Pauline’s passion for painting is first and foremost fueled by her love of children. Nothing fascinates her more than watching children playing and interacting with them. Capturing childhood beauty in paint is what enchants her most.
At a very young age Pauline was naturally gifted at drawing (a talent she thinks comes from her mother) and with her willingness to acquire knowledge and her taste for painting, Pauline took many fine art courses. It was not until she met her neighbour Marcel Fecteau (a well-known landscape painter) that her career really took off. Seeing her interest, Fecteau gave her a book on drawing and painting and encouraged her, giving her advice in her first endeavors. Observant and skillful, she progressed rapidly. One day, upon seeing a painting by Fecteau of children leaving school, she was magically inspired to paint children. The scene was of such quality and beauty, that it became an essential inspiration for her painting career.
Urban or country, it is but a pretense to depict joyful and playful children. When composing such scenes, where does her inspiration come from? “I go where children are. My first ideas came to me from my own sons, from their laughter, their play and their clothing. When winter comes along, it is the occasion for festivities; I take many photographs of children in festivals and carnivals. With my camera in hand, I also explore every nook and cranny of villages and alleyways. I then follow up with elements from my imagination and my memories; I invent scenes where my little boys and girls will become actors. Thus, as I have done before, I can transform a Calgary building into a Montreal convenience store”.
“I draw from my memories, but I also use my observations of every day reality. For example: one day, I saw from my window two little girls who were skipping rope on the side of the road and they had tied the rope to a road sign post. I found that scene novel enough to use it in my next painting. That scene was exactly what I wanted to recreate, not a nostalgic bygone era, but an everyday scene displaying movement, vitality, humor and spontaneity.”
Paquin relentlessly pursues perfection; she maintains that no painting leaves her studio if she is not proud of it. Every new work of art is always a challenge; it is the fruit of constant research and experimentation of mixed oil painting techniques, paper textures and collages.
See for yourself how much enthusiasm and liveliness inhabit the paintings of Pauline Paquin and link her to the spirit and age of her young subjects. Let yourself go! Get carried away into a children’s world!
