It is a bit difficult to describe my encounter with Roland Dutel an “out-of-the-ordinary” painter and sculptor. It is impossible to miss his home as it is decorated in a spectacular way. But I had not seen the inside of his home yet and what I saw made me curious to meet this artist who quite evidently was an original figure. I knocked on his door, first without result. Then one day, I was lucky. Apparently Roland Dutel is not really interested in meeting people who wish to know more about him. He has been interviewed by people from all over the world,  his work is reproduced in books and is bought by art collectors. In front of me -I realized- stood an authentic artist; someone who not only wants to create, but cannot do without creating. Everything he touches becomes a work of art. We went down to his kitchen. There was art everywhere. Sculptures of every kind and made with a variety of materials, paintings, collages. What struck me is that he also collects works of art of other artists. I have often noted that artists only have their own art in their homes. This is absolutely not Roland Dutel’s case. He mentioned he liked unexpected “difficult art.” I imagine it fits his complex personality. He is both voluable and can suddenly fall into silences. Each time I thought to get a certain grip on what he was trying to express, he showed a different layer. He seems to be his art incarnate.

Speaking about his youth, he told me that his father worked 60 hours/week on construction sites. On weekends he would be exhausted, bad tempered and not at all easy to live with. It was a way of life that Roland Dutel wanted to avoid at all costs. At 18 he bought a house with friends and formed a community. They played music, they gardened and some of them worked as masons to bring in some money. It was a hippy time, though -as Roland Dutel put it- they were well-grounded hippies contrary to the hippy kids from Paris who had no clue about surviving in the countryside…

Roland also told me that he had had a serious accident when he was 20. A fractured skull! He was in a coma for 2 months. He did not want say more about it, but the experience did change the course of his life. He then happened to meet a sculptor who worked in wood and who gave him some pieces to experiment on. “We can always use it as firewood,” the sculptor said. Roland Dutel was on his way. But he did not only create art. Being the son of a workman, he became a good carpenter. He loves building houses and continues to do so to date.

Roland Dutel is an auto-didact “pur sang” and one who is more knowledgeable about art than probably many “experts.” He lives and breathes it with a passion that is palpable. A most memorable encounter. He thanked me for “un moment agréable,” and I thanked him for so generously sharing his time with a complete stranger. Such are life’s most precious moments…

Watch: Roland DUTEL, artiste à DIEULEFIT »