Lavender Fields – A painting by Eric Mailhot

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Creating art is generally therapeutic to me. I often describe drawing as my Zen moment of meditation. It’s that instant when I am able to calm my inner voice so that I can focus on nothing but the moment. My daytime job as a communication artist also benefits from my extracurricular pursuits as a visual artist. Working in marketing, I often have to design graphics in Adobe Photoshop and to visually express the requests made by the clients. And so, studying medium and layers of acrylic colours can be seen as a rehearsal and a way to sharpen abilities. I still recall when, early in my career, the marketing lead at Ubisoft had first brought this to my attention. He had explained how painting would help to hone my graphic design skills.
Fast forward to 2016. I’ve just landed a job as video editor and photoshop specialist at a company in Quebec City. I enthusiastically greeted this new chapter in my professional career and immediately began to visualise how I would go about things in the coming months. I knew that by moving to this new town, with no point of reference, I had an opportunity to reinvent myself and to bloom in my artistic aspirations. And so, I made sure to save some room for an art studio in my home and to give a conscientious push into the realm of creativity. Imagine my astonishment when I discovered an art store at a walking distance from my apartment. It just goes to show how destiny occasionally may feel obliged to acknowledge certain efforts. If ever you’re in the vicinity, I invite you to have a look at the place called ‘Encadrement Claude’. Truth be told, I felt compelled to walk over to the store weekly. Conversely, I sometimes had to restrain myself from going there to buy art supplies, such as wood canvases, gold leaf and special brushes. It was also in this store that my painting called ‘the Blue House’ was framed.

Eric Mailhot in April 2020 with the Lavender Fields painting

I stayed four years in Quebec City and started many art projects I sadly never got a chance to complete. One of the pieces I did manage to finish before leaving Quebec in May 2020, was the artwork I called ‘Lavender Fields’. Measuring 30 x 40 inches, the painting had been commissioned sometime in 2018 and was based on a photo given to me by the client. With this project, I was interested to see if I could simulate depth of field by using varying amounts of paint for elements closer to the eye. I had explored this use of thick amounts of paint in the foreground a few years back for a painting I had made called ‘By the Lake’. More recently, ‘The Blue House’ also included this study of thick foreground paint. Thickness of lines is another interesting visual trick to express proximity in art. Elements in the foreground are often contoured by dense lines that attract the attention of the eye. I’ve explored this technique in my artwork ‘Divine Inspiration’, which is a nightmarish interpretation of the art of Alphonse Mucha. Another notable example for the brilliant use of this technique is in the Japanese anime series ‘Attack on Titan’.

‘Lavender Fields’ is another creation that I intentionally devised so that it would interact with the ambient light. As I explained in the ‘Tree Hugger’ blog, I am fascinated by the use of mediums and surfaces that embellish the art itself. In this case, the thick amounts of paint I used meant that, depending on the ambient light, the experience would vary for the observer. This nuanced perception of the art can also be explored with gold leafing, which I am also truly fond of. Last but not least, the painting is ornate with visual intricacies and immersed in hidden details. Each blade of glass was painstakingly applied over the course of long hours. If ever you get a chance to look at the painting from up close, you will notice that there is a hidden universe on the canvas. Photos of the painting don’t even come close to the real thing.

Generating art is a worthwhile passion that demands a considerable amount of time on a day to day basis. With a full-time job demanding large chunks of my life, I could only spare a few hours of my precious time for the pursuit of art. ‘Lavender Fields’ was a wonderful experience and I look back on those months of production with a satisfactory glance. I was also very happy to have been commissioned by the people this work was meant for. They were respectful with their feedback and I was happy to oblige and bring some adjustments when asked. The painting is undoubtedly an opus to spring time and exudes a positive glow which was important for the client. This is why I allowed myself to embellish from the original photo by adding butterflies, flowers and a cat. I also purposefully used vibrant colors to engulf the viewer with the warm impression of being transported into a beautiful fairy-tale dream. After many months of carefully applying intricate globs of acrylic, I was happy to deliver ‘Lavender Fields’ in April 2020.

For more information, you can find my art portfolio on ArtStation, Behance and on Deviantart. As always, I invite you view my official website www.ericzone.com and visit my Facebook page. Don’t forget to click “Like”. Have a look at my art on Instagram. You can also find me on YouTube. Ericzone is on Instagram. Did you send me an invitation to connect via LinkedIn?

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

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Jean-Charles Bedard Painting by Eric Mailhot

My grandfather had his 100th birthday on September 8th, 2018 and passed away on January 7th, 2019. My mother and my aunt were with him during the night and i received the call early in the morning. The news did not hurt me as much as I thought it should have, to the point where I almost felt ashamed. It then dawned on me that I had, unconsciously and preemptively, been processing my grief while creating his portrait. The artwork is based on a photo I took of him during Xmas 2017 and is my first true attempt at a classical, figurative and large-scale painting. It is only fitting that this depiction would be of my grand-father, Jean-Charles Bédard.

About the process

The whole process began in the cold month of March of 2018. In order to prepare myself, I sketched and painted two portraits onto smaller canvases. The purpose was warm up my dexterous fingers,  but more importantly, to better acquaint myself with my grandfather’s face and to figure out certain technical details before moving onto the larger canvas. (see my Behance page for more images during the creative process)

For this project, I also wanted to have my first attempt at gold leaf gilding. I had initially been interested by the idea of gold leaf by watching a BBC documentary about the color gold, in which the famous Richard II portrait is shown. Created in the 1390’s by a forgotten artist, this artwork (today exhibited at Westminster Abbey) was instrumental in my quest to understand this process. After watching a few videos on YouTube and doing some preliminary tests on other paintings, I was confident in my ability to make good use of this fascinating method for this project. The effect of the gold looks heavenly, akin to what the medieval churches of Europe hoped to achieve in their holy depictions hundreds of years ago.

Another significant actor in the painting is the blue window. This important element not only creates duality through the color symmetry and opposite light sources, but it also conveys the symbolic idea of time by adding depth of field to the portrait. As a teenager, I had friends that lived in the house that is seen in the window. So, on a deeper and personal level, the blue house encompasses those uneasy emotions we feel, looking back on life. The window also might represent mortality and the afterlife, which adds another level of conceptual contrast. In any case, whatever direction you choose to look at it, life or death, this painting is about contemplating time.

Fine art should always be in line with an intellectual pursuit that either stems from or brings about each given project. I’m a firm believer that art should always convey some form of social commentary. That is why I’m not a fan of purely decorative art.

A life story

Back in 2006, at the behest of my mother, I had interviewed my grandfather over the course of a few recording sessions. The stories of his life are very inspirational and helped me a great deal to push ahead in those late evenings where fatigue gnawed relentlessly at my artistic resolve. Hours of recording tell of his life as a kid growing up in Quebec city, then of his draft in the army onto the war in Europe and his later years as a family man. I hope to some day create a graphic novel out of those priceless recordings and to highlight his contribution to Canada’s historical heritage in the second world war.

A bit of history

Interesting fact, this was not the first painting of Jean-Charles Bédard. Following the end of the second world war, my grandfather was stationed on Wangerooge island as part of the allied occupation army. I believe that it was around that time that he had his portrait done by J. Menzel, a European artist in 1945.

I invite you to have a look at my Behance page to see a few more photos. You can find images of my other paintings 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.

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.