Redvers-based painter Chylisse Marchand is this week’s guest artist at the Artist’s Colony in Moose Mountain Provincial Park.
From July 6-12, Marchand will be exhibiting her work in one of the Artist’s Colony cabins located by the park chalet and visitor’s centre.
Marchand is a painter whose work has been heavily influenced by the beautiful, challenging and diverse experiences of her own life. She works primarily with oil paints, watercolours, and has recently begun experimenting with the medium of acrylic ink.
Born and raised in Gravelbourg, Marchand grew up in a family that encouraged her interest in the arts from an early age.
“It’s been a journey,” Marchand said of her evolution as an artist over the years.
After completing an arts education degree from the University of Lethbridge, Marchand married in 2005 and moved to the Carlyle area, where she accepted her first teaching job at the local elementary school.
Marchand and her family eventually moved to Redvers, where she still lives with her daughters. She currently teaches visual art, math and practical applied arts at Redvers School.
In January 2013, Marchand and her husband parted ways. Her artistic work became a source of comfort to her during this difficult time.
“That was kind of when I started to really delve into it just because it helped me put all of my emotions into art,” Marchand said.
More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Marchand to dive deeper into her art than she ever had before. She began working with watercolours for the first time in 25 years, as well as acrylic ink.
“I think a lot of us sometimes think that we don't need support and we just think … just go to work and do your thing and whatever,” Marchand said. “But for me, art has been like my release, just through COVID and everything else. You know you have a bad day and that's where I turn to, is art.”
While this is Marchand’s first time as a visiting artist at the Artist’s Colony, she sincerely hopes that it will not be her last.
Visitors to Moose Mountain Provincial Park can come see Marchand and her work on Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. More information about Marchand and her work can be found on her Facebook page Chylisse Marchand, Artist.
