In early spring 1999, my life companion, with whom I was freshly in love, invited me to visit an orchard he had just acquired in Mendocino County, Northern California. Being a man of the North, I was struck by the warmth of the sun, the intensity of the light, the blossoms of the Santa Rosa plum and Manzanita trees, the sound of the running creeks and the seclusion of this mountain ridge and its valley where this old orchard was nestled. This place has since become home, the center of my inspiration, creativity and spirituality – I call it “The Land”.
Number nine of a rural French-Canadian family of 10, I grew up in Québec, Canada. I then spent most of my early adulthood experiencing Montréal, the other distinctive culture of Québec. The urban exposure and my mom passing on to me her passion for arts and crafts (especially weaving) lead me to specialize in ceramic arts at École de Céramique Bonsecours. I then immigrated to San Francisco where I co-founded Lost Art Salon while helping my partner restore our organic heritage fruit orchard that was established by Portuguese settlers at the Turn-of-the-Century. This life-long project, the remoteness of the site and our respect for the environment called for the construction of a fully off the grid sustainable hay/bale home. (Covered in: "Off the Grid Homes, case studies for sustainable living" by Lori Ryker; Sunset Magazine October 2006; and Anthology Magazine Summer 2011).
The "school" of collecting fine art through Lost Art Salon mixed with the discovery of Northern California inspired me to continue working on my personal creative expression. The sinuous shape and the rich texture of the burgundy red Manzanita tree and its cousin, the melon orange Madrone presented a new medium. I started to sculpt the wood and incorporate found-objects creating original lamps. Photography and oil painting followed, proving to be my preferred ways to express my connection to the land and document the beauty of inland Mendocino. The lengthy process of one medium over the immediacy of the other strike the right balance for me. Oil paint applied to a canvas reminds me of the meditative nature of hand molding clay, my first passion within the art world, and photography allows me to capture those unique moments when seasons are traveling through their cycles setting the light in harmony with the time of the day. I use the camera to reinvigorate painting, and my photography is in return enriched by the dialogue with painting.
2012 was a continued exploration into the world of abstract photography derived from nature using a new micro lens that enables me to get really close to my chosen motifs. The colors vary from bright and rich to neutral monochromatics found in barks, lichens, fruit, flowers, branches, weeds and grasses. 2012 was also the first time I visited Paris since I took on the art of painting. My biggest surprise was the attraction I experienced for the works of Impressionist painter Claude Monet. Every museum room I entered that had a Monet would find me walk straight to it, in awe and admiration. In addition to reading all I could on this artist, I initiated an art history research on landscape paintings throughout ages and studied particularly the Group of Seven (The Algonquin School from Canada), the Hudson River School, several Maine landscape artists, George Inness, William Turner, Claude Lorrain, Arthur Mathews, and the Barbizon school of French painters. I enjoy experimenting with the results I get from the technique of layering oil thinned with turpentine combined with impasto for texture to strike a balance between abstraction and figuration.
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