Yves Beaumont

My paintings begin with reality, with an element of nature, with what is visible. I make sketches and take photographs.

When I start to paint, I erase certain elements, then I paint again and erase again, layer by layer, until only the poetry and the essential character of the painting remain.

I try to banish any kind of anecdote from my work. The only unifying story line is the visual language itself. So, the painting or drawing becomes a new entity that tells a story – of line, shape, composition, colour and other components of painting.

For me, it is a particular challenge to seek out – in the fundamental idea of landscape and through the equally rich and traditional medium of painting – images that can function in the context and language of contemporary art.