Richard Savoie is a Quebec painter born in Moncton (N.B.) on June 13th 1959. He comes from a family of artists, the works of his uncle Roméo Savoie is part of Canada’s National Gallery.
He studies art with Gabrielle Messier and Yolaine Lefebvre and becomes a full time artist by the 1980s.
He is, at first, known for his work with pastel. In fact, through a career spanning more than twenty years as a pastel artist, he became known as one of the Masters of this difficult medium.
A few years back, Savoie takes a chance and puts away his pastels and paper and puts aside a technique that had become second nature through the years. He trades guaranteed success for a new challenge: oil painting. No sooner had the artist started to explore this new medium that he was showing extreme affinity to it, far above what anyone might have expected.
Even in the darkest of the nights of Richard Savoie’s paintings, light seems to explode in a forward motion while the people who live in the paintings appear to turn their back on us as if we were catching a mere glimpse of a fleeting moment.
Richard Savoie’s work can be found in major galleries throughout Canada and is also part of some of the country’s most important collections.
Sophie Paquet was born in Sherbrooke in 1963. From a young age, she was strongly attracted to the arts, a passion that was transmitted through her father who was an architect-designer and art lover. With this immediate admiration the young artist decided to enrol in fine arts at Cégep de Ste-Foy, and completed her training in visual arts at Laval University. With a degree in hand, she decided to continue her studies and enrolled in graphic design. This varied knowledge in the visual art field allowed her to discover quite early on, that her favourite mediums were acrylic and oil pastel.
Her style is clearly instinctive and spontaneous. The artist finds pleasure in indulging in the creativity of the moment, and is ready to dive into a world teeming with colour. With energy and dynamism, the passion of creation is felt with every brush stroke. Enthusiastic movements make the flowers dance with and joy and positivity. Although very spontaneous, the works of Sophie Paquet are the result of great consideration for composition and balance. Through her paintings, one definitely feels her love for art and creation, which she communicates with a freshness filled with youth and constant renewal.
Sophie Paquet has exhibited regularly since 1989.