Preview of Tremblant Exhibition

This is the launching of my new store as well as the online preview for the upcoming exhibition at Galerie 806 in Mont-Tremblant, QC which opens December 19th and runs until January 15th, 2014.
This exhibition is a celebration of an amazing year; meeting new people, traveling to new places and discovering the endless potential of this planet to reveal her beauty in new and invigorating ways. I am humbled and awed by the process of painting and the magical, mystery tour it continually takes me on. I feel it to be a great privilege to live this world as a painter. The paints not only guide my heart & hands but opens my eyes to marvels I would never have even noticed were I not stopping and taking the time to look as is necessary when making a painting.

Clouds, Rivers, Rain and Paint

Lac Ouimet in the Morning

 

In spite of very erratic weather with rain and sun exchanging places constantly throughout the week-end, the Domaine St Bernard managed to charm all who attended the annual Art Symposium.

 The shifting clouds and light created some of the most fantastic skies as a backdrop for the week-end.

 This was the seventh annual Art Symposium held at Domaine St Bernard, which is a beautiful land trust looked after by the town of Mont-Tremblant with acres of forested trails and the peace and calm of the former monastery which first created the domain.

 Having lived in Tremblant for almost 30 years, many old friends dropped by to visit during the week-end which made the event very fun and meaningful for me.

 

 Though each artist had only a small space in which to exhibit the informal nature of the show and the generosity of the organizers makes it a fun event! This is one of the few shows I attend where the artists are not required to pay a fee and we are even given a lovely brunch on Sunday as well as lunches and breakfasts throughout the week-end! A great group of artists participated and its always fun to share and exchange thoughts and ideas with other artists.

 There were sculptors as well as painters on location and many created fine pieces of artwork during the week-end.

 Several cash prizes were given at the closing ceremonies and I was most honored to receive one of the "Judge's Choice" awards which was a nice way to end the week-end.

 The next morning before heading back to the city I dropped in on my beloved river, La Rivière du Diable. The river was singing her lovely roar as I sat on a rock in the warm morning sun, absorbing her river energy.

 As always, I feel nourished and replenished by the rocks and river. I am now back in Montreal and heading to the studio to release that river roar onto canvas.

 It never ceases to amaze me when I sit with the river or forest, even for a short period of time, how much my awareness is elevated and opened to the abundance of beauty surrounding us everywhere.

 

Life is beautiful.

The Art Barn

I just found this video on youtube put together by India Littler of Cloudberry Studio. Lots of great memories from this vibrantly alive collaborative studio that I was part of for four glorious summers in Mont-Tremblant, QC

A Pop Up Gallery in Mont-Tremblant

This is an exhibition I was extremely proud of, both in the creation of the "pop-up gallery" and the work presented. Working in close collaboration with Dominique Normand and Luis Paniagua, two artists whose work I greatly admire and whose friendship is deeply meaningful and valued. The three of us have worked in partnership before and we intuitively understand each others strengths and energies.

The Mont-Tremblant Pop Up Gallery as seen at night from outside.

After driving across Canada this October and presenting "pop-up galleries" out of the back of my van with great success, I decided to try the same in the village of Mont-Tremblant. Much of my work is inspired by the precambrian rock and boreal forests of the Laurentian mountains as I lived there for 25 years and absorbed the landscape directly into my bones. A return to the source seemed like a good idea but where to exhibit? Tremblant is notorious for its lack of exhibition venues for artists and so I decided to look into an empty 3000 sq foot retail space that has been for rent for quite some time on the main road through the village. Below are some before and after shots of our transformation from a raw, empty space with not even any lighting into a brightly lit, professional gallery space for our work to be shown.

 

We began by hanging several large lengths of earth colored thick canvas that Dominique had traded for with a friend of hers. This created a soft, warm backdrop for the paintings and hid the raw stud walls that ran down the whole length of space.

 

 

 Luis Paniagua, a long time friend and sculpture of the region, helped us wire and install a collection of lights that we either found, borrowed or brought from our studios.

 This was an exhibition of my larger scale works as most of my smaller ones were sold on my cross Canada tour this October. I have never seen all my large paintings hung together and so was very excited about the prospect. I could never have done it without Walt's truck and patient expertise. Most people don't realize the enormous amount of work that goes into a show like this. From bringing 30 large paintings down from the third floor of my Montreal studio, loading the truck, unloading the truck in Tremblant, setting up the gallery, installing the paintings, coordinating the wine, food, coat racks, tables and countless other details.

 Finally it is opening night, the paintings have been hung, the sculptures placed and their energy starts to fill the space. We all look at each other and agree that each piece has found its place in the room and our work is done. Now the paintings and sculpture will have to speak for themselves as people enter and begin to listen to their stories.