The Blue House – Acrylic Painting by Eric Mailhot

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”The Blue House” is an acrylic painting done on a 30×40 inch canvas that was completed sometime in August of 2017. Started in the month of April 2016, the project is based on the photo of a small rural house that was taken on October 22nd 2016 nearby St-Foy CEGEP in Quebec City. On publication of this article, the painting is in the hands of Renée Jacques, a friend and work collegue. With this gift, I hoped to show her my gratitude for her support since my arrival in Quebec City in March of 2016. More importantly, I’ve always been able to count on her throughout the production of the Ericzone Podcast. She has always been willing to offer carpool during the cold winter days. It was precisely during those first days of driving to work that we noticed the blue house and that the idea of painting it first dawned on me. And so, it only made a lot of sense that I would offer her the painting. Merci Renée.

The Blue House

As I mentioned, it was during those first weeks in Quebec City that I discovered the Blue House (located corner St-Foy et Chevremont), in a rather fragile state, painted with a surprising blue color. Even more surprising, is the fact that I developed such a strange fascination with this somewhat beautiful house that waited for its uncertain future. It’s in this context that I took a few photos with my cell phone in the last days of October 2016. Little did I know that, just a few days later, this modest little house would be demolished and replaced by a mundane parking lot.

A Bit of History

According to the information I was given about this humble house, the land had apparently been rented to the religious community of l’Hôtel-Dieu to Pauline de Villiers in June of 1939. The house was then built during the summer of 1939.

Mme De Villiers would go on to own the house until April of 1975, when she sold it to Godfroy Lamarche, a man from Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier. M. Lamarche, a teacher, would be proprietor until june of 2001. M. Lamarche was no longer living in the house when it was sold to M. Normand St-Cyr in June of 2001. The latter owned the place up until 2016 when it was sold to Immocom Ste-Foy Inc.

A sad ending

I would have hoped for a more honorable end to this humble house. I feel that, in light of its proximity to the CEGEP St-Foy, the house could have been converted (had it been in better condition) into a student cafe of some kind. With its fragile demeanor and its outlandish color, I can’t help but draw a parallel between the blue house and the future of Quebec. As a cafe, it could have housed future generations of students, inspiring them by the smell of coffee and Quebec music. All it would have taken to give this house a second life and to possibly make it a part of Quebec city’s heritage, would have  been an astute business person with the right amount of foresight.

The memory of this house is forever engraved in my memory. I feel happy that I was able to contribute to perpertuating its story post-mortem, through my art and this article. If ever you have photos or anecdotes to share, please don’t hesitate to write in the comments or through email.

The Blue House @ Ericzone Podcast

August 20th 2017, I had the opportunity to talk about my painting of the blue house with la Serveuse du Nelligans, while recording the Ericzone Podcast. You can click on the video below to watch the excerpt from that episode. Manon Choquette (Serveuse du Nelligans) is not only a writer and blogger, but also a talented painter. (excerpt is in french)

I invite you to have a look at the Flickr album and the photos that recall the evolution of the project. You can find images of the painting on Behance and on Deviantart. As always, I invite you to have a look at  www.ericzone.com and to visit my Facebook page. Don’t forget to click «Like». You can also find me on YouTube. Ericzone is on Instagram. Have you sent me a contact request on LinkedIn?

Visit the Ericzone Podcast page on Facebook, YouTube and BaladoQuebec.com. The show is available on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. I invite you to visit the Ericzone Podcast photo album on Flickr.