Shortly after, she came upon her ex-husband had seven kids with three completely different girls and eight grandchildren — and he was nonetheless legally married to another person. She spent that Valentine’s Day wretched till she began receiving lots of of Fb messages and greater than 1,000 good friend requests.
“A month earlier, I posted my mixed-media portrait of Michelle [Obama],” Clement de Grandprey tells New Occasions. “That day, the Obama’s revealed their official Smithsonian portraits to the world, and 1000’s of individuals went again to my Michelle submit. They have been now reaching out, sending lovely messages, and I wished to proceed to share artwork.”
Her mixed-media portray of the previous first girl acquired greater than 78,000 likes and 57,000 shares. She additionally gained 4,000 followers that day and over a thousand feedback.
“I felt like I acquired observed,” she says. “That was the 12 months the stuff was occurring with my ex, however the universe was searching for me. I acquired one no however acquired 78,000 yeses. I did not let a destructive second cease me, and I selected what story to affiliate that day with.”
Born and raised in southern Spain, Clement de Grandprey is the daughter of an American mom and a French-Italian father. The now-50-year-old labored as a tour information in Spain, an English tutor in Italy, and an airline pilot in the UK. After 9/11, she was let go of her job and located herself residing and dealing in Fort Lauderdale, the place she labored as an inside designer.
“I moved right here in 2004,” Clement de Grandprey says. “However the motive I stayed is as a result of I discovered a job, and I actually did not have an excessive amount of to return to in Spain.”
In 2014, she stop her full-time job as a challenge supervisor to pursue her actual ardour: portray.
“I’ve all the time cherished drawing and portray,” she says. “After I was 5, I did my first oil portray of a home with a blond mom carrying a laundry basket. It was tremendous detailed, and I nonetheless have that image. I really feel like portray has all the time been part of my life.”
“Knowledge of Love”
Picture courtesy of Florencia Clement de Grandprey
When Clement de Grandprey enrolled in college, she was dissuaded from attending artwork faculty and was as a substitute inspired to review one thing “helpful” that will result in an actual “actual job.”
Although she lacks formal coaching, Clement de Grandprey believes it has led her to develop a method with out guidelines, giving her artistic freedom and mixing her love of the traditional masters with modern design aptitude to supply mixed-media work.
She initially got down to paint on canvases and incorporate upcycled and repurposed supplies that will have been disposed of, akin to discontinued cloth and paper samples, to create backgrounds and layer her topics. Now, she paints instantly on upholstery cloth and space rugs and has quite a lot of mixed-media kinds. The material patterns intertwine with the imagery, including yet one more dimension to her work. In the end, although, Clement de Grandprey’s objective along with her art work is to showcase women and men as inspiring, robust, and stylish figures.
“After I paint, it is like remedy for me, and I do know it may be like remedy for others,” she explains. “I wish to characterize as many ethnicities and cultures as potential as a result of I actually really feel prefer it’s necessary that everybody can see themselves in it and never simply have it’s one sure group. It is for everybody actually and inclusive.”
One in every of Clement de Grandprey’s most well-regarded works is “Knowledge of Love.”
“That is the one that appears like Jesus,” Clement de Grandprey says. “It got here out in the course of the time of the pandemic, and folks wished knowledge once we have been falling into the concern of the pandemic. It is about greater than a reasonably image, and the art work has messages and which means that individuals can hook up with.”
Clement de Grandprey’s model has developed over time as she repeatedly explores surfaces and supplies. Her largest piece is 11 ft by eight ft, and every one can take a few month to finish.
“I like portray on the rugs as a result of it is about trying past the floor,” she explains.
Currently, Clement de Grandprey is engaged on her “In My Eyes” sequence.
Picture courtesy of Florencia Clement de Grandprey
Clement de Grandprey’s work on colourful tapestry has additionally led her to look towards creating new ideas, akin to her “In My Eyes” sequence. After gathering a set of individuals’s eyes, all 100 open eyes are painted on Persian rugs and can take part on this 12 months’s ArtPrize competitors in Grand Rapids, Michigan, subsequent month. She’s additionally engaged on a guide of her painted-eyes sequence scheduled to be launched in September.
“It reminds us to look out and see all the wonder on the planet,” Clement de Grandprey provides. “And that there are as many factors of view as there are eyes and the rug that shall be within the center is about introspection and reminding us additionally to look inside.”
Even with none artwork education, Clement de Grandprey has racked up a number of accolades, together with the “Latino Award” for the 2021 version of ArtPrize. She was chosen because the Miami consultant for the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Collection contest on show at Scope Artwork Present throughout Miami Artwork Week.
Clement de Grandprey’s work has additionally been exhibited all over the world, in locations like Australia, United Arab Emirates, Spain, and England. And domestically, she’s participated within the Las Olas Artwork Truthful and had a solo exhibition at Bailey Up to date Arts Heart in Pompano Seashore.
“I need the message to be unfold to as many individuals and locations as potential,” Clement de Grandprey says. “The message on positivity and {that a} good change can come.”
