Magnum Opus - A Gala Art Auction to Benefit the Moncton Public Library

Marc Blanchard has been a photographer for over 20 years. His passion lies in photographing his surroundings and nature, striving to capture glimpses of the world that inspires him. Although photography has long been a pastime for him, only in the last few years has he been delving deeper into his art and experimenting with different techniques. Marc has exhibited his work at the Moncton Public Library, Heron Bay Gallery, and the Maurice Henri Gallery.

Paul Édouard Bourque was born in 1956 in Moncton and was one of the first graduates in Visual Arts at the Université de Moncton. Paul Édouard works in a confined space. He chooses among previously-produced images and inserts them in a predetermined time frame, within a precisely-numbered series. The act of painting shatters the image’s original structure into multiple variations in an unending process. Casting his object outside painterly borders, and making use of vivid and expressive colours, Paul Édouard transfigures prosaic objects to produce works that are elegant, albeit alarming at times while humorous at others.

Pamela Carr was born in St. Stephen and raised in Petitcodiac. She has been interested in art since she was very young. Growing up in a small town where there were few avenues for budding artists, she had little choice but to teach herself. Unable to afford university, she struggled to balance work and art, but painting has always come first. Working full time in the service industry, she describes it as working to paint, completing sketches on her breaks and finishing pieces on her days off. After years of perfecting her craft, she has finally found her voice.

Luc A. Charette was born in Edmundston, NB. Since 1988, he has been a director and curator at the Galerie d'art de l'Université de Moncton, where he is also the co-ordinator for Multimedia Production Education and a lecturer. More than 27 solo exhibitions - together with more than 40 group shows - and art performances have raised the interest of critics. Throughout his career, he received many awards and grants. In 2006, he won the competition for the Honorable Louis J. Robichaud Memorial Monument in Saint-Antoine, NB. Since 1995 he has become seriously interested in media arts and webcast works.

Héménégilde Chiasson was born in Saint-Simon, New Brunswick and has chosen to live and work in Acadie. He has participated in more than 100 exhibitions, including 18 solo exhibitions. In addition to his visual arts, Chiasson has produced more than 14 films, is the author of several books and has written more than 20 plays. He received the Prix France-Acadie, the rank of Chevalier de L’Ordre français des Arts et des Lettres, l’Ordre des francophones d’Amérique, le Grand Prix de la francophonie canadienne, an honourary Doctor of Letters from the Université de Moncton, the prestigious Prix quinquennal Antonine-Maillet-Acadie Vie and, most recently, le Prix Montfort.

Joël Culligan graduated in 2003 from the College of Craft and Design in Photography while also presenting his first solo exhibition in Fredericton. That summer, Joel was hired by the Times and Transcript newspaper as a contract photojournalist, and today he continues to work for the paper as a freelance/contract photographer. In late 2005, with a stronger grasp of self and style, Joel started to work officially in his newly defined style UrbanStyleArt. As defined by the artist, this method is based on the manipulation and redefining of available media, subject matter and methods of post-production of a piece.

Mario Cyr, an engineer in 1986, decided instead to spend his time doing creative artistic work. In 1996, he won Best Booth at the Toronto National Gift Show. In 2000, he received the Atlantic Award at the Festival des Arts Visuels en Atlantique and was nominated for an Éloize in the Visual Artist of the Year category. That same year, he toured New Brunswick with his exhibit Les Muses Orphelines and received a first Creation grant from the New Brunswick Arts Board. He recently came back from France, where he was participating in the Festival interceltique de Lorient.

Jennifer Evans was born in Fredericton and grew up in Riverview. She began her post-secondary studies at Mount Allison University, eventually transferring to the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. At NSCAD, her primary areas of study were drawing, painting and printmaking. After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2000, Jennifer continued to reside in the Halifax area, occasionally showing her work at the Oceanstone Gallery and the Peggy’s Cove Studio Gallery. She returned to NB in the summer of 2008 and continues to draw and paint in her studio. Her work can be found in many private collections in Canada and the United States.

Raymonde Fortin is a professional painter and sculptor working in Moncton. With a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from the Université de Moncton, she has eight solo exhibitions to her credit. She has participated in over fifteen collective shows and art events since 2004. In 2007, she won the Éloizes Prize for visual artist of the year as well as the first prize for NB in the BMO Financial Group 1st Art! Invitational Student Art Competition. She also received the Festival des arts visuels en Atlantique prize for visual arts in 2005. In addition to her career, she is actively involved in the arts community.

Georges Goguen was born in Moncton and started to paint when he was 15. He studied with Ron Irving, Alex Colville, Lauren Harris, Jack Humphrey and Jack Nichols. Since his first exhibit in 1964, he has had many solo exhibitions and dozens of group exhibitions, including Expo 1967, Holland College School of Visual Arts, New Brunswick Museum, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and the Moncton Public Library. The creation of an art gallery at Radio-Canada Atlantique, now called the Georges Goguen Gallery, is only one of his numerous contributions to the cultural life in New Brunswick.

Joan Gregory was born in Albert County, New Brunswick, but spent most of her childhood living on a farm by the Bay of Fundy near Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. The rugged beauty, the varied moods of fog, tides and cliffs of the Fundy shore still inspire Joan. Her father encouraged her to observe and draw at an early age and she has continued to sketch and paint since then. Joan considers herself mainly self-taught, but she has studied with some well known Canadian artists. Joan’s paintings can be found in collections across Canada, U.S.A., Britain, the Netherlands, Australia, and are included in several corporate collections.

Nicole Haché, as a child, did her first creations playing in the sand of Lamèque Island. It is only later, inspired by her children’s view of the world, that she became even more conscious of the small things that make life special. Her artistic choices are motivated by her desire to create pieces that are a hymn to life. In 2002, she exhibited for the first time at Festival des arts visuels en Atlantique. Since then, she has had many solo and group exhibits where the joy and the well-being of her characters have touched the public. In fact, her works sell quickly, some flying to Switzerland, the US, France and Japan.

Jules Landry was born in 1953 in Grand-Barachois, N.B. After graduating from high school in 1971, he studied biology at the Université de Moncton for three years. Then, looking for adventure, he started to travel and worked from one end of the country to the other. When he came back to NB in 1983, he worked for a few years finishing kitchen cabinets before finally doing what he should probably have done all along: drawing and painting! He had drawn since childhood but had never seriously considered doing it full time. It's a meagre living, but his passion for art is what keeps him going through the tough times. Self taught, he works mostly in oils but also in charcoal and pastels.

Jeanne LeBlanc Mullin is originally from Campbellton, NB. She has a bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Concordia University in Montreal (1977), and a Bachelor of Education from Université de Moncton (1993). Winner of a New Brunswick Council for the arts travel bursary, Jeanne presented her artwork at an exhibition in Poitier France in 2005. Her art work was also been chosen to be featured in the miniseries "Samuel et la mer" in 2002. Since her first solo exhibition at the Restigouche Gallery in Campbellton, Jeanne has presented her work in 9 solo exhibits and participated in 48 group exhibitions. Her work can be found in many private and public collections, like the United Nations in New York, the Musée Acadien du Quebec in Bonaventure, City of Moncton and the Capitol Theatre in Moncton.

Cecil D. Long, born and raised in Moncton, has traveled the world as a couture buyer and an artist. When he returned to Moncton in the early 1980s, he opened up his own boutique on Main Street called Cecil D's, a quality men's clothing store with a European flare! Combining fine art and clothing may not be the most common way for an artist to exhibit, but Cecil has successfully married both. Although Cecil's work can be found in collectors’ homes worldwide, they can also be found locally at car dealerships, downtown restaurants and the airport.

Amber Lounder (née Léger), born in 1971, is a native of Grande Digue, New Brunswick, where she still makes her home today. In early childhood, she discovered an interest for the arts, which quickly became a passion. In 1990-91, she studied painting and sculpture at the Université de Moncton. Influenced by expressive art and the common human situation, Amber likes to find harmony in color, balance and composition, and says. “I am always interested in finding new and original ideas; this is the challenge of art for me.” She often paints in oils on large canvases with an acrylic base.

Josette Mallet, a native of Haut-Shippagan in northern NB, currently resides in Moncton. After obtaining a teaching degree in Visuals Arts at the Université de Moncton, she taught in NB public schools and then worked in publishing for more than 15 years as a graphic designer. Josette’s primary passion is painting, which she rediscovered in 2003 after a long break. Her other passion is photography, which she has been doing for more than 20 years. Her work is inspired by the reality that surrounds her and the feelings she experiences while she works.

Michiko Nishijima was born and grew up in Yokohama, Japan. An opportunity for teaching Japanese culture and language at UNB brought her to Canada, and she now resides on the bank of the Nashwaak River in Taymouth, near Fredericton. Inspired by the rural environment of the valley, and encouraged by a friend, she participated in workshops by Freeman Patterson and André Gallant. Her photograp hs feature New Brunswick scenes in a different light. Michiko also travels the world for the joy of exploring with her camera, going to such places as New Zealand, Ireland, the United States, Canada and Japan.

Shayla Perreault-Newcomb, after a practical career in finances, “took the plunge” to pursue her dream job in the arts in 2005. Many have described her paintings as colourful abstract art. It’s true that she loves colour. The idea behind them is to explore what she calls the “Soul Portrait.” Each piece focuses on a positive aspect of an individual’s personality. Her hope is to stimulate society’s culture of fear to break one’s isolation and continue reaching out to others.

Dianne Ryan's goal is to transmit her emotional, physical and spiritual connection with her world to the viewer. When Dianne is painting a street scene, a face or a flower, she intensely concentrates and focuses primarily on colour while blending the paint in order to find the correct values. Issues surrounding the shapes present in the scene or object and feelings about the importance of balance and harmony are constantly filtering through her brush as she paints.

Dave Skyrie has a degree in Arts from Concordia University and is the artist-inresidence at Heron Bay Gallery in Shediac. Dave started painting in 2000 and his current work is an exploration of abstract forms and textures on larger canvas. A member of the Association of Acadian Artists of NB and the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick, Dave has also published two books of poetry. His work appears in both private and public collections in Canada, the US and Europe, and is on permanent exhibition at Heron Bay Gallery. His work can also be seen at Galerie d’art Mosaique in Dieppe, NB, at The Green House on Main Street in Shediac, NB, and at Galerie L’Effet Mer in Carleton-sur-mer, Quebec. He resides in Grand Barachois, NB.

Grace Ward, a New Brunswick artist, began painting in 1971 and has been very productive and active in the art world ever since. She has participated in about thirty solo exhibitions as well as about seventy-five group shows. As well, Grace has taught painting to adults for twelve years. Her upcoming events include an exhibition of new works at Gallery 12 in April 2010 and a mentoring exhibition at the Moncton Public Library in November 2010.