Cati Burnot is exhibiting her work in The Cliff private residence until the end of January. It is an opportunity to discover the path of this artist-painter who uses the ancient technique of Flemish glaze to give free rein to her intuition and emotions.
Even if she has been drawing since she was very little, Cati Burnot is one of those artists who realized their dream belatedly. Born in Algeria, she grew up in France, in Lorraine where, despite an appetite for drawing, she embraced more classical studies in the medico-social field. Her professional life followed its course between medical secretariat and technical salesman missions on the road, but Cati got bored. One day, a colleague with whom she was getting along very well asked her what job she would have liked to do above all. The answer was quick: “Artist”, Cati answered. A crazy pact was made between the two colleagues who swore to give themselves the means to realize their dreams. At the age of 40, Cati Burnot took a year off to study drawing and try her luck in art schools.
In 2000, she joined the Van der Kelen school of decorative painting in Brussels. For six intensive months, she has learned drawing, painting and especially Flemish glaze, an ancient technique that consists in superimposing a layer of transparent paint on another already dry one to change the shade. “I have worked really hard for six months. I was like a real sponge, it was total happiness for me,” she recalls. Her motivation was such that she became gold medalist valedictorian.
FROM WORKSITES TO CANVASES
Able to reproduce all possible wood species and all types of marble, to make trompe l'oeil and decorative frescoes, Cati came back to Lorraine and began working as a painter decorator in faux wood and faux marble. But quickly, she moved to the South of France to realize her second dream, living by the sea. The heat and outdoor life pushed her to leave the architectural decorations aside to start painting on canvas. Continuing to use Flemish glaze and the rules of harmony of wood and marble, Cati began to create abstract and colorful paintings that gave free rein to her imagination but also to the viewer’s. “People see plants, the water world, something mineral, something cosmic, but also feminine forms. In art, it is often our subconscious that expresses itself and it is the spectators who bring it back to us.”
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
In 2001, eight days after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, Cati flew to Japan with her paintings in her suitcases to follow a photographer friend and participate in her first exhibition. Her works seduced the Japanese public and upon returning from her trip, she decided to become a professional to live from her art.
She then had the opportunity to exhibit around the world: in Belgium, Spain, Senegal, Monaco or in the Caribbean where she settled in 2012. Inspired by her travels and her free spirit, Cati has found her signature style to offer a type of painting of the inner-self, which combines strength of color and poetry of the composition. Through criticism and recognition of her peers, she has made a name for herself internationally. For a long time, she has considered herself a “baby painter”, but today she is among those whose work is recognized and appreciated throughout the world. Make the most of the month of January to discover it while sipping a cocktail in the Japanese garden of the Cliff or by tasting the refined cuisine of Mario Bistrot.
Instagram : @catiburnot
Facebook : B'Cati - artiste de couleurs
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