Acrylic on paper
My wallpaper for the month of May is featured on Smashing Magazine, you can download it from there!
Scale food (via Colossal)
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Mon fond d’écran pour le mois de mai est disponible sur le site de Smashing Magazine!
Scale food (via Colossal)
Ecoline, ink and graphite on Strathmore watercolour paper
That is a lot of fur…
Remains of our birthday party
New drawings…
I was going for delicate and colourful shapes that would contrast with the presence of inkblots but these last ones turned out just as mini and delicate.
Other coloured spots: the dots of Luli Sanchez (via The Jealous Curator)
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Nouveaux dessins…
Je voulais introduire des formes délicates et colorées qui auraient contrasté avec la présence des taches d’encre mais ces dernières ont fini en format mini, tout aussi délicates que les autres formes.
D’autres taches colorées : Dots de Luli Sanchez (via The Jealous Curator).
Circa 1996-1997: lamps made out of Japanese paper, wood and beads
Circa 1996-1997: recycled bowls - acrylic and metallic paint on wood
Circa 1996-1997: handles made out of plaster and painted with acrylic
In the last post I said it was time to get back to the present but here is one more peak at the past. Blame it on all the pictures I have to sort out!
After the shop closed, I thought it would be nice to be my own boss and to go on creating, so Mammouth (my prior company) was born… and died shortly after. At that time, I did not have what is needed to be self-employed. Still, for a year and a bit I felt blessed to spend my days creating objects, some from scratch and some from recycled materials.
I will be back on Friday with new drawings!
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Dans mon dernier billet, j’ai mentionné qu’il était temps de se concentrer sur le présent mais permettez-moi ce petit écart. C’est la faute à toutes ces photos qu’il me faut classer!
Suite à la fermeture de l’atelier, je me suis dit que ce serait sympathique d’être mon propre employeur et de continuer à créer. C’est ainsi qu’est né Mammouth (ma première compagnie)… et qu’elle mourut peu de temps après. Je crois qu’à cette époque je n’avais pas ce qu’il faut pour être travailleur autonome. Malgré tout, pendant une année et des poussières, j’ai eu le plaisir de créer des objets, quelques uns à partir de rien et d’autres faits de matériaux récupérés.
Je serai de retour vendredi avec de nouveaux dessins!
Circa 1993-1995, acrylic on canvas
More stuff exhumed from my past job as a decorative painter…
I remember using an electric sander on the first painting. :-)
But enough from the past, I have to concentrate on the present!
Happy Friday!
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Circa 1993-1995, acrylique sur toile
D’autres photos exhumées de mon passé alors que je travaillais comme peintre décoratrice…
Je me rappelle avoir passé la sableuse électrique sur la première toile. :-)
Mais maintenant assez parlé du passé, il est temps de retourner au présent!
Bon vendredi!
It has been a trip on memory lane since I started sorting out all of our stuff prior the moving. Among other things, I found a lot of old photos that I had forgotten about. Like these:
Acrylic on canvas and wood
Acrylic on canvas
Acrylic on canvas
All photos were taken circa 1993-1995
When I came back from Belgium in 1992 (that’s another story), I had to find a new job. A friend called to offer me a position as a decorative painter. I had never worked on big pieces or faux-finishes before, but that job seemed waaaaaay better than having to do polls by phone. Worst thing that could happen would be to get fired and have my pride crushed. I ended up working there for three years, until the company went out of business.
It was a good but tough school; we had to work fast and we tackled various tasks like painting on canvas and on furniture, create marble mosaics, layer gold or silver leaves on large walls, produce enormous chandeliers out of twisted metal wire, sculpt wooden surfaces, etc. We also travelled all around Canada to install our production. That part was like being in a washer machine for a week: we started working at 7 am and finished at around 10 or 11 at night. I always came back exhausted and weighing a few pounds less…
From top to bottom:
Great ocean road - The twelve apostles
The Grampians – on the left: me, on the right: Sheila… We met on the plane and traveled together for a while.
Melbourne
Somewhere near Alice Springs (left and right)
Barossa Valley
It was 21 years ago that I came back from Australia. I worked in Sidney for a few months and then went on to explore half of the continent (it’s a big one!).
I had seen pictures of Ayer’s Rock and other rock formations when I was a kid and had been dreaming about visiting Australia. The dream came through in 1990. I must have been a bit crazy; going to the other end of the planet for a year with 500$ in my pockets, a temporary work permit and a very mini backpack. I barely spoke English at that time! Fortunately, this shortcoming landed me a job: the interviewer found my French accent very charming…
So, after a brief panic attack on the plane — not related to the fear of flying —, I met some nice people that were also heading for Sidney. We became friends and eventually traveled together for a few months, parting here and meeting again there.
It was a nourishing year, even if it was hard at times being far away from everything and everyone you know. But I also met so many great people, seen incredible landscapes and most of all; I surpassed myself by going forward and by learning to go towards others. I came back filled with images and experiences.
From top to bottom:
Coober Pedy
On top of Ayer’s Rock with my trusty Doc Martens!
On the left: Katherine Gorge, on the right: Nourlangie Rock in Kakadu Park
Mataranka‘s natural thermal pool
Somewhere between Mataranka and Three Ways
Ink, ecoline and paper on paper, 2008
We spent the past three days in Montreal, in part to celebrate our birthdays (Nicolas’, his twin sister’s and mine), but also because we have to start packing. We have kept our apartment in the city as long as possible while living in the countryside but now it is time to make the move. We will be staying full time in the Eastern Townships!
I feel a bit sad to leave this place even if I love the countryside. We have lived in this apartment for a long time. So many memories are associated with this place, including a LOT of dinners with friends and family. I hope the new tenants will appreciate this space as much as we did.
We still have a few weeks before vacating the apartment, until then it will be sorting, sorting, sorting, getting rid of (how much stuff can someone accumulate in twelve years?) and packing.
Here are a few picks of the garden in Montreal, when it gets out of control!
It’s my birthday today so I decided to treat myself with a good dose of colourful inspiration!
Lauren Redniss: illustrations from the book Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout
The story of Marie Curie through the two invisible but immensely powerful forces that guided her life: Radioactivity and love, via Brain Pickings Weekly
Jenny Brown, via Buy Some Damn Art
Ching Ching Cheng via Brown Paper Bag
Hairy Fools, also taken from Brown Paper Bag
Happy Easter!
