Art & Culture: pointillism techniques

ARTWORK WITH PO NT LL SM

by Isabelle Scheltjens Blizz Art Gallery – Puerto Banús

Isabelle Scheltjens is a young Belgian artist who recently opened the contemporary Blizz Art Gallery, situated at the far end of the prestigious Puerto Banús frontline promenade. She uses a technique called Pointillism (which could be compared to impressionism), using small pieces of coloured glass carefully arranged to create an image. In the case of Isabelle’s work, this is always a face. When viewed from a distance, the image perfectly comes together to form a jaw-dropping overall work of art. We visited the gallery on their opening night to meet the innovative artist in person and view her work for ourselves…

Isabelle’s artisan husband already worked with coloured glass, creating stained glass windows for residential properties and churches. Isabelle had an artistic background and, with this abundance of coloured glass at her disposal, she was inspired by her young daughter’s face to create a portrait of her. When she decided to post her creation on Instagram, she wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming response she would receive – and from there she never looked back. The process entails taking large sheets of coloured glass which are cut, smoothed down and heated to 800 degrees Celsius for a smooth finish. She then places each piece of glass onto a large board on a table, using a ladder to view her work from a distance and layering glass on top of each other piece to achieve the exact colour required to create the perfect final image. Her portraits can be very large in size and comprise as many as 20,000 individual squares, so the process is quite time-intensive and the result, always unique. Most of the work in her gallery is inspired by celebrities and models, but there are also ideas for pieces that arose simply from her own creative thoughts. She is often commissioned to do personal pieces and the requests come from all over the world. From the moment Blizz Art Gallery opened, the gallery has achieved excellent sales from budding art collectors spell-bounded by the originality of the pieces. Isabelle’s team are a friendly artistic bunch brimming with enthusiasm for the artist’s work. They warmly encourage anyone interested in contemporary art to drop by for a friendly chat and experience the gallery for themselves.

Blizz Art Gallery Calle Ribera 18, Puerto Banús (next to the barrier at the exit of the port). Visit their website: www.blizzartgallery.com

Photos by: Balance Photography