Dear Wolfgang,
I am not a well-known flat painter, even an aged one, new (five years only) and still novice, but let me explain my position and feelings when discovering this hobby, because I did also reject such work during my first year in painting flats, with the information I received then from peers ... It was in 2013.. :
This is an expected comment since painters started to introduce occasionally such paintings in French contests at least since 2013, even earlier with Catherine Césario, one of our major flat master French artists, and other names, with enthusiasm and a lot of appreciations from the community, but also reactions toward the rigid definition of a tin flat figure (I must admit I was one of them in my early start as painter in 2013-2014).
There are similar criticisms against flat figures made ofm4 plastic, instead of (lead) tin figures as born time ago, because it was the only easy material to handle then. I speak of the Spanish Alabarda flats, Yvan Durand epoxy busts since 2003, … very successful on the French and Belgian market. England was probably the first visionary to create and accept in contests new categories like Bas-reliefs, or Miniatures, and in the USA canvas paintings. Other countries are still very conservative and still attempt keep their initial definition like a floating buoy in an ocean of new technologies.
However the number of painters, engravers, producers of such traditional 30mm tin flats is declining in success, attraction, interest and profitability against the computer aided drawings, printing, new materials, and recently the toxicity of tin and lead as chemical substances, which almost killed our hobby in the European Community legislation!
It is great time to adapt ourselves, open our mind, be imaginative and try to maintain this painting hobby as a growing but flexible activity if we don’t want to see it disappearing totally within less than ten years. I hear still in corridors old fashioned purist painters rejecting acrylic painting on flats, because it is not enamel or oil!
Remember the first flats with a size larger than 30mm criticized for their out-of norm design; also the one-sided flats; then the fantastic subjects, the busts, and now flowers, vases (I know several 30mm Minoan flats from Neckel and Hafer); or with a plain background instead of adding it in a diorama or a box separately? These reactions, although understandable are human, and a first attitude against change, whether in job, environment, habit, because it disturbs habits. But change brings also dynamism, new ideas, new expansions, opportunities, and the world would not be what it is today if new ideas were systematically rejected by all of us.
Remember the change of figurines composed of plastic parts like Airfix in the years 60’s to fully moulded metal figurines like Historex with new technologies of moulding. Today the 3-D computer printing brings a new revolution leaving us the choice to accept, support, … or die and disappear!
Thank you for your comment, human and understandable, but so much predictable. Our nowadays world of changes requires to open our eyes, accept new ideas, even to detect new opportunities to attract more painters, hobbyists in a world where our post career time increases with life time.
If useful after the first postings in creation during contests, and when more and more are accepted by the public, by buyers and then painters, one can open new categories in our contests, if necessary, new masters, new engravers, producers … and painters, exhibitions …
Yes, Yvan brings new ideas, new support, new subjects, thank you Yvan for this !!! Let us hope that he will continue to be supported, create new sparks, everywhere, new editors. His first epoxy busts have spread in French contests since ten years, (please see his gallery on this site:
http://www.intflatfigures.org/index.php?action=gallery;su=user;u=2805 ) and other artists exposing similar works like C. Cesario, JP Duthilleul, A. Retuerto, received awards as Masters , were appreciated by the public and are opening new avenues to our hobby for the XXIst Century !
Rejecting new ideas is a way to kill ourselves and be soon placed in museums, and forgotten by our own children as ‘vintage’.
I believe they have a place here, and it is our role internationally to welcome them and give them a chance to re-enforce the traditional 30 mm tin double side flat, like single large flats did the last 20 years to warranty their survival.
Michel
