Pierre Bellemare is a Quebec abstract artist based in Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury. Scroll down to learn about Pierre and see more of his current work.
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Pierre Bellemare Quebec Abstract Artist
What’s the main inspiration for your art?
Music and travels are my great sources of inspiration. Music gives me the audacity and energy necessary for my art. My travels give me access to a cultural mosaic that totally inspires me whether it is through people, landscapes, colours, flavours and all the experience and cultural openness that each of my trips provides me. They are an infinite wealth that is reflected in each of my creations.
What is the biggest goal you try to achieve with your art?
What I want through my art is to transmit this strength and energy that is reflected in my creations. As I like to say, “beyond the joy of painting, the Whalen Beauty of abstract art for me is the factor that it is boundless. Each person, regardless of their culture or background, can see themselves in it and experience their own emotions.”
What’s your favourite thing about being an abstract artist?
Totally free creation without constraints and without pre-established standards. For me, abstract art is the most difficult to achieve and the most demanding and that is what stimulates and challenges me. Abstract art does not refer to anything we know, it does not speak to logic, it does not address the intellect but to the emotion felt, to the energy that inhabits us and that it challenges.
Why did you choose to pursue abstract art and not other styles?
At the beginning of my career as a painter, I was a landscape painter. I was in several galleries and my paintings sold well. But I had a lack, I mastered the technique very well and my paintings challenged but as an artist, it did not challenge me enough. It did not seek my deep essence and I was left with a lack, a certain emptiness. So I stopped everything for months, I withdrew all my paintings from the market and I redid a new all-white studio. Then, on the advice of my partner, I painted what made me happy, what came from my inner source of energy and my inspiration and not to meet expectations. It was my first abstract creation. That’s when I knew that this art form allowed me to give my all and challenge myself, put myself at risk because an abstract painting is a constant challenge and that’s what I like.
What’s one thing people might not know about you and your art journey so far?
Probably the fact that an abstract painting is a challenge throughout its creation. There is a constant challenge between energy, emotion and the power of the gesture and this happens from second to second. A bad brushstroke, a bad gesture can make you lose an abstract painting, it’s almost a fight or a match between the canvas and me. Sometimes I feel like I’m losing it and that I have to get it back, then everything takes another direction and there it starts again towards a new meaning. An abstract painting must “stand” to be beautiful, there is a subtle but required balance for it to be successful and for me to be fully satisfied. Then, at a precise moment, I know that it is finished. I gave everything and it now exists by itself. I can put my final signature on it.
Did you always know you’d be an artist or how has your art journey progressed?
As far back as I can remember, I have always painted. At a very young age, I took classes with renowned painters and then I did my college in plastic arts followed by a bachelor’s degree in visual communication. I had a very good first career as a graphic designer, which I am very proud of. However, I knew that one day I would leave the profession to devote myself entirely to my art in order to do it professionally and make a living from it. That’s what I did more than 15 years ago
In your opinion, what’s the most important personal characteristic needed for a career as an artist?
Be extremely hard-working!!! You can’t be a professional artist and think you have a “normal” schedule. You have to work constantly, never count your hours because, in addition to all the hours in the studio, you must not forget the whole aspect of career and business management, promotion, marketing, photography, social networks, transportation, etc. Many of these aspects did not exist in the past, artists painted and gallery owners represented them. Today, it is much more complex. You have to be up to date on all aspects of entrepreneurship. It is stimulating but also very demanding. You have to be ready to put in the hours.
Do you have any favorite podcasts or books that you love and that have contributed to your journey as an artist?
What feeds me as an artist is my other passion, traveling. When I’m not painting, it’s preparing these trips. I create all my tailor-made trips by myself and I am convinced that this continuously inspires me for my creations. Thus, my trips begin months in advance. The choice of a new destination (because I force myself to never repeat the same trips to the same places), the discovery of a new culture, the visual exploration of places, the food, learning about cities, all this fascinates me and continuously inspires me for my works.
What advice would you give up and coming abstract artists?
Find your own style, your own essence! I see too often artists who are, let’s say, very inspired by their predecessors. For me, being an artist is about searching within yourself to create a unique style that comes from yourself and nothing else. You are unique so put that in your art.
What’s your most fulfilling and enjoyable experience as an artist so far?
When I meet clients who have never been interested in abstract art and who, upon entering my studio, feel a great emotion when seeing my paintings. The connection goes directly through the heart and not through the intellect, it surprises them. It’s like a revelation of a sensation never felt until that moment. It is very beautiful and stimulating to see their reaction.
Where do you see yourself and your art in 5 years?
My art is created to travel because I want it to be borderless. I already have private and corporate buyers on several continents, including the Deji art museum in China, which acquired 42 of my “large format” paintings. I am very proud of this and I want to continue to make my art travel even more. I like the fact that it can reach people everywhere, regardless of their cultures and origins, because it speaks to the heart and mind.
What do you love most about abstract art?
The challenge of creation that is present at every moment of creation. The absence of a defined framework puts me at risk with each brushstroke and that is what I like. It is not a pre-established recipe. It is a deep knowledge of colour, energy, balance that is always fragile. It is like being a tightrope walker so that the painting is successful, a challenge that stimulates me and I would even say that is necessary for me as a creator.
Do you have any favourite quotes?
Certainly the one I prefer is: “Art is beautiful when the hand, the head and the heart work together.” She is by John Ruskin
Anything else you’d like to share?
I am deeply convinced that all forms of art are essential to humans. It is art that softens and beautifies our lives, that connects with our sensibilities and that makes us feel good. And in these uncertain and troubled times on the planet, art is all the more necessary for beauty in the world.
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