The search for authenticity is what looks for Claude. His workshop is quite “minimalist”, uncluttered and uncontaminated by the presence of computer assisted drawing tools, touch up software or vector based programs, which he used for many years. Now he came back to basics: painting. He works on multiple painting simultaneously. He begins by deconstructing them, than reconstructs them and transforms them. This is done so successfully that he quips “the works will remain in danger until I’ll get them out of the studio”

Claude Le Blanc is a graduate in Fine Arts from the Collège Vieux-Montréal. He exploited several technics and opted for the brush stroke and oil painting. The ink knife scraping quickly across the surface of the material creates a pattern of sound, almost music like. The porous nature of the material allows for beautiful texture as the paint is absorbed.

Lúcio Carvalho works is inspired by scenography as well as Baroque, Rococo and Renaissance era. Emotion, memory and imaginary archives – fragment from the past, projection of the future – are building the work that needs to be protected because of its fragility, to stay preserve for the future to exist with a certain freedom. Using painting, photography as well as sculpture, Carvalho is not particularly attached to the medium he is using. For him, they can change at any time, they are interchangeable and only at the service of the idea. What is central to his practice is the experimentation, to let them overflow, to express his desire, to materialise his idea with a mix of pleasure in pain, giving him some sort of relief. No matter which medium he is using, all his work is conceived like a painting, layer by layer.
 
Carvalho has been drawn to art for his entire life, as a child, he would find refuge under a huge banquet table, there he would spent his time drawing and colouring, exhibiting his prized possession for his eyes only. While his brother and cousins would ride their bike, run and play, he would only want to observe his surrounding safely protected in his favorite hiding place. For a very long time, he felt different, guilty and confused to why he had such a passion to express himself and create. Paralysed by the fear of not being able to own a living, he waited before deciding to follow his passion and making a living as an artist.
 
Carvalho is born in 1965 in Cambucí a municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. He graduated in 1986 in Industrial design and drawing at the University of Rio de Janeiro. Till 1997, he worked in Rio de Janeiro as an artistic director and designer for various advertising agencies. In 1998, he decided to move to São Paulo, where he is still based, to fully dedicate his time to his artistic practice. Since then his work has been shown extensively in Brazil and internationally – in France, Belgium, Germany, USA, Italy, and Japan amongst other, at fairs and in solo and group exhibitions. Amid several awards that recognized the quality and inherent excellence of his work, he was amongst the winner of the Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim New York competition in 2010 and also chosen to be part of the Modern Photographic Exhibition of Brazil created by the Photographic Society of Japan.

Lúcio Carvalho works is inspired by scenography as well as Baroque, Rococo and Renaissance era. Emotion, memory and imaginary archives – fragment from the past, projection of the future – are building the work that needs to be protected because of its fragility, to stay preserve for the future to exist with a certain freedom. Using painting, photography as well as sculpture, Carvalho is not particularly attached to the medium he is using. For him, they can change at any time, they are interchangeable and only at the service of the idea. What is central to his practice is the experimentation, to let them overflow, to express his desire, to materialise his idea with a mix of pleasure in pain, giving him some sort of relief. No matter which medium he is using, all his work is conceived like a painting, layer by layer.
 
Carvalho has been drawn to art for his entire life, as a child, he would find refuge under a huge banquet table, there he would spent his time drawing and colouring, exhibiting his prized possession for his eyes only. While his brother and cousins would ride their bike, run and play, he would only want to observe his surrounding safely protected in his favorite hiding place. For a very long time, he felt different, guilty and confused to why he had such a passion to express himself and create. Paralysed by the fear of not being able to own a living, he waited before deciding to follow his passion and making a living as an artist.
 
Carvalho is born in 1965 in Cambucí a municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. He graduated in 1986 in Industrial design and drawing at the University of Rio de Janeiro. Till 1997, he worked in Rio de Janeiro as an artistic director and designer for various advertising agencies. In 1998, he decided to move to São Paulo, where he is still based, to fully dedicate his time to his artistic practice. Since then his work has been shown extensively in Brazil and internationally – in France, Belgium, Germany, USA, Italy, and Japan amongst other, at fairs and in solo and group exhibitions. Amid several awards that recognized the quality and inherent excellence of his work, he was amongst the winner of the Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim New York competition in 2010 and also chosen to be part of the Modern Photographic Exhibition of Brazil created by the Photographic Society of Japan.

Nathalie Boissonnault was born in 1968 in New Richmond on the Gaspé Coast. Attracted to the arts from childhood, she registered for her first painting course at 11 years of age and painted her first canvas.

A graphic artist by training, she nevertheless followed through on her natural penchant for painting and held her first exhibit in 1992. At that time, she was working as a graphic artist and cartographer at the Department of Natural Resources. In 2001 the desire to live fully the freedom offered by painting became stronger and stronger. She then made the giant leap to quit her job and devote all her time to painting.

Nathalie Boissonnault’s work has gone through several transformations. Today to a certain extent, she is returning to her roots where she explores a more intimate universe, sometimes surrealist. Introspective, she establishes a dialogue between two realities, emotional and timeless, full of theatricality and poetry. Using powerful symbols, she orients the viewer to her or his own internal dialogue.

Born in France – Living and working in Montréal since 2002.
Already passionate about painting when she was very  young, Virginie Bocaert chose to study  fashion at École Supérieure de Mode de Paris.
She graduated with distinction and started working in design but she could not resist the lure of painting.
Her initial steps  in the art world began with representations of the female body emerging from the canvas  in an improbable, abstract  atmosphere. In her oeuvre, in fact, nonfiguration  is not opposed to the figurative but is simply another manifestation, that of  the inner gaze, just as mental and physical are not opposites, they just are. The latest development in her work has taken her toward new mediums such as photography, performance and the wide range of  digital elements that technology is now putting into hands of the artist…

While I am painting, I seek mainly to enter into a state of being. I am motivated by a feeling of freedom and self-forget-fullness. I also have a powerful urge to create a universe which is esthetically pleasing, a world of abundance, both cheerful and somewhat naive, and far removed from the morbid pessimism in which I am engulfed on all sides by contemporary culture, media and art. The universe I construct is based on the garden and the forest.

The process unfolds directly on the canvas, which is usually placed flat on the floor. I move constantly between happenstance and choice. I usually begin with a key figure that impressed me (a bird, a flower). I construct the picture gradually using successive layers of deliberate accident and controlled elements. This results in a combination of drawings, collage, realistic painting, pools of polymer, grand strokes made by large paintbrushes, recoveries, transparency, and minor motifs. It is all part of a composition, in which the void controls the filled spaces and in which I seek to maintain visible traces of each layer, as testimonies to the construction of the work.

Leaving bare spaces on the canvas is something that I admire in several contemporary artists, including François Lacasse, from whom I borrowed the technique of pouring paint onto the canvas and of controlling its movement without brushes, by moving the canvas.

Pictures drawn by children are also frequent in my work. As I teach at the grade school level, I have a wide variety of choices that I can reproduce. The presence of work by children has become increasingly important in my most recent work in which guileless birds are enthroned like kings, the gentle guardians of my universe.

Melissa Del Pinto (B 1979, Montreal, Canada) is a fine-arts painter and muralist best known for her dramatic, large-scale paintings and murals of single-themed, photorealistic birds that take centre stage against a solid-color background. Each oil painting holds a surprising complexity of color, dramatic brushwork, detail and texture, often made contemporary by the skilled use of aerosol paints.

Her background is in Illustration and Design (Dawson College, Montreal, 2001). She further developed her skills in Florence, Italy. She returned to Montreal and spent time in the fashion industry.

Del Pinto is a well-commissioned artist. Her work can be found in corporate, public and private collections. Prestigious establishments such as The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (La Petite du Musée) and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (La Delivrance de L’Aiglon) have commissioned Del Pinto’s works. Del Pinto has also completed murals for organizations such as Starbucks, Shopify, Mad Radish, Kiehl’s, Jansport, Cote Nord Tremblant, Jansport, MU and others.

Del Pinto is listed in the Government of Canada, Canadian Heritage Database of Canadian Artists. A dossier of her work is available  at The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Library and Archives, Canadian Artists Documentation Collection for use by curators, researchers and the public.

Her work has been highlighted in major newspapers and magazines such as Le Devoir, The Montreal Gazette, Le Journal de Montreal, La revue d’art du Musée des Beaux Arts de Montréal, Decovér Magazine, Sofadéco, CULT Montreal, Atmosphere Air Transat Magazine… and in numerous online blogs such as – tourism montréal, damasketdentelle and Brazil’s janeladarua.

Originally from Romania, Raluca Pilat hails as an artist that manifests a significant versatility in all aspects of the visual arts. Her diverse portfolio shows her mastery over most mediums, from oil, acrylic and pastel painting to graphics. Her learning journey begins at the Fine Arts High School Nicolae Tonitza, followed by the Fine Arts Academy Nicolae Grigorescu in Bucharest (Arts Baccalaureate in 1989). After her university studies, Raluca worked as an Art professor for more than 12 years. In this role, she was instrumental in aiding many students to explore their talent and evolve their artistic skills. Throughout this period, she also continued her creative work, with her art being displayed at multiple exhibitions and events in Romania and abroad. Her work is part of several collections in Europe and America.

Her technique is imbued with force, vitality and freshness. Her use of color is precise and her touch, sometimes nervous while at other times graceful, is in perfect accord with her chosen themes.

“Mountains and valleys surround the house where I was born. I grew up in fresh air, in a small Irish village, which I left at the age of eighteen. Stoneham saw me grow up, and now the city shapes me. Québec, city of my studies, taught me beauty, taught me art.”

“The elegance and femininity of woman’s bodies have always inspired me aesthetically, with their sensual and gracious curves. This is why they are so often in my paintings. Their long legs symbolize spiritual elevation. I express sensitivity and softness through a hazy atmosphere, because the latter entices introspection and consciousness. The background guides us towards imagination, evasion and a feeling of freedom, the horizon suggesting the line between sky and earth, between here and somewhere else. And you, the viewer, finish the story, which becomes your own.”

Since the beginning of Ancient civilization, the figure of women has personified mythical creatures endowed with divine powers. Mythology is thus an arena for powerful and often feared goddesses. The great book of History is filled with names of exceptional females, women who in no way resemble the emaciated heroines of our modern era. Numerous painters and sculptors have used the awesome figure of woman as their muse. In the image of the potent Greek goddesses as well as the fascinating flowery women created by Mucha, painter Pascale Pratte glorifies woman in all her feminine might, with a decisively modern approach...

With their blase attitudes and their languid gazes, the women created by Pascale Pratte all have one thing in common : a boundless power of seduction. This power is not due to their flawless beauty, but rather to the magnetism that emanates from these subjects. Pascale Pratte manipulates shapes and colors with the agility and the assurance that her training in drawing, sculpting, painting, 3D computer graphics and graphic design have imparted upon her. The physical traits of her subjects are strong, determinant, and proud, not unlike the beautiful heroines of her canvases. Although earth tones dominate most of her paintings, this artist is not afraid to tint her work in shades of blue or red, emphasizing the dramatic, mysterious, and mystic fell of her art. The artist states that she prefers painting which is more textured, more tactile, as she launches herself down a path where realism has the upper hand over graphic interpretation. Obviously, each painting title is a womans name. These names suit these painted females so perfectly that, once they have been baptized by the artist, it is impossible for them to be known as anything different. But this tour de force that Pascale Pratte has so brilliantly accomplished : she as given a unique personality and spirit to each of her subjects. This young painters journey was an undoubtedly swift one.

At the age of 10, she was already profiting from the sale of greeting cards that she had drawn. This first graphic experience was one that she pursued for five years, and it landed her contracts in France and Belgium. After studies and jobs in the world of illustration, painting became a priority. This was an impulse that she knew she could no longer restrain. The response from the public was unanimous : they loved it! Each and every viewer finds themselves or else recognizes someone they know and love in the attitudes and traits of these beautiful and stoic protagonists. * Nathalie Paquin

Raphaëlle Séguin was born in Montréal, Quebec. From an early age, she likes to doodle, pottering and painting. She studied arts at Lionel-Groulx College and graduated in design at “Cégep du Vieux-Montreal”. Passionate by the world of visual arts and graphic design, she is mostly fascinated by people’s faces. For her, it’s the most effective tool to communicate. She finds her inspiration from everything that surrounds her, but especially from the different people she meets in her everyday life. To create her characters, she likes to play with the different shapes, volumes, colors and contrasts to give them an original universe and a unique personality. She loves to bring a funny side to her portraits more that sometimes have more serious features. She tries to give people a breath of fresh air, a moment of craziness, a little lightness and make them smile. Painting is a visceral need for her. This allows her total surrender into a world where boundaries and constraints don’t exist.

Her approach is in constant evolution and she is always looking to bring her work further. You can define her art as naive, vulnerable, insightful, playful, humorous, candid and colorful. She likes the fact that each person makes her own reading and interpretation of the faces they are exposed to.

“Images I create are poems without the words”
– Rubem Robierb

For two decades, Rubem Robierb has worked with poetry, photography and painting to create capturing and visually compelling works of art whose strong symbolism and underlying message induce an emotional response with the beholder and strike on the sensitive nerves of modern society.

Growing up in Maranhão, Brazil, Robierb first artistic expression was poetry, which was followed by photography. His kindling passion for photography led it to become his preferred art form, because, like with poetry, Robierb clearly saw how he could create images that could convey a deeper meaning – and create images that could be read.

After receiving formal photography training while working as a commercial photographer in São Paolo, he was discovered by the French ‘Art et Partage’ association, which helped him debut his first solo photography show in Paris and Aix en Provence.

In 2008 Robierb relocated to Miami to open his studio in the art district Wynwood. In this axis of international and local art galleries mixed with street art and graffiti and began to pursue what he alludes to as his third artistic way of expression – painting. In. 2013 Robierb move to NYC and debut his first show in the big apple at Gaglialatella Galleries named Bullets and Butterflies. It was from this location that he has created a rough of his most important works, including, BulletFly Effect, HEart and his new series Power Flowers.

In the beginning of 2015, Robierb was commissioned by the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to bring his BulletFly Effect series into the heart of the city. His art project Metamorph-US transformed a Downtown Fort Lauderdale building with a 300-foot mural of large-scale butterflies.

Currently, he is deeply involved in his visually bold and symbolically potent art collection HEART, and his next art project will evolve around two other profoundly transformative figures – bullets and flowers. Working with the bullet as an iconic shape has also paved the way for his fourth artistic way of expression as Robierb is working with dimensionality and scale as a sculptor.

An urban painter, he is primarily interested in the movement of light in city centers. Thus,he prefers living at night and seeing the black asphalt. His work is greatly inspired by capturing the movement of different colors in daily life. A canvas in motion, his paintings become real adventures in which traffic jams and city life become a creative outlet. Intensive traffic !
Andre Schirmer particularly interested in the color and lighting effects that happen in major cities and the people he has observed in his immediate environment. Designer, graphic designer, illustrator and painter. He managed Led Claw Design, a firm of designers. First landscape painter, he then became an urban painter.

Artist from Gothenburg, Sweden. Conveying expressions of emotion and connection; of life and energy.

From Gothenburg, Sweden. Occasionally in the South of France. Represented in Sweden by Galleri Eklund, Stockholm, Galleri Lohme, Malmö, and Ascot Studios in Great Britain. My paintings are silent bursts of emotions, which in the end become portrayals (or portals, if you will) of energy. As such I wish that they can be felt as much as seen; that the energy gets new life and takes on a new form in each viewer. Even if the feeling they give rise to can’t be explained, or even if it’s an unconscious one, it’s nevertheless an important and true feeling. A feeling, I think, that bears witness to the interconnectedness between us, and that there is no distance too far for energy to travel. Which is also why I want to keep it light.

On seeing the sand casting technique for the first time, during her studies in the USA, Amanda Brisbane was instantly drawn to the textural finishes that the process generates – the subtle interplay between the fire-polished smoothness of the inner surface and the contrasting, coarser texture of the cast underbelly. It is a procedure that she has refined over the years; producing one-off glass sculptures that take on an organic, three-dimensional form all of their own.

Currently producing some of the UK’s most visually exciting, contemporary glass sculptures, Amanda’s greatest strength is her ability to embrace each new challenge with a vigour and enthusiasm that is caught in the spirit of her extraordinary glass pieces. 

Niso Maman was born in 1957. He is an 11th generation Israeli from one of the oldest families living in Israel. He opened his first art studio under the direction of the Haifa University Art Department while still in high school. During this period, he began to establish his reputation in the Tel Aviv area where he sold and displayed work to the art public.

In 1982, Niso opened his studio in West Palm Beach, Florida as well as directing and receiving national attention for operating one of the few bronze art foundries in the Easter United States. In 1991, he began concentrating his efforts on new works of marble, onyx, bronze and steel. It was also during this period that Niso gained a reputation as a teacher of stone-carving, inspiring his students with his creativity and sharp eye for form and lines.

Niso spends his time between his studios in Israel and Palm Beach, Florida, exploring the challenges of self-expression in many contrasting media.

Today his sculptures stand out and demand notice for their simplicity, elegance, and consummate professionalism.

Whatever I write about my artwork is going to be wrong a second down the road. As far as I can see the work changes and is constantly changing. I remain, possibly, constant to a desire to work with my hands and visual imagery. I have always loved the artist materials such as paper, charcoal, paint and clay. It is quite easy to get lost and create work that does not speak to others or even to oneself. Being truly stubborn I have been able to fail and to then start over again , always on the look out for that one piece that speaks simply and clearly (and I don’t know why it does but it does). I am 60 now and this is what I have done since I was….5 years old and maybe younger. It seems I have less tolerance now for going down long roads of what I consider dishonest work. It still happens but I can feel it a mile away and am learning to make the travel down those roads, shorter.

For approximately 30 years, I painted. I loved oils. Oil on wood, oil on linen canvas, oil on paper (many landscapes with animals, people and roads) . Because of allergies I switched to watercolors which I also grew to love. I tried to love acrylics but it was a struggle. During that love/ hate relationship with acrylics I rediscovered paper maché. When I look back at those firstpaper horse sculptures I wonder what in the world I was finding so fascinating. I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning to see how the previous day’s work had dried and then to begin again, a day of layering paper. This went on for a good three years, 10 hours a day, seven day a week. The horses evolved. I did make a conscious decision to work only with the horse (and human) form. There were a dozen or so cows, dogs and turtles but I would quickly grow tired of them. My fascination for the horse seems endless. Why? Maybe I don’t want to know why though maybe faithfulness to the horse, to their muscle, their skin, their bone, their movement, their stillness, their grace, their humour, all parts of the same form, gave me a freedom to allow my hands and mind to dance.

I am a gardener, I am learning to be a potter and I love to walk.