麻豆视频

Born in Gravelbourg and now a resident of Redvers, artist Chylisse Marchand has lately experienced both the challenges and the advantages of the times of self-isolation.

As a response to intervention (RTI) teacher, she continued to work with students from home and also keeps the school page going, but the quarantine also allowed more time for art and brought different sources of inspiration.

鈥淟ately, my inspiration has been very much COVID-19 related. I鈥檝e been focusing on things that bring me peace 鈥� thus my recent works with succulents. I find these flowers to be so peaceful and beautiful,鈥� said Marchand in an interview with the Mercury.

鈥淲hen I paint, I can escape the current reality and jump into a totally different world. While working, I tend to listen to podcasts 鈥� some uplifting mindful podcasts, some podcasts exposing the deep and dark history of Canada and others that are light and entertaining. Whatever mood I am in, art grounds me and brings me peace.鈥�

Her love for art began during her early years. Being a quiet child, she spent a lot of her time dabbling with the arts and for a number of years, she took watercolour lessons from Gravelbourg artist Avis Frank. Marchand pursued visual communications at Medicine Hat College in Alberta, but then she chose to follow in the footsteps of her parents who were teachers and got her education and fine arts degree from the University of Lethbridge.

Spending most of the time at home allowed Marchand to do a lot of things simultaneously, and while work still takes a significant part of the day she had much more time for art.

鈥淚 find that with this whole thing, I鈥檝e been able to focus on my art more probably than I ever had before because we cannot really do anything,鈥� said Marchand.

One day Marchand wants to be a tattoo artist if she can, and tattoo-style paintings are common within her works. One such piece she created under the influence of the earlier news about the pandemic a few weeks ago.

鈥淔or me, my work (as a teacher) is so important and being able to see my kids at school is so important, that I was really, really sad and I was in such a negative place that I wanted to do something that would speak to the whole COVID thing,鈥� said Marchand.

鈥淭his one I wanted to do to commemorate all of the heroes that are out there right now working through this very fluid time. I wanted to include basically everything that I could think of that is going through my mind.鈥�

She went on to explain that the sand-glass is a symbol of frustration around the timeframe of the pandemic that overtook the world, symbolized by a globe. The triangles represent past, present and future, and DNA speaks to the notion of the virus affecting human beings. There is also a medical stethoscope to recognize healthcare workers. Roses signify love, gratitude and appreciation and a wing stands for freedom. There are also a few circles that look like bull鈥檚 eyes.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to explain what was going through my head at that time with that one. But I just thought that we were all getting hit and we were all part of the bull鈥檚 eyes,鈥� said Marchand.

Some other recent works Marchand did are completely different. They are light and peaceful.

鈥淪ometimes with my other pieces 鈥� I need to do a light floral piece just to kind of escape the reality. Right now, the reality is so fluid and it鈥檚 just so strange and I struggle with grounding myself. So painting is a way for me to escape that,鈥� said Marchand.聽

When it comes to floral art and lately the succulents, Marchand usually looks through many beautiful pictures, finding her inspiration in them, and then combines the positive vibes into an oil or watercolour painting.

And while the self-isolation period turned to be very productive, Marchand still cannot wait for the end of the quarantine.

鈥淚'm very much a people person and I鈥檓 very outgoing, I like to volunteer throughout my community and run paint classes and do all these extra things. So I鈥檓 really looking forward to when quarantine is done,鈥� said Marchand, adding that she hopes to continue painting a lot when life gets back to normal, but the first thing she wants to do as soon as it鈥檚 allowed is to go camping with her two daughters and friends, which promises to also result in more sketches and pencil art she usually does when out enjoying nature.

If it is still happening this summer, Marchand also plans to show her work at the Moose Mountain Provincial Park Artist Colony in July.

More of her finished works along with the step-by-step art progress can be found on the Chylisse Marchand Facebook page. She can be contacted via messenger or email at [email protected] to inquire about her work.