Interview
Karen Blanchet
Karen Blanchet lived a roving childhood beginning in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada. She never lived there. Every two years her father, an RCMP officer, received his new location until he left the force when she was eight years old. The search for God’s perfect place on Earth began with a quick look over Vancouver Island, then to Australia for thirteen years.
Pens, paper, paint were always in good supply. Karen’s mother, a nurse, aspiring writer and a stay-at-home mother, encouraged her children to explore and create. One teacher in grade six introduced watercolor play. Allowing the colors to mix and flow on the paper was exciting fun. Once dry, the shoreline divided the trees from the water reflection. So simple. Mixing colors and picking out accidental images became her favorite pastime.
Karen’s first sale occurred as her family prepared for departure to a new location in Brisbane, Australia. These were oil paintings, copies from photographs of harbor scenes. They brought in five dollars each! Paint by numbers had taught her a lot.
Moving so often took its toll on academic success. Having finished high school through a correspondence course, Karen decided, with the encouragement of her mother, to attend the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney, New South Wales. This was the absolute highlight of her young life. Garnering an honorable mention in the Portia Geach Memorial Award, she knew what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
Pulled from her studies at the art school, Karen entered the University of New South Wales in pre-law studies, something useful. Four years later she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Honors French Degree. Life is filled with irony. Karen continued to draw sporadically.
Still in search of that perfect place, the family moved aboard a forty-two foot trimaran and sailed (motored) up the coast of Australia. The plan was to sail back to Canada and sell the boat for a good price before Karen and her brother went their separate ways. Caught in a gale Force Eight changed things a little. After repairs to the vessel, it was sold and the family flew back to Canada.
Several years later Karen met her wonderful Francophone husband at a teachers’ convention. He encouraged her to return to her art practice. As they moved from one town to the next she tried her skills at teaching art to adults, winning a few awards at local art shows along the way. Commissions for portraits also brought in a little revenue.
Once Karen’s husband retired from teaching, they settled in Legal, Alberta just north of Edmonton where they raised their four children. Here Karen established her reputation as a mural artist and through the St. Albert Painters’ Guild enjoyed recognition as a watercolorist and landscape painter. Moving to Edmonton and building a studio/gallery in the back yard has afforded Karen the place in which she can realize her lifelong dream: a full-time artist.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“Having always been fascinated with mark making, my mother kept me well equipped with tools of all kinds. I graduated into watercolors at school and then paint-by-number with oils during my teens. While in Australia, I had the fortunate experience of entering the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney for about eighteen months. There, I learned the rudiments of art and I was hooked.
Unfortunately, my artistic ambitions were curtailed following a bitter fight with my father. I went to university and acquired a four year degree in French instead, which has proved most fortuitous. Thirteen years later I met the love of my life, my husband Martin. He insisted I follow my dream so I began the difficult task of repairing the damage. It has been a bumpy journey. I now enjoy my own studio space into which I pour regular hours every week. Holding a brush is my kind of heaven.”
What inspires you most?
“Beauty inspires me. The natural world provides so much raw material with which to work. It has been my main source of inspiration. Color, line, mixing paint, watching accidental blends collide - these are also sources of excitement for me. I love drawing. Experimenting with a mix of materials and mark making provide endless fascination.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“The welfare of our planet concerns me greatly. My husband and I have been involved with an NGO, Development and Peace, for many years. Our main interest is correcting problem sources instead of simple charity. My work displays a sort of brokenness. My landscapes are fractured, just like our world. They begin in chaos, just as our universe began. Yet beauty remains and surmounts.”
“My work is a call to awaken to the preciousness of our common home.”
How would you describe your work?
“Contemporary art. Semi-abstract landscape. Neo-mosaic painting. Mixed media artwork. My technique can be applied to any subject.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I love Frans Hals. His brushstrokes are fluid. Tom Thomson and Robert Genn have been the more recent influences. Love negative space.”
What is your creative process like?
“I begin with chaos. Using combs, bottle caps and plastic onion bags, I imprint random texture in molding paste. Careful layering inspires the surface to glow before I throw various mixtures of paint on it, and make that paint run in all directions. Then I paint between the lines and shapes the texture presents. My husband calls it ‘neo-mosaic’. So my style was born and out of it emerges beauty, calm and the knowing all will be well.”
“My unique neo-mosaic style is evident in all my work. The fractured surface allows you to complete the image as well as explore hidden treasures within.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“An artist is a prophet. Our world has gone to sleep. In order for us to survive and thrive, we need to awaken to the interdependence of all existence. If we choose to ignore the warnings, dire consequences will ensue.”
