DPW Spotlight Interview: Jacinthe Rivard

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.

To enter to win Jacinthe's painting, "Merry-Go-Round" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Jacinthe's DPW Gallery page:

I am a French Canadian girl! When I am not busy painting commission portraits, I am either imagining my next painting, taking pictures for my next painting or painting my next painting! In my spare time, I'm a house wife and mother. (click to read more)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil in my hand but I started painting about twenty years ago in Fashion School. I was disappointed when I realized Fashion Design was a lot more sewing and a lot less drawing. So I learned the basic of watercolor in my weekly art class, and started painting before and after my school day. Watercolor never appealed to me very much, so I taught myself oil. But I would say that I really became a painter when I found the daily painters "way of life". It just made sense to me! I did not have the stress of painting a masterpiece, just a small piece of what I see every day. There was no pressure to perform!

Merry-Go-Round
(click to see original image)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the home page announcing Jacinthe's interview.

Did you have any stop and starts in your painting career?

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I stopped painting and started again the day she began kindergarten. Five years!! I don't think I realized how much I missed it until I sat back at my easel, smelled the oils... and cried. I knew I could never stay away that long again.

Last March, I decided to go back to work full time (sometimes I have crazy ideas like that), so I took a one year contract. I can't paint much, but I still find the time to do a few portraits. This year, I call myself a "weekend painter." I think I needed to find out if being a full time painter was really what I wanted. Sometimes, you just need to do a shot-down in order to restart better then ever!

What medium and genres have you experimented with?

I don't know why but I need to paint on a canvas.  So anything on paper is off my list, although I tried most of them. I sometimes use acrylics, but I always go back to oils. Oil is so forgiving! It's the Mother Teresa of medium! As to genres, I tried to experiment with different ones but I felt like an impostor... I'll stick with mine (whatever it is) until I master it and then I might try again. That's the exciting part of being an artist, I never know what kind of artist I'll be next year!

Texting
(click to see original image)

Which ones have stuck and which ones have fallen away?

Oil stuck. Watercolor was cruel to me. Pastel was too messy. Acrylic is sometimes my friend.
I actually don't know what my genre is... I just paint things as I see them the only way I know how.  I sometimes wish I was more like this painter, or that artist, but then I remember that people actually spend their hard earned money on my paintings - they like the way I paint. That helps me accept that I'm good in my genre!

Who or what inspires you most?

Faces! Faces are the most beautiful thing I can think of painting. I can't explain it. I could paint my daughter every day of the week but I realize it's not what most would hang on their living room wall. So I paint everything else I find pretty in this world, and everything, in the right light, right angle or cropping, has the potential to be a work of art. Even the bearded lady from the circus!

Manou
(click to see original image)

What does procrastination look like for you?

I never feel I HAVE to paint, therefore I don't think I've ever procrastinated in my art career.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

Getting everyone out of the house and calling my cleaning lady. That's my technique!

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I do a lot of commission portraits and I love it. But if I'm free to paint what I want, I get my inspiration from pictures I take, Pinterest, other artists... I usually don't have to think much because even if I lived to be one hundred years old, I would not have the time to paint everything in my "painting idea" folder! I truly think everything is worth painting if you can find the right tone, shade and color!

Casanova
(click to see original image)

How do you keep art "fresh"? What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

I really think that what keeps my art fresh is this daily painting community. I see what others do and I want to contribute. I want to be just as good as the best of them! It drives me to try more difficult subjects, to outdo myself and take chances. I love the weekly challenges Daily Paintworks gives us! They take me by surprise and bring me out of my comfort zone. It reminds me that there's something else other then faces and blue boxes to paint. What also drives me is my ultimate goal, to someday teach. When I was a little girl and people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said I wanted to be an artist or a teacher. I swear it only dawned on me recently that I might get to be both at the same time! There is no better motivation than that!

Solar Energy
(click to see original image)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I am learning everything still! I love that I'm only a fraction of what I will be next year if I don't close myself up to learning. Right now, in the middle of my "sabbatical year," I'm learning to reflect about my art and I'm learning about the values I want to have as an artist.

What makes you happiest about your art?

This is my idea of a perfect day:

I'm in my studio with the sun shining in. I listen to the same CD's that have been in my CD player for years. Bruno Mars, Jewel and Kenny Rogers. I'm painting something I've never painted before and I'm nailing it! When it's done, my husband and my daughter come home, praise my work and actually make me believe it. Then, someone loves my art enough that they want to own it! All THAT is what makes me happy!!!!

Thanks, Jacinthe!

© 2014 Sophie Catalina Marine Cruse