Insights from an interview with one of her sons in 2022.
What inspires your work? What makes you want to paint?
“Color excites me. If I see something that is colorful or do a setup that is colorful, I’m much more excited. What it does to an object, how it changes from ordinary to something that stimulate my artistic feelings and expression.
“How the light shines on an object or scene it changes it into something alive. Makes me want to capture what I see at the moment.
“The beautiful light in Italy or other countries I find captivating. The sun enhances everything in natural colors. A dull London day may not inspire me to work in landscapes but perhaps still life and portraiture. When we were in Italy it was magical and inspiring to work in a setting where the sun changes and highlights everything.
I am what is often called a naturalist; that is, I see things in nature as they are. And I paint by starting with what I see and then adding feeling to the subject. I look at a landscape or vase of flowers, and while I don’t paint it exactly as I see it, I use what I can and sometimes enhance what I see according to my feeling about the subject.
What do you see when you paint? Why do you paint?
"From my earliest days as an artist I’d always been drawn to and loved color.
"I try to make what I see my own. I see it in a natural way, but if it excites me I want to increase the vividness of it, or make the picture or content more satisfying. Take the best I can of any subject and put my own feelings and emotions into it as well as the subject in front of me.
How do form and color and light merge in your painting?
"Form makes me think of my work in Still Life. Light can make an ordinary form come to life, depending on how the light plays on an object or how the light changes a scene. It goes from intense, bright light to dullness, but the light brings out the color, not as imitation but rather a way to enhance.
What is your favorite painting subject (portraits, etc.)?
"I love to work in Portraiture – the character shows life and it shows that this person has experience in life. I tend to paint older people because you can see their character in their face.
When did you start painting? What made you begin this journey?
"It started when my Navy husband was away at sea and he brought home to me my first oils. We hardly had enough money for food, but I started to study as soon as possible. I wanted to learn how to ‘express.’ I wanted to paint what I saw. Through study and practice, I began to see things in a new light – and the more I learned about color changed my perspective. Every free minute was taken up.
"I’ve had the opportunity to study with other excellent fine artists during my family’s travels around Europe and throughout the United States.
Where do you enjoy painting or where have been some good places for you to paint?
"New England, such as in Plymouth and other locations in Massachusetts, as well as California. The intensity of light was most striking in Italy, but second might have been when we were in California. I also really enjoy being near water and in open spaces.
Gloria Dufresne 