Edith Chansigaud Biography
United Kingdom, born 1971
Once upon a time...
Only kidding. To old. To much happened, so I'll be super brief.
Ok, when I was a kid, I used to draw, like a lot, but at around 7, life became garbage, awful. I remember I used to admire the drawings that my mother used to draw next to my poems. I was in awe and in total admiration, so quick and agile, it was her lovel on paper.
Then soon after everything went to s.....
We were poor, hungry, and not that I am proud, I sneaked in my teacher's desk and took a notebook. It was brand new, without cuffs or tears, plainly beautiful, and it felt precious. With my worn-out felt-pens I started to draw, my escape. Then life got more complicated and I simply stopped.
I started to work 2 days after my last day at school, worked 2 jobs practically all my life, never stopping, relentless...
Like everyone else in this rat race, life was in my face never giving a chance to breath, but in May 2024, I had to. Total burnout. It was kind worse than my breakdown because I wasn't numb this time.
But it was a good burnout because I realise that if you want to stay sane you must reserve a portion of your time to yourself and it belongs to you alone, no-one else. So with this new, free space I bought paper, brushes and watercolours. And trust me when I thought to myself "wtf are doing Edith?!". I didn't have much faith in myself as it was more than four decades since I applied mysef.
I didn't get on with watercolour, too volatile, too unstable... then I tried watercolour crayons, just nasty haha... then crayons full stop.... pfff, too time consuming. Cool to sketch with but patience is zero, it's not me, it's genetic... then I moved on to acrylic and BINGOOO...
OMG do I love acrylic, and yes I did struggle but only for a short time as I realise straight away I needed "fuid" peint... so I treated myself to GodenFLow paint, learnt how mix from primary colours, played with my tubes, bought more brush, bought more canvas. It does pay to do your homework before clicking on good old PayPal haha. What I love the most is creating the background, stretching the paint, discovering the lines, how they bleed within one another. It's like music... I'm in love...
What I also discovered is that I pay more attention to everything around me, and if I like it, quick click of the camera... usually titles for the painting comes first and instantly. Like Peter! Or Pussy... The Window...
I will be honest, I am absolutely incapable of drawing/recreating real things, like really real things; I do not have that gift, it's too hard, to many constraints, too real. I want to give you something ironic, beautiful, or sarcastic or funny. I simply want my colours to make you pause, make you read the title and make you smile, ponder...
And I want you to leave with a smile. If you want to keep my art, then it is yours...
