Self-taught French painter and sculptor, Marie-Claire Rarchaert, born in 1952 in Normandy (France).

I spent my time between the south of France and the south of England.

After working in finance for years, I have constantly asked myself: can I become an artist? Sadly, that can't be decided, however I just wanted to do something I loved.

What started out as a hobby has grown into a passion for the daring combination of bright colors and contrasts.

I have been always attracted by drawing and painting since my very young age but I seriously started working on it, later in my forties.

Full of admiration of the Impressionist period, I have discovered myself a passion for the works of the great Masters of Impressionism "Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Paul Cezanne and of course Vincent Van Gogh" through different exhibitions of their works in Europe.

It was then that I decided to explore different techniques of painting during evening classes with a Parisian painter. This artist introduced me to the works, techniques of the contemporary Spanish painters like "Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Juan Miro" and their colour palette.

In recent years, I became increasingly interested in sculpture and modelling. I had the chance to practice in Nice, Studio of Paul, a marble sculptor and local artist.

It was then that my old limiting beliefs about what was not possible gave way to a greater sense of freedom and creativity than I had ever experienced before.