Website : https://www.lauremarchand.fr
Etsy shop : https://etsy.com/fr/shop/lauremillustration
Instagram account : https://www.instagram.com/lauremillustration
Facebook account : https://www/facebook.com/lauremarchandllustration
Email : lauremail38@gmail.com
Behind Laure Marchand illustration we find Laurence Alice Buhry-Marchand who lives in Grenoble, the capital of the Alps [France]. She divides her time between her professional life in the field of professional support on one hand and her passion for illustration and her family on the other hand.
She lives in Grenoble by adoption but she is originally from Marseille by birth. And from Burgundy and Seine et Marne by her ancestors.
Maybe this is why she particularly appreciates places steeped in history in which she likes to walk.
OJL : Hello Laure Marchand
Laure Marchand : Hello.
OJL : Three quick questions before getting to the heart of the matter.
As you live in Grenoble, can you tell us what your favourite café is there ?
Laure Marchand : I don’t have a favourite place strictly speaking, I always try to go to a place where the architecture speaks to me and inspires me. I like places that have character and soul. For example, I like to go to the “Shannon Pub” because there I feel like I’m in Ireland.
OJL : And what is your favourite park or place in Grenoble ? Or in Isère (38) ?
Laure Marchand : A lot of people here like mountains, I’m more of a sea girl (laughs). What I appreciate most in the region are the rare vast expanses, such as the Vercors plateau or the Trièves plain.
OJL : Finally, what was the last book you read ? And the last song you listened to ?
Laure Marchand : _About the book : I read “Jamaica Inn” by Daphné du Maurier, an author I really like and whose works I want to re-explore.
_About the last piece of music… Hmm, it’s difficult because I listen to a lot of it especially while drawing… Whether in my car, on foot, while going to the swimming pool etc… I also listen a lot to my son playing piano… In short, point blank I would say “Thriller” by Mickael Jackson because the 80s are life (laughs) !
OJL : Let’s talk a little about you now. How could you introduce yourself ?
Laure Marchand : I have always been a somewhat melancholic and secretive person. Drawing is my refuge. My way of preserving my imagination. The one who delights the little girl I have left. I draw above all for her and if my art can touch other people, I am all the more proud of it (smile). In everyone, a child’s heart lies dormant and it is this child that I want to reach through my drawings…
OJL : How did you choose your pseudonym ?
Laure Marchand : We agree, my full name is much too long! (laughs). Furthermore, I have always needed to dissociate (without falling into schizophrenia) those who draw from those who have a more conventional life. Laure is my inner child, the one who paints, who marvels at nothing and who maintains nostalgia for the universe she had created to take refuge in at leisure. While Laurence is the woman, the mother who fully embraces her other professional life which is so enriching. Laurence is also a male first name in Anglo-Saxon countries and I did not want any confusion.
OJL : Let’s talk a little about your work now. What techniques do you use ?
Laure Marchand : I worked for a long time using traditional methods. Whether it’s watercolor, gouache or even acrylic ink. Then I discovered digital technology and it was… A bit of a revelation for me (smile).
OJL : Following the discovery of the possibilities of digital technology, what choice did you make ?
Laure Marchand : I chose the digital technique without hesitation. Besides, without my tablet I’m lost. Now, I can draw everywhere, test, change colours, add details, do watercolour, acrylic even oil if I want, without needing a gigantic workshop !
Of course, I still like to take out my brushes from time to time and I never tire of walking past a fine arts store and admiring the display and the wealth of mediums on offer.
Drawing digitally does not distract me from the real, it allows me above all not to restrict my creativity and my imagination.
OJL : What do you prefer to draw ?
Laure Marchand : The magical world. Magical characters. Princesses or fairies dressed in corsets and lace like in the Victorian era. I also draw everything that can, in an instant, take me back to the simple joys of childhood.
Besides, I love this sentence from François Mauriac who says: “What makes the poet? Isn’t that love, the desperate search for the slightest ray of sunshine, playing on the parquet floor of a child’s bedroom?” This quote totally suits me…
OJL : In addition to illustrations, do you create other products ?
Laure Marchand : So many things if I listened to myself ! As if time were infinite ! (laughs). More seriously, I use my illustrations on different media and I try to promote them to different distributors. At the moment I work for companies that do what we call “Diamond Painting”.
I also do orders/commissions for individuals.
I created a children’s book “The little snowman” published by Le Dahu.
And I also create decorative objects based on magic and fairy tales.
I have so many ideas and desires… But so little time to achieve everything…
OJL : Last question: who are the artists who inspire you ? Who motivates you ?
Laure Marchand : There are many:
_Paul Durand: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Durand_(illustrator)
_Giovanni Benvenuti: https://www.babelio.com/liste/2626/Giovanni-Benvenuti-illustrateur
These two illustrators amazed all my childhood readings.
But also :
_Stéphanie Pui Mun Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Pui-Mun_Law
_Eeva Nikunen: https://eevanikunen.com/
And
_Meredith Dillman: https://www.meredithdillman.com/
OJL : Bravo for what you do. May Our Lady protects you.
Laure Marchand : Thank you very much.
Alpha Centauri
