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Bio

Je vis au cœur de la nature; mes thèmes trouvent leurs sources dans l’environnement, les événements et les éléments qui alimentent ma vie. Dans les montagnes, qui surplombent la vallée de la rivière Rouge, j’ai trouvé ce lieu d’existence qui m’appelle à la réflexion et la création. Je m’applique à créer des images qui évitent le sentimentalisme au profit des formes concrètes et atmosphériques qui révèlent mes qualités humaines autant visibles qu’abstraites. Mes peintures me permettent de comprendre la place que j’occupe, en tant que locataire temporaire, dans cette nature qui m’accueille.


As a painter I reconcile and interweave art and life. I interpret my perceptions and strive to reflect them coherently to the receptive viewer (those who look closely at my paintings).  When a crafted painting imbues raw material with emotion and feeling, the viewer is invited to embark upon a demanding voyage in which they are asked to transcend their own reality, and yield to my vision. The viewer who is willing to submit, is offered a reflection of reality which reaches further than the quotidian - that leads them towards my reality.  In the presence of painting with the power to transport our weighted humaness, we(painter and viewer) give ourselves permission to  share a moment of feeling within creative expression. 
 

what's next?

 

Projects in paint:

- to finish the 4 Immersion paintings. 

I pace my work slowly - the paintings determine the rhythm and I guide them to completion.  When are they finished?  When they no longer demand a response from me.

My work schedule involves sketching life/nature/people during the summer months.  Then, once the autumn chores(rural living) are completed, quiet studio time presents an opportunity to reflect on the resources produced during the summer.  Between the experiences of observation, and the development of more complex works, a transformation is achieved.  The visual resources are only a pretext to provoke a more in-depth exploration of a theme.  

Recurring themes:

I find my interest returning to the theme of glaciers.  The last series of paintings I completed - almost 20 years ago, still rests in my mind.  At the time, I had returned from a journey to Alaska, and the magnificence of the glaciers I witnessed provoked a series of paintings.

Ice fields draining, is the last of these  paintings, I hauled it out of storage and found I was still interested in exploring the theme.  At the time, I fused multiple points of view to show the top and bottom of these awesome structures.  One theme can occupy me for many years, with different input, perceptions and transformations.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other projects:

- "Apart but Together", an ongoing collaborative project, funded by Canada Council for the arts, will continue during the summer and autumn, with communication between myself and three other artists: Diana Tso, Shiva Shoeybi and the filmmaker Monica Mak

- Zoom art appreciation: these sessions, funded by the (federal government) New Horizons, and organized by Elizabeth Vezina from the Arundel legion, provide me with a forum for teaching(during covid and beyond).  We explore a variety of art themes of interest to both practitioners and art-lovers. 

- the Powerhouse project, is an on-going effort to document the early days in the 1970's, of Powerhouse Gallery in Montreal.  The gallery began as a co-operative effort by a group of women artists to redress the omission of women from the history of art, and to give female artists a community, opportunities and support early in their careers.  The gallery is celebrating its 50ieth year in existence.  Constantly re-inventing itself - it persists.  I am working with the artist Tanya Mars, and filmmakers Louise Abbott and Monica Mak, and the women of Powerhouse Gallery, then and now. 

 

- a blog: my plan for this summer/autumn is to begin an art blog, perhaps, while travelling east.  We will see - please stay tuned, and check this site periodically.

Newfoundland,

here we come

Immersion painting
Glacier
newfoundland
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