Burnt-down Notre Dame can be seen in dozens of sketches and watercolors in Veurne

“As you pass by Notre Dame you see elements appearing through the scaffolding at different times. You see a buttress, a sculpture, a piece of the transept or a chapel within the scaffolding. So every time I go to Paris, I see I have a different work of art. That’s what makes it so fascinating. The journey to the final product.”

Frank makes a dozen sketches on the spot. He works fast, from the belly. Usually the sketch is ready in ten minutes. “I use pen, pencil, watercolor. Coincidence also plays a major role. I sometimes let my paint run, it plays along with the aspect of light and shadow. They are very short impressions. If there is a little more perspective and details, then does that go to half an hour. But that’s a maximum. I can’t work on it longer. I don’t have the character either.”

Passion

The interior designer learned to sketch during his education at Sint-Lucas in Ghent. The love for France and Paris, which is a bit older. “It started when I was fifteen. We had a French teacher at Sint-Bernardus College in Nieuwpoort: Toon Hillewaere. He sparked my passion for Paris in the field of art, architecture, literature. Since then, we have regularly been to Paris.”

And tomorrow he will go there again. Frank’s ultimate dream is to exhibit his sketches in Notre Dame itself. But first in Veurne, at Statiestraat 2a. This weekend and the following weekend from Friday to Sunday.