Following the sage advice of her 96-year-old mother in the final hours of life, Isabelle left her management consulting company and completely re-imaged what was possible, and she started painting full-time. Today, Isabelle’s abstract paintings have been seen in yearly international art fairs and gallery exhibitions, in Vogue and GQ magazines, and can be found in private collections in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, and China.
Isabelle’s work intellectually and emotionally engages viewers. At the most basic level, she celebrates color, and explores how geometric shapes can so beautifully contrast with loose, graceful lines and spontaneous marks. Her process involves building up multiple layers of acrylic paint on birch wood panels, then sanding and scratching back into the layers to reveal glimpses of what she calls ‘the history’ of the painting.
Isabelle likens her process to a conversation, where she’s constantly responding to what’s happening as she’s working, “listening to what the painting says it wants.” The beginning stage of a painting is spontaneous, then the composition of the work and the colors she chooses become more and more intentional. Some decisions are meant to create loud conversations that draw viewers in from a distance, while other decisions create quiet conversations, deliberately drawing the viewer’s eye to the more intimate details discovered when my work is viewed up close.
The highest goal Isabelle has for her work is to show up as “herself” in every piece she creates. Her approach to painting has everything to do with sharing the joy of being alive, because, as she will tell you, when she feels alive, her art does too.