Painting with Melon
Jean-Jacques Prévôt has managed to capture on canvas some happy times spent between 1998 and 2003, when he developed a revolutionary painting technique using his fetish fruit, the melon. His insatiable artistic curiosity led him beyond the familiar domain of the kitchen to explore another dimension, another way of studying the essence of this plant, which inspires him. He succeeded in creating luminous watercolours painted entirely with melon-based pigments. With these paintings, which are his personal souvenir album, Prévôt has tried to capture the happiness of moments spent on holiday with his daughter Sandra. All of his paintings radiate that happiness. The joyful, colourful outlook he has on life was not easy to transmit onto paper with the pastel tones produced by melon pigments, but with the help of a bit of magic, in the form of sugar crystals, his melon paintings gradually take on glowing hues reminiscent of the warmth and light of the fruit’s fiery orange flesh.
Crunchy, juicy and sweet, the melon’s flesh refreshes us. It is the fruit of my desire, of my passion. JJP
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Programme
Sculpture and cooking with melons.
Painting with melon extract, coffee, chocolate, saffron, parsley and other natural, edible pigments. |
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How to create and paint with melon pigments
Three different colour bases are extracted from melon seeds, flesh and skin, by cooking them down carefully and filtering the pigment (or jelly) that results.
The melon paint is applied with a brush and left to dry from 6 months to 1 year.
Once the paint is dry, additional coats can be applied every 6 months or so to add light shading.
The paintings with melon last for years and their hues change with time, as if by magic.
It is best to leave them exposed to air until they have dried completely, which takes three years. They can then be framed under glass without any fixatives.
Other plant juices : paintings done in class are ready to frame immediately. |
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Practical details
The courses are aimed at anyone from age 7 onwards
Level : No previous experience necessary
Place : In the restaurant kitchen
Number of participants : minimum 2
Price : 50 € for adults ; 35 € for children 7 - 12
Lunch (optional) : From 11 € (à la carte)
Time : Mornings, from 9:30 to noon |
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