A painting subject can express an intellectual theme or an emotion close to the heart. One theme in particular which has recurred troughout my work is the tree. Oak trees, poplars, hornbeams or beech trees, I admire them all with or without foliage. I enjoy drawing them and I love planting them. They are beautiful, especially in the city where everythings works against their growth.

My great-granduncle, Hector Hannoteau became an artist in spite of all adversities. Expected to have a career in the Army, he preferred brushes and paints to the cannon. To be artist in long lineage of generals: what a scandal! I follow him in my love for trees and nature.

To paint is essential to my life. I don't know if I'm a true artist but I can sincerely say that I do not spend a second without tinking about creating a picture and that any obstruction to that goal really disturbs me. Christiane, my wife and an artist herself, understands that better that anyone else.

No long before his death, an angler friend of mine expressed the desire to be buried in sandy beach by the Loire with a fishing rod and a few bottles of Sancerre by his side. I often think that Iwould like a similar resting place, near the splashing bream and the singing curlew. In the meantime, I hope to enjoy for many more years my little house overlooking the Loire valley, close to where my ancestor Hector Hannoteau lived.

From there, in the midst of painting, I can watch the geese and mallards as the sun sets over the horizon and possibly glimpse a brightly colored king-fisher with his last catch of the day.

Jean William HANOTEAU