BRUSH, STROKES AND TANTRUMS!

2016-11-18T12:33:00.001-05:00

The Sun is The Centre of All Things

The Sun Above the Channel

The Sun Above the Prairie Range

Acrylic paintings 16"x16" 2016

2016-11-18T12:28:00.000-05:00

Playful Suns....

The Four Suns

Looking for the Sun that Disappeared!

Acrylic paintings 8"x30". 2016

Between Opposites, Some Hearts Are Vulnerable

2016-08-12T22:20:00.001-04:00

Title: Between Opposites, Some Hearts Are Vulnerable
Size: 30"x60"x1" acrylic on canvas
Year: 2016

Description:

This painting features three human hearts, exposed and linked to one another, searching for the balance between a blue and yellow moon, as defined by the Yin and Yang hovering above their heads.

I seek to convey a story on how some people are vulnerable with their hearts and who optimistically seduced and shaped by either the harshness or kindness side of men and women (blue and yellow moon), all in the search to find their soul-mate.

I painted these hearts breathing and living surrounded by moving colourful clouds of energy while nearing sharp edge stained-glass shards that dominate the ground area. It a precarious position to be. The scene looks serene enough but the vulnerability is surely present.

The Magic Tree and the Orange Acorns

2016-08-12T22:13:00.004-04:00

Title: The Magic Tree and the Orange Acorns

Size: 24"x24"x1", acrylic on canvas, wood frame black lacquered

Year: 2015

SOLD SEPTEMBER 2016

The Sun and Moon Cajoling Among Clouds

2016-08-12T22:04:00.003-04:00

Title: The Sun and Moon Cajoling Among Clouds
Size: 10"x12" on canvas
Year: 2016

Two Hearts Stringed as One 'Cerf-volant'

2016-08-12T22:02:00.002-04:00

Title: Two Hearts Stringed as One 'Cerf-volant'
Size: 10"x12" on canvas
Year: 2016

La Divanation Erato, Muse of Words and Songs

2016-04-18T13:35:00.001-04:00

Title: La Divanation Erato, Muse of Words and Songs
Format: Acrylic and Ink on canvas
Year:     2016
Size:     24" x 24" x1"
Price:    $550.00 CAD

Here is the evolution process of how I created my muse Erato. My starting point was putting a circle in the centre of the canvas. From there I let my mind go free of obstacles and thought and let the flow of the muse lay her design on the canvas. I was very pleased with the results. Fragmented energy is part for the course and in order to understand it, it often manifests itself in shapes and forms that are easier to understand. La Divanation Enchanted is about Erato, the muse of words and songs.

The Guardian of the Books Of Lives

2016-04-18T13:12:00.004-04:00

Title:     The Guardian of the Books Of Lives
Size:      6' x 4'x 1" (72"x48"x1")
Format: acrylic paint on gallery canvas
Year:     2016
Price:    $2,300 CAD
Status: Available

This painting represents the journey my heart has taken in the last 53 years.

I covered the canvas with life and death affirming symbols. The path as an embryo to that of a man is intertwined with layers of energy and movement as well as growth and decay, love and heartbreak.

The fluidity of water be where the dancing dolphin or sleeping child, or sky offer moments of peace and contentment.

The Guardian of the Books of Lives has my name inscribed and has been leaving instructions as how to live my live but giving free will to chose the crossroads I meet to travel. Wisdom is learned through the experience of having explored and having tried to life a life that bears no ill to others.

I included the two boats to represent my Gemini sign of birth. I included the disco dance floor as a representing the man of many colours I had become, with music, paint, and compartmentalized families and friends.

As crazy movement and shape changing is at the core of this painting, the corners represents its stability and anchoring.

The Circle of Life is a Transformation Act

2016-04-18T12:52:00.002-04:00

The Circle of Life is a Transformation Act

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 16" x 32" x 1"
Price: $300.00 CAD
Availability: Available

This painting is made of two panels that represent the past and the future.
The present is define by the centre line. When joined, the centre represents the present and it is the guidance force to situate where the person is located in the balance of things.

The inner four circles within the large circle represents water, fire, earth and air. The inner fractions represents human, animal, vegetation, and mineral elements.

The colours of each shape represent their uniqueness and their complementary energy to one another.

Outside of the large circle which represent the magnitude of the universe, as variations of energy flows and moves and clashes or dance together creating tempest, sounds, wind, rain of sentiment and emotions. The Circle of Life is a transformation act that beats like the heart of God.

Steps Away from the Sun

2016-04-18T12:19:00.005-04:00

Steps Away from the Sun

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 12" x 12" x 1"
Price: $125.00 CAD
Availability: Available

Sun and Shoreline

2016-04-18T12:17:00.002-04:00

Sun and Shoreline

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 12" x 12" x 1"
Price: $125.00 CAN
Availability: Available

The Whale's Habitat

2016-04-18T12:14:00.003-04:00

The Whale's Habitat

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 30" x 60" x 1"
Price: $1,500.00 CAD
Availability: Available

I had traveled to British Columbia on several occasions for work in the 1990s.
I flew once out of Vancouver to Campbell's Bay Island and was awed by the wonderful majestic mountains and waterways kissing the shorelines.

I imagined what it would be like for the whales that traveled those waters and how their habitat seem peaceful even though it had been encroached by humans.

I painted this scene as colorful as I could to show nature's immense beauty and magic. I am very happy how the trees and the movements of the clouds turned out.

Magical Sky Above the Gatineau Hills

2016-04-18T12:09:00.002-04:00

Magical Sky Above the Gatineau Hills

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 24" x 24" x .75" with Black lacquered wooden frame
Price: $550.00 CAD
Availability: Available

I painted "Magical Sky Above the Gatineau Hills" in remembrance of my childhood and teenage years in Northern Ontario. This painting is an exaggerated stylized impression of the movement and colours of the fabulous northern lights Aurora Borealis that I saw and marvelled at as a boy.

A Shaman's Journey in Search of the Self (Tryptic)

2016-04-18T12:08:00.002-04:00

A Shaman's Journey in Search of the Self (Tryptic)

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 9 ft x 4 ft x .75
Price: $2,500.00 CAD
Availability: Available

This painting "A Shaman's Journey in Search of the Self" They are attached to metal rods in order to stay straight and secure.

The Triptych - The Shaman's Journey In Search of the Self is comprised of three attached canvases each measuring 48" x 36" x .75. This acrylic painting represents the 'travels' of a healer in search of self-discovery and self-awareness.

To achieve this objective, my goal was to paint circular and wave movements between the three panels which was done by incorporating different curves and various colours to represent one's life's expectations desires and emotions.

Shamanism is about the discovery of the self through dance and trance - calling spirit animals to manifest themselves, and gather the powers of healing.

The top panel has large and small globes representing the remnants of our past. The journey for the Shaman is just beginning as he or she embark on a quest to transcend his or her present state of mind in order to understand our sick bodies, our relationships with other beings, or our fragile mental health.
The middle panel shows a shaman in fragmented form, dancing and moving between these colourful globes that contain one's memories and libraries of knowledge, and possibly drawing new maps for the self.
The bottom panel shows a shaman having achieved part of his quest. He is in a sitting position in midair contemplating and figuring his recent learned acquisitions. This is done before he or she move on to the next stage of the healing process.

Contact the artist about this artwork

2015-08-31T03:15:00.002-04:00

I did the following paintings in 2015 while I occupied a studio space in the Ottawa Enriched Bread Artist building in Ottawa.

The Family Tree

Acrylic on canvas (36"x48")

This painting is an allegory of how I viewed my struggles to find acceptance within my immediate family and how much I wanted to connected to something greater than myself. Having family roots is still important to me… as I will not be leaving some behind.

Treatises and Promises Forsaken

Acrylic on canvas (36"x48")

This painting represents Aboriginal people where being tricked and deceived by false promises made by representatives of the Crown. The man in the centre represents the trickster, liar, manipulator, agent of destruction and assimilation. The false promises and lies are portrayed in the curved shapes going from ear to ear. The lack of leaved in the trees represent the lack of nurturing and indifference that was shown to Aboriginals as they continued to fight for their basic rights.

"Between 1876 and 1950, the purpose of the amendments to the Indian Act was to strengthen the philosophy of civilization and assimilation underlying the first Act. Moreover, many of the changes to the Act granted the government greater powers to move Aboriginals and expropriate their lands for the purpose of non-Aboriginal use."

http://mapleleafweb.com/features/the-indian-act-historical-overview#civilizations

Reaching for the Sun

Acrylic on two canvas panels (60"x26")

The two panels contain each a figure or form that can be defined has being human. Their profiles reaches for the sky as the sun bathes them with its rays of lights. These rays also reach the ground where red tulips are in full bloom and also reach for the skies.

The Rose

2015-04-12T10:49:00.001-04:00

The Rose

Artist: Claude Chapdelaine
Title: The Rose
Year: 1980
Medium: Pencil
Size: 8"x11" white drawing paper
Price: Not for sale

This rose was a high school art class assignment. I was very pleased with the results.

2014-10-05T13:08:00.002-04:00

The Reluctant Goodbye

Artist: Claude Chapdelaine

Title: The Reluctant Goodbye

Year: 2014

Medium: Acrylic

Size: 24"x24" canvas

Frame: 1" wood, black lacquered

Price: $0

Status: Donated to a local organization in order to raise funds for post secondary scholarships.

I painted “The Reluctant Goodbye” a couple weeks ago in order to try to articulate in art form the sense of hopelessness or helplessness friends, family and community members must feel when a daughter, sister, mother, grandmother goes missing or is murdered.

The painting features a tired woman dressed in a red weathered down tattered dress who is laid lengthwise in an orange row boat. She is alone and without oars. Her face is pale and her hair is dishevelled. One of her arms is resting over the side of the boat as if she is either trying to call for help or is waving back to someone who pushed her away from the shore. As she drifts into darkness, she bids a reluctant goodbye to her loved ones.

“The Reluctant Goodbye” is an acrylic and latex painting on a 24”x24” canvas. The woman’s red dress is in respect to the Red Dress campaign for missing aboriginal women.

This painting is not meant to romanticize or lessen the pain of loss and grief but to further the discussion on this important demographic and social issue. I offered the painting to an organization so they may either auction or raffle it off to raise funds for a new Education scholarship that has been created in memory of all missing and murdered women in Canada. I'll let you know when it's made official.

The Musician and the Poet

2014-09-20T22:29:00.004-04:00

La musicienne

Le poète

La musicianne and Le poète (The Musician and the Poet) are two ink drawings that I made simultaneously back in 1990. The themes were inspired by my readings on Medieval and Renaissance periods. I really liked the notion of gallantry, romanticism, poetry and the troubadours.

Artist: Claude Chapdelaine
Title: La musicienne et Le poète
Year: 1990
Medium: Ink

Size: 14x16 white drawing paper
Price: Not for sale

Red Tulips and Dancing Clouds…

2014-09-20T22:18:00.000-04:00

The Tulips and the Dancing Clouds

Artist: Claude Chapdelaine

Title: Red Tulips and Dancing Clouds

Year: 2014

Size: 24"x 48"x1" canvas

Medium: Acrylic and Latex

Price: $ 0
Status: Sold to private collector

I am very pleased with the final results of this painting, especially on how my tulips and clouds looked once completed. This was the longest canvas I ever painted on and it was a bit daunting as to how I chose to use the surface space.

Rapids Around the River Bend

2014-08-10T12:08:00.002-04:00

Rapids Around the River Bend

Artist: Claude Chapdelaine
Title: Rapids Around the River Bend
Year: 2014
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Size: 12x12 inches (canvas has 45 degree edges)
Price: $125.00
Status: Available

The acrylic painting "Magical Skies Around the River Bend" was inspired by my love of walks in the forest and listening to water courant its way downstream. I enjoy incorporating a large sun and colourful clouds. Although clouds are moving along like the river without a set course. They are suspended in lightness and flow with the winds whereas the water is grounded and travels a designed route along shores and over rapids.

Searching for The Tree of Life

2014-03-27T22:49:00.000-04:00

Searching for The Tree of Life

Searching The Tree of Life

Artist: Claude Chapdelaine

Title: The Tree of Life

Year: 1984

Medium: Latex markers

Size: 8"x11" pink colouring paper

Price: TBD

I was 22 at the time I did this auto portrait with small fine water based markers on pink coloured paper. I was motivated to do this drawing a few days after I had heard a man's voice in one of my dreams instructing me that I needed to go and find my tree of life.

As the central figure, I position my face looking towards the right - to face the future.

In the middle of the ordinary landscape, I put in a leafless majestic tree that stands three times higher above the tree lines. It looks symmetrical and a little bit like a creature ready to pounce towards the sun with its claws.

Thirty years have gone by and I am still wondering if I found the right Tree.

Silent Witnesses

2014-03-27T22:19:00.001-04:00

Silent Witnesses

Artist: Claude Chapdelaine

Title: Silent Witnesses

Medium: Pen ink

Year: 1983

Size: 8"x11"on grey drawing paper

Price: Not for sale

Here is a poem I wrote to describe what I was feeling when I completed this ink drawing:

Near or Far

They are many

They've come to see hopelessness, expecting defeat

They've come in Silence, Faceless

They are the ones who brought him down with cutting edges

trusting that he will no longer be Him-self

to stop his way of thinking and believing

to stop his voice from speaking, his lungs from breathing

to stop his good heart, from loving and soaring

to stop him in his mid-step, from moving forward

to stake him into one position

and claim him as one of their own

to render him Silent

Obedient

The sitting buddha takes on many forms, its spirit adapts

Prayer, it comes bearing gifts in difficult circumstances

He is Zoned out on a sandy beach a million miles away

remembering what its like to be Himself,

contemplating the book of Verbs,

reciting softly the mantra he learnt as a boy

listening to his heartbeat

embracing the winds and murmurs that come his way

whispering his Name

NOISE

Wikipedia has the following for a definition on Allegory:

Allegory has been used widely throughout the histories of all forms of art;

a major reason for this is its immense power to illustrate complex ideas and concepts

in ways that are easily digestible and tangible to its viewers, readers, or listeners.

An allegory conveys its hidden message

through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, and/or events.

Allegory is generally treated as a figure of rhetoric;

a rhetorical allegory is a demonstrative form of representation conveying meaning

other than the words that are spoken.

The Red Tree House

2014-03-21T23:23:00.000-04:00

The Red Tree House

Original by: Claude Chapdelaine
Title: The Tree House
Year: 2014
Medium: Acrylic
Size: 12"x12"x1" canvas with black lacquered wood frame
Price: $0
Status: Sold to private collector

I like the idea of tree houses. I'd have to say the first time I really got the notion that it would be lots of fun to live in trees was when I was about 7 years old after watching old Tarzan movies starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan.

The notion of wanting to live in the woods eventually disappeared and I envisioned moving out of the small town and living instead in a city, to roam and play in the urban jungle. And tree houses, like bird houses stayed as part of my wonderment.

I had sketched the house before I sketched the tree. I wanted it to be the focal point even though I feel the trees branch have a strong hold on the house like a captive. I used a medium black water based marker to draw the picture on a 10x10 inch canvas.

As the series of photos below show, I applied acrylic paint to first; the tree, the house, the background sky, and the leaves. I found the blue/violet background a bit too somber so I applied a light shade of green to invoke the presence of foliage without having to detail more leaves.

Fragmented Self

2014-03-20T23:26:00.000-04:00

The Fragmented Self

This drawing made of crayons represent how I sometimes felt. My journey has been relatively a solitary one during my youth where I have often felt invisible and disconnected from the world around me. The symbols abound with those of planets, roads, bridge, hearts, face, tears, tree of life, sun, blood, wounds, tree of life, boulders and a sandy ground.

Artist: Claude Chapdelaine
Title: The Fragmented Self
Year: 1984
Medium: Crayon
Size: 8"x11" white drawing paper
Price: TBD

This drawing was done in 1984 (age 22). I was in college and going through a rough time. I was finishing my diploma in Special Education and was feeling the pangs of having to decide what to do with my life. I also had to come to grips with the road I had travelled to get to the place I was destined to go, which meant that I had to find the courage to let go of the past and cross the bridge to god knows what was waiting on the other side. Fragmented self symbolized having to accept change, to accept that my then beliefs and fears were no longer protectors but obstacles. Inner tantrums were of abundance. It would take me years to find all the pieces of the puzzle.

The Bird House

2014-03-19T18:52:00.001-04:00

The Bird House

Artist: Claude Chapdelaine

Title: The Bird House

Year: 2014

Medium: Acrylic

Size: 12"x12"x1" canvas with black lacquered wood frame

Price: $150.00

The following series of photos contain the different steps I took to bring a drawing on a canvas and turn it into a bird's house attached to a tree.

The canvas is 10x10 inches. Used a B pencil to outline the primary image I had in mind.

First colour was Burnt Sienna.

I added maple leafs falling from higher unseen branches

and painted them Cadmium Red Deep hue.

I covered the background with a Light Blue Violet.

I used Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber to texturize the tree bark.

Once I finished the painting, I took a water based black marker to create and enhance the edges of the tree and the branches.

For the tree house, I used Yellow Oxide, Cadmium Orange Hue and some Raw Sienna.

Once the painting was dry, I applied one layer of Acrylic Gloss Medium to give it a little extra shine.

I framed it with Wallack's Float/Step black frame.