Painting Charlevoix

People often ask me why I have been going every fall for 40 years to paint in the Charlevoix region. I am going to explain to you the reasons that lead me to paint in this mythical region of Quebec.

Anyone who knows my paintings knows that I like to paint nature, depth, color, light, contrasts. I have always said that nature is immeasurable in relation to human beings and that my paintings reflect this state of affairs well. Expressing this already sums up my presence in Charlevoix: I find there everything that attracts and inspires me in painting.

The Charlevoix region is fascinating because it offers us a rich and diversified nature with its parks and its majestic rocky peaks, its great burns, its omnipresent mountains, its winding roads, its typical dwellings, its characteristic light and the presence of sea ​​everywhere. The region has remained somewhat frozen in time and modern architecture is slow to appear in the countryside. All of Charlevoix reveals the immensity of nature and no matter where you paint, this notion is always present and constant in both inhabited and uninhabited places.

This is probably the most predominant feature in my painting. I have always liked to paint the planes and the depth and this in almost all my paintings. No other region of Quebec offers more possibilities to exploit this immensity: the sea, the many cascading mountains, the small hamlets built on the hillside, the large colorful fields in the fall, the varieties of colors that occupy everything space, the particular relief of this region. In short, I find there everything that enchants me and thrills me. I am never satisfied with this generous nature.

The use of color is probably the most free and spontaneous element in my painting. I have always said that nature was a pretext to paint and that the colors used were the freedom of the painter. I have always exaggerated the colors in my paintings. One of the characteristics of the Charlevoix region is the marked absence of sugar maple trees and consequently of orange and red colors in the fall. However, this absence has never prevented me from putting these colors in my paintings. I have indeed always cheated on this level and my guiding principle has always been that cold colors distance and warm colors bring closer. As long as the harmony of colors is good and the result is satisfactory, everything is permitted for the painter.

Painting is a constant search for light, its effects, especially in this region where light is so special. Light is very different from elsewhere in Charlevoix and painting on the motif allows you to further exploit this particularity. I define myself like a painter of light and contrasts and I have always liked to paint there precisely because of this phenomenon which is present especially at the beginning and end of the day. A beautiful painting will always have a beautiful light which will highlight the composition as well as the chromatic perspective of the colors used.

Talking about light without talking about contrasts is difficult because one does not go without the other. The stronger the contrasts, the brighter and more radiant the light will be. The juxtaposition of dark colors and light accentuates the impression of clarity and this effect enriches the picture. The use of complementary colors also contributes to accentuate this phenomenon of light.

In short, Charlevoix offers me everything I want as a painter and the landscape is always grandiose and diversified. However, I must specify that I also have personal reasons for finding myself there year after year for so long and these reasons have nothing to do with painting but with my personal tastes.

I am a painter but I also have other passions such as antiques, old Quebec houses and fishing. Charlevoix has offered me all that for a long time. When I go to paint, I have the chance to live in an ancestral house with one of the most beautiful views of Charlevoix. Typically Quebec, this house piece by piece is full of history and experience and I particularly like the warmth that emanates from it. In addition, I have made friends over time and the fact of meeting with them in the evening on the edge of the wharf to fish for smelt delights me every time. The tranquility and the contact with the sea do me good in addition to tasting the fresh fish caught in the evening.

I invite you to discover this extraordinary region of Quebec. You will understand why I like to go back there every year and I assure you that I will continue to paint there as long as I have the health to do so.