Pierre-Yves Morel

Decorative painter

©Eline Willaert

Painting illusions

Pierre-Yves specialises in marbling and woodgraining
Castles and palaces inspire him
He started off by working on a major film set

After following traditional painting studies at a fine arts school in his native country France, Pierre-Yves Morel came to Brussels to study decorative painting. “I wanted to continue in painting, but was looking for a different approach,” he says. He acquired new skills, like marbling and woodgraining, and a taste for 19th-century trompe l’œil techniques. Soon after graduating in Brussels, he started working as a set painter and on building restoration projects. After a stint at a decorative arts company in London where he worked on luxurious residential projects, he returned to Brussels to start his own studio. Pierre-Yves loves to create extravagant decors and enjoys extraordinary settings. “Spectacular palaces and castles for example give me a feeling of freedom that sparks my imagination.”

Interview

©Eline Willaert

©Eline Willaert

How did you start your career as a decorative painter?: Right after graduating in Brussels in 2017, I started off by working on the decoration of the film set of Kursk, a film on a submarine disaster by the well-known Danish director Thomas Vinterberg.
Do you integrate in your creations a link to the territory in which they are set?: I often focus on local marbles for the objects or sets I paint. I carry out an extensive research about the marbles of the region. Even if I then transform them, move away from them, they are often the crucial starting point for my reflection process.
What is it about your working methods that really surprises people?: I often use beer to make glazes and my favourite paintbrush is made of badger hair.
Was there a moment in your career that you will never forget?: At the end of a project in a client's apartment, they invited a shaman to ‘lift a spell’ by chanting incantations, burning sage and tinkling little bells. I definitely did not expect that kind of inauguration.

Pierre-Yves Morel is a rising star: he began his career in 2016