Discovering Grand Case Tuesdays: Denis Bellard
Last Tuesday, the event had to be cancelled due to the weather, which is set to remain unsettled this week. So we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the event in Grand Case will go ahead. If so, each cancelled date will be rescheduled, meaning the fun of Grand Case Tuesdays will last even longer, with the certainty of having the chance to meet the most creative exhibitors. This week… Denis Bellard.
Denis Bellard has lived in Saint-Martin for 26 years, but has only been devoting himself to art for the past two years. It was a late-in-life career change, following many years working in IT. The turning point came almost by chance. One day, a client asked him how to ‘turn off the mouse’. Denis Bellard then decided to call a halt to his business and turn to creativity. He began by drawing, a great deal, by hand. His early works were sombre, dominated by black. Then he acquired a small laser cutter. This tool opened up new horizons for him. “I saw the possibility of turning my art from negative to positive,” he explains. Since then, he has sought to shift his creations towards a brighter side, and D’Art SXM was born. At his stand, even black is now joyful!
Play of materials, play of light
The distinctive feature of his paintings, laser-cut from raw wood, is that they come to life by day and transform at night through the play of light. Magical! The themes explored alternate between timeless figures and local scenes. Feminine silhouettes suggested by clothing that wraps around or swirls sit alongside more familiar representations, such as Fort Louis, crafted from eleven layers of wood, or the Grand Case jetty. Among the projects in the pipeline are aeroplanes landing at Juliana and children jumping off the Sandy Ground bridge.
Each piece begins with a drawing, which can take two to three days to complete, and then everything is laser-cut, down to the tiniest detail. The final touch is the application of paint… And here, you can have your say, choosing your own colour. At the same time, Denis Bellard also mentors young artists from Saint Martin who are seeking to refine their artistic approach, a guiding role he also fulfils in the field of photography. You can find Denis’s smaller creations at Made in Saint Martin (at the Royale marina). Denis Bellard… Fine art? It’s a subtle art form and well worth a visit.
