ARTIVIEW by ARCHES® Claude Carretta, the artistic journey of a watercolour artist from Reims, France
Introduce yourself briefly
My name is Claude Carretta. I’ve been painting in watercolour for around 35 years, ever since I moved to Reims. I had the privilege of meeting the Belgian artist Roland Palmaerts, who comes to Reims three times a year. He’s someone who naturally passes on his knowledge and passion to others. Around 10 years ago, he honoured ARCHES® by setting a world record for painting on ARCHES® Aquarelle paper. He was 60-years old and he painted 60 metres of paper within 60 hours, working day and night. The whole event was organised under the auspices of the Arches paper mill and town hall. So ARCHES® paper brings us together, and his influence has been very important to me.
What techniques do you use?
I tend to improvise. For example, if a stain appears, I go with it instead of seeing it as a disaster straight away. The question becomes: what can I do with it? And maybe even use it to create something interesting and unexpected.
I only paint on watercolour paper. Sometimes I add ink or acrylic, but water-based painting is at the heart of my practice. I favour wet techniques, precisely because they leave room for the unexpected. When you’re starting out in watercolour, you often want to control everything – like at school, where you weren’t supposed to colour outside the lines. It takes years to accept that water can become an ally, as long as you don’t try to work against it. Because very often, when it “misbehaves”, it’s simply because you’ve tried too hard to control it. That’s what I call making the most of both the joys and the setbacks of watercolour. And there are plenty of setbacks – heat, dryness, how you’re feeling, colours you’re not yet familiar with, and so on. But all this can ultimately become part of the creative process.
© Claude Carretta, A quai – Aquarelle sur papier ARCHES® Aquarelle grain fin 300 g/m²
© Claude Carretta, Crescendo – Aquarelle sur papier ARCHES® Aquarelle grain fin 300 g/m²
In your opinion, who is the greatest artist of all time? Why?
That’s a good question. Personally, I’m particularly inspired by Flemish oil painters, especially for the imagination and refinement they brought to their pieces. Their paintings have a flowing, continuous quality, almost like an underwater world. I’ve been somewhat influenced by their tastes, and by their way of merging and connecting forms.
What are the subjects that inspire you?
Once again, Roland Palmaerts influences me. I’m often inspired by landscapes, and sometimes by flowers. But the common thread is that there isn’t really a fixed subject – it’s more about improvisation. Sometimes an idea changes because opportunities arise. There have been times when I started with one theme and ended up somewhere else because a new possibility presented itself; I love that freedom.
© Claude Carretta, Sur le pont – Aquarelle sur papier ARCHES® Aquarelle grain fin 300 g/m²
Tell us about a decisive moment in your career as an artist
Let me tell you about two decisive moments. The first was meeting Roland Palmaerts, whom we call the “magician of the brush” – and it’s no exaggeration, because he’s truly talented. Once, I watched him paint a bouquet of flowers, which is something he doesn’t normally do. I saw him change the position of a single flower, as if he was arranging a real bouquet: a flower that was on the left ended up on the right through the movement of his brushes. It was magical, and in the end it looked beautiful!
And my second, much more recent encounter was with the Iranian artist Sahel Ardi, who currently lives in France and works in abstract watercolour. She’s been very successful, especially in France.
On a whim, I decided to sign up for one of her workshops, just to see. She won me over with her very luminous and colourful watercolours. She opened up new doors fo
© Claude Carretta, Eclats – Aquarelle sur papier ARCHES® Aquarelle grain fin 300 g/m²
What was your first experience of ARCHES® paper?
If I remember correctly, it was under Roland Palmaerts’s influence, as he recommends 100% cotton paper for watercolour. I thought, why not ARCHES®, since he paints on ARCHES® paper himself?
ARCHES® paper in one word?
I’d actually choose two: a friend and an ally – a real ally.
Do you have any other projects on the go or planned?
At the moment, I don’t have any specific projects on the go. I mainly respond to invitations I receive, and increasingly I’m being asked to return to places I’ve already visited – or to discover new ones. I’m not at the point yet where I have to turn down invitations, but it’s starting to become an issue, as travelling isn’t always easy to organise.