What you leave off often has a huge influence on the impact of the work. Caroline Bertrand's newest portraits have a haunting quality that beg the viewer to return often and delve deeply into the meaning of what is missing. Born and raised in Montreal I have always had a passion for observational drawing. I completed a BA in visual art at Université de Quebec à Montreal where I specialized in painting, developing a raw and gestural style. My works are essentially drawings in which I experiment with the various possibilities offered by using charcoal, pastel and graphite and their interactions with an array of unusual mediums such as acetate, alcohol, etc I have an intense practice of producing one drawing per day. This pace allows me to create with a free and direct gesture which allows for much spontaneous creativity. Fascinated mainly by the portrait and landscape, my works express what is shown and what is guessed, between the presence emanating from the drawing and its resonance in the experience of the viewer. Caroline's landscapes also have an familiar yet otherworldly quality to them. These mixed media works are as textured and layered as the views they represent. The translucent layers of wax in Hoda Ackad's work urge the viewer to look deeper into the piece, they change in the light, and they create a marvellously diverse palette within the work. Based in Montreal, Canada, Hoda Ackad is increasingly showing her works in the United States. Since 2014 her portraits have been exhibited at the Elk River Arts Alliance, Minneapolis, Blaine City Hall, Minneapolis, Satellite Contemporary Gallery, Las Vegas, NV; County Creatives Gallery, , Laguna Beach, CA; Hud Gallery for Dab Art, Ventura, CA; and the Old Court House Art Center in Woodstock, IL, outside of Chicago IL. Most recently, she was a participant in the Help Hope Nepal Mural project, during Art Basel Miami 2015. In 2016, she won the Bronze Award in painting in the 2016 Art Forward international competition. These two of my works have been selected for Dab Art’s online exhibition and its first quarterly art journal .Journals will also be added to the permanent catalog in the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) Balch Art Research Library.
These political works along with 33 others from different artists are currently featured in an online exhibition until December 29 for Dab Art and Artsy. This exhibition explores various views on current political, geopolitical, and social issues from a selected group of contemporary artists. https://www.dabart.me/ Inspired by the landscape of the eastern seaboard, Sandra work is a color vision of nature. Sandra Boorne is a visual artist who explores with various mediums, most recently she is dedicating herself to oil painting. Sandra has studied life drawing, painting, and stained glass and received her diploma in graphics from Dawson college in Montreal, Canada in 1980. Sandra has been painting full-time since 2010. She is influenced by the study of landscape and paints with vigorous strokes of paint to express movement within nature. Sandra paints in her studio in Montreal as well as during her various travels. Artists statement
My work has evolved over the past several years, culminating in an approach to painting which involves movement and gesture. I attempt to convey the light reflecting, the lightness of leaves, the darkness of the forest, the sound of water. I have used various media to express myself including watercolour and mono printing and have now found my happy place with oils. There is a depth and concentration to the application of pigment which takes me into the moment. I am influenced by many years of living in the mountains and on the water's edge. My work is semi representational with preparation involving photography, sketching en plein-air in watercolour,and finally using pigment sticks and brush to work the canvas. I let the drawing show through and mark making is part of the energy used to convey movement. Painting is a great adventure and there is dedication in every stroke of the brush.... The steam punk influence is evident in portraits of Marie-Eve Landry. the energy of the background abstraction lends to the personality of the works and the women portrayed in them.
Born in Gaspé Peninsula, Marie-Eve Landry exploits her artistic talent very early. Singing, drawing and writing were her first means of expression. Intiated to mixed media at the age of 25 years old, she discovers a fabulous way of expression, other than words, to express her ideas "outside the box". Self-taught, it will take nearly 15 years of exploration to clearly identify a source of inspiration that carries meaning for her : the human. And it’s in 2015 that she finally dares to get out of her studio. Oops I Did It She dared! She dared to do what was not allowed. And it is with a sarcastic look at you that she seems to apologize. In facts, she simply likes to disobey and to provoke reactions. The human, through his greatness and his vices, is the heart of her inspiration. Assuming her own vices, impulses and contradictions, her works testify both a rage of being and nonchalance, a concern for details and interest for chaos and a contradictory tendency for elegance and decadence. The human personality is a complex thing and the use of mixed media allows her to express this complexity and depth. She uses spray painting, brush and spatula and sometimes, her hands dive directly in the substance. All instincts and paths are allowed. Don’t worry, I’ll be ready…to rumble !
Indeed, this woman will be ready soon. But she will not be ready for what you might think. With her "bad girl" attitude, she prepares to fight the stereotypes describing women as docile and submissive. She is a fighter! The artist, through her works, seeks to highlight the inner strength and combativity of women. From the "Not So Romantic" series, where lace face against the characters' rebellious attitudes, this artwork is a nod to the era of the 1950s, when much work still needed to be done for women's rights. Color breathes life into the works of Nancy Létourneau. Her use of textures, both subtle and profound, add to the depth of the works. Nancy was introduced to running in 2011, the sport quickly became her escape. The popularity of this sport is a revelation for Nancy and in 2013, she participated in a major racing event "The Challenge Montreal-New York". In this same momentum, motivation for creating art resurfaced and so she turns to painting, her passion. In this wave of strides and finish lines she embarks on the development of "Footprint", a series of works inspired by running. The artist creates texture with prints of old running shoes soles recovered from her runners friend. Either in plaster or painting itself, these prints represent the sport of physical power and mental strength. In each work, Nancy adds one or more silhouettes of runners, discreet presence in an abstract landscape necessary to the soul of every solitary runner. Recipient of the 2013 Honorable Mention in the contest "Agents are seeking talent" of the Gallery House Dupont Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Nancy Létourneau takes an artistic approach imbued with her two passions, (painting and running) which combined allowed her to present "Footprint" in several exhibitions (solo and group) and running events. She is also recipient of the Award of Excellence and SIDIM Favorite X TERRA ART GALLERY in the section at SIDIM 2015. Nancy Letourneau is a graphic designer, painter and ultra marathoner native of Quebec. After studying fine arts at the Campus Notre-Dame-de-Foy and the Bachelor of Arts at the University of Quebec in Montreal, she continued her studies in graphic design. She graduated in 1999 and established his company Studio Pixels.
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November 2019
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