In the heart of Bastia's Citadelle, wearing Bermuda shorts with an open shirt and cigarette in hand, painter Stéphane Javier welcomed visitors into his studio, located adjacent to his small gallery just steps away from the Museum of Bastia. The 62-year-old impressionist artist opened the doors to his creative space, eager to share his art and his unique vision of light.

Javier pulled out an old copy of France-Soir newspaper, pointing to his name on the front page. He was just 10 and a half years old when he won a prize for best drawing in a competition that included nearly 12,000 children his age. "I had drawn a Corsican bird – even then, my source of inspiration was already on the island," he recalled.

Nothing seemed to predestine this brown-haired, blue-eyed man born in 1963 to such artistic talent. His father was a pharmacy preparer who sometimes traded his lab coat for a paintbrush, while his mother was a homemaker. However, Javier vividly remembers his grandparents of Corsican origin, who moved to the capital after World War I. "They opened a brewery there, which is why I grew up in Paris!" he explained.

Everything moved quickly from there. Javier entered the Applied Arts program at Duperré in Paris, then attended the Institute of Higher Studies of Arts. His career officially launched in Sainte-Lucie-de-Tallano at a craft fair. "That's where I sold my first works," he said.

Selling became the crux of his success. To illustrate this point, Javier didn't hesitate to put on a performance, grabbing one of his paintings and improvising as an auctioneer. He recreated a scene from Room 13 of the Hôtel Drouot, at the Million auction house. "Stéphane Javier, bidding starts at 100 euros," he mimicked, driving up the prices – 200, 300 – until it was finally sold for 450 euros. "I was an anonymous painter. And yet, someone bought this little painting from me," Javier noted. "That sale still determines the pricing of my paintings today."

Javier loves staging scenes, especially painting them. His works feature narrow streets and building facades with laundry hanging out to dry, where you can almost smell the soap. Sometimes he captures noisy scenes, like cafes where friendships seem to linger. But all his works share the same tactile quality, with colors mixed directly on the canvas. He considers himself a 21st-century impressionist, and it's perhaps no coincidence that he cites Renoir as an influence. "When you step back, everything organizes itself. I like to suggest things," explains this self-described "urban landscape painter."

Religion serves as a guiding force in his work. Though he doesn't consider himself particularly practicing, Javier describes himself as a good Catholic. "Religion occupies a central place in my works," he said. This spiritual connection may also explain his passion for teaching. "I give classes for all levels in small groups," he said. His next courses are scheduled for October, as he dreams of opening an academy in Bastia.

While Javier certainly isn't at the age to stop working, he's at the point where he thinks about what comes after. He has even planned his funeral mass, wanting it to take place at Saint-Charles Church, where one of his works rests – a rare honor for a living artist. "Then I will have won everything," he concluded.

The distinctive quality that permeates all of Javier's works is light. This luminous quality seems to flood every piece he creates, reflecting his deep understanding of how light transforms ordinary scenes into something transcendent. His technique of mixing colors directly on the canvas gives his paintings a vibrant, almost breathing quality that captures the Mediterranean atmosphere of his beloved Corsica.

As an artist who bridges the gap between traditional impressionism and contemporary urban landscape painting, Javier represents a unique voice in the modern art world. His journey from a prize-winning child artist in Paris to an established painter in Bastia demonstrates how artistic vision can be both rooted in place and universal in appeal. Through his teaching and his art, he continues to explore and share his fascination with light, color, and the everyday scenes that surround us.