“Hi, come on in,” artist David French greeted me warmly his gate, “have you seen a chicken pass this way?” No, I had not seen it. “You can go on up to the studio, I’ll be right there,” David went off in search of his escaped hen. I picked my way carefully up the gravel drive, past the barn-red house and the bright blue addition still under construction and surrounded by saw horses. “A master suite,” David would tell me later. “I’m doing about seventy percent of the work myself.” With a growing family (his newborn son is just eight weeks old) and the growing popularity of his artwork, David could use the extra space. At the rear of the property stood David’s studio, an open garage packed to the rafters with his paintings and prints and art supplies. A fine layer of sawdust covered every surface.
Starry Night Over The Penguin by David French. Image via davidfrenchoriginals.com.
If you live in Charlotte, you’ve probably seen prints of David French’s well known city-scape paintings in gift shops around town. I first met David at our neighborhood’s winter fling, an annual fundraiser and social gathering. His spectacular 8 foot long painting of the Plaza Midwood Christmas light balls was auctioned off to one lucky bidder.
Thomas Street Christmas Lights by David French. Image via davidfrenchoriginals.com.
David’s work has been in demand since he started painting Charlotte urban scenes in 2006, and it’s not hard to see why. His paintings capture the unique flavor of Charlotte’s neighborhoods and favorite landmarks. His first Charlotte-themed painting was of the Athens Restaurant before it was demolished. That garnered so much positive attention that he next painted Anderson’s, a neighborhood institution for over 60 years, with its famous sign claiming “The World’s Best Pecan Pie”, and then The Coffee Cup, Charlotte’s first integrated restaurant. Both of those landmarks have sadly have been torn down or closed. In a collection that has now grown to over 160 paintings, David’s work includes panoramic streetscapes of Plaza Midwood, NoDa, Dilworth and Uptown, as well as focused studies of local restaurants and businesses such as The Penguin and Price’s Chicken Coop.
Athens Restaurant by David French. Image via davidfrenchoriginals.com.
Boudreaux’s of NoDa Panoramic by David French. Image via davidfrenchoriginals.com.
I asked David what his best selling subject has been. “It was The Penguin until recently,” he told me, “but now my most popular works are of Freedom Park and the Charlotte skyline.”
Central Skyline by David French. Image via davidfrenchoriginals.com.
When I asked about his background, David said he got his initial training in oil painting from Starr Davis, a local mural artist. They did 20-30 murals together, including ones for the Fox and Hound restaurant uptown. He spent the next seven years honing his figural drawing and composition skills, completing over 2000 charcoal drawings before returning to painting. He’s currently experimenting with color. “A lot of my earlier paintings were night scenes with a lot of black and grey in them,” he said, “but I’ve been working on bringing more color into my work and now I’m doing more daytime scenes.” David mentioned Van Gogh and Chuck Close as significant influencers of his work.
Fall at Freedom Park by David French. Image via davidfrenchoriginals.com.
Amelia at Amelie’s by David French. As much as I love the city-scapes, I think this might be my favorite of David’s work. It exactly captures how I feel at Amelie’s pastry case! Image via davidfrenchoriginals.com.
While we spoke, David was busy cutting large sheets of his art prints with an Exacto blade, preparing them for sale at local shops like Paper Skyscraper and Ruby’s Gifts. Calling himself an “artist for the people”, David believes in making his art affordable and accessible to the general public. Loose prints are priced at $15-$25 each, and mounted prints are $75. He’s also available to work on commission if someone wants him to paint a special subject.
Artist David French at his NoDa studio
To meet David French in person and see more of his work, come out for the NoDa studio crawl on Friday May 4th, when his and twelve other artist’s studios will be open to the public. You can also see more of David’s work at his website, davidfrenchoriginals.com.