HELLO!
my name is audrée
Creativity and a great fascination for colors, shapes, patterns, textures and nature have always been part of my life. My childhood, living in a house by the river, surrounded by wildflowers fields in a small Canadian town was filled with stashes of paper, color pencils and paint. I loved to sit by myself to draw the stories I had imagined earlier while looking at the clouds or picking woodland strawberries. Art was my most favorite subject in school and I was always willing to participate in projects and contests involving it.
Since following an artistic career was not something that was encouraged, by the time I reached college I chose to pursue a degree in psychology but was never able to finish it. I had the best time in university but was also miserable because of the lack of creativity my studies involved. It was also at the same period that I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Crohn’s disease, an illness that was going to change my life in so many ways and that is still affecting me to this day.
I traveled and worked abroad, lost and (partially) found myself and finally decided to go back to school. After graduating in Graphic Design from the Academy of Arts and Technology of Montreal in 2000, I decided to start my own design business.
Motherhood happened shortly after that and it became hard to find time for creative projects as I was super busy taking care of my family, but I always had some kind of crafty thing going on. I painted on pots, glasses, plates, wooden boxes, made seaglass jewelry, tried mosaic, sewing, knitting, crochet.
It wasn’t until 2013, when I took a life-changing intuitive painting class that I realized I wanted to take my art practice to the next level. A move from Canada to the UAE helped me clear my intention to become a full-time artist and help others to reconnect with their profound essence through creativity. I wake up every day trying to make the world a more colorful and inspiring place.
MY
artist
statement
I tell stories in a language of layers—painted and stamped marks and patterns, vivid colors, contrasting black areas and lots of drips of fluid paint. I experiment with acrylics, ink, texture mediums and pastels to create abstract, busy backgrounds. I surrender to the process and let the painting unfold naturally, committing only to the next move and allowing the final result to reveal itself. Figures and silhouettes eventually emerge in the final layers, like guides inviting the viewer to travel across the worlds that I create.
The forest and its inhabitants are captivating me. I’m especially fascinated by the deer, who represents gentleness, the
ability to move through life and obstacles with grace, intuition and sensitivity, and the raven—a symbol of mystery, secrets, and spiritual rebirth. I feel a deep connection to formless figures, embodying both freedom and loneliness. I have a strong desire to explore the concept of portals and passages across times and dimensions by intuitively creating windows that examine elements of the previously created layers while covering others. These openings allow the viewer to wander through the painting and discover something new yet profoundly familiar every time he/she looks at it.
I pay tribute to nature in every painting. Its omnipresence is a reassuring reminder that hope, beauty, and benevolence continuously surround and embrace us. It is my way of escape from suffering, and is the heartbeat of my work.
I absorb my inspiration from many areas: fantasy stories, anime movies, folklore and legends. Similarly, nostalgia, vulnerability and melancholy are engines for my creativity. Although my style of work cannot fit into one specific style, it falls somewhere between post-impressionism and expressionism. I admire the art of Golnaz Afraz, Flora Bowley, Hilma af Klint, Alfred Pellan and Marc Chagall.