastic. Pascale is currently working on some abstract art and she would like to do a sculpture in the future, either in concrete, iron or even recycling material and she hopes to do some future exhibitions in Lisbon and London.

For more information about Pascale Fey, please see https://www.cfey-art.com/. You can purchase Pascale’s fantastic works or contact her directly for commissions through her website.

Following undertaking her university degree in English with American Literature in the UK, Cristina da Costa Brookes moved back to Portugal to pursue a career in Journalism, where she has worked at The Portugal News for 3 years. Cristina’s passion lies with Arts & Culture as well as sharing all important community-related news.

Cristina da Costa Brookes