Artist Rita Morel’s first solo exhibition-‘In nature a beauty unveils’ |10 September 2011

Over 50 paintings by this young artist were officially presented on Thursday evening to guests who included Social Development and Culture minister Bernard Shamlaye and National Arts Council chief executive Benjamine Rose.

Mrs Morel’s works, which are on sale, are mostly observational studies of Seychelles’ landscapes, animals and plants and have been done in water colour, acrylic, oil and mixed media.

The artist said she started working on this project late last year and most of her works, such as paintings of popular beaches on La Digue and Praslin as well as other islands, have been done on site. The rest she has taken photos and then do the artwork at home.

Her collection includes paintings of Coco Island next to La Digue – acrylic on canvas, Tropical Fruits – oil on canvas, Black Parrot – water colour on paper, and Seychelles White Eye – mixed media (water colour and ink pastel).

Mr Shamlaye wished the young artist, who is also a former student of the National College of the Arts, all the best with her work.

He said hopefully she will also exhibit some of her photographs soon.
Ms Rose said Mrs Morel presents her work in very realistic images, using mostly acrylics.
“She dabbles in a variety of expressions -- from manipulative crafts, paintings, digital photography to multimedia experiments.”

”She enjoys playing with the contrast of light and shadows; this is reflected mostly in her recent works,” Ms Rose said.

The prices of the paintings range from R450 to R14,000 depending on the size, theme and medium used.

J. Ladouceur