Denise Godeau was dreaming of mountains and her paintbrush let us see what those dreams looked like.
The Prince George artist had been living away from the Omineca-Cariboo but came back and put about two years of effort into the exhibition that is on now at the Two Rivers Gallery. She called it I Dream Of Mountains and it shows off the core of Godeau's inspiration: nature.
The images speak for themselves in that regard - animals, northern lights, trees - but there's another level as well. The backing is often wood, sometimes birch panels or other boards but also sometimes raw fibre like driftwood, and she's even worked with antlers and bone.
"There's a woodpile in our basement," she said, laughing about these unconventional tools in her home studio. "We have fun collecting the found material and coming up with ways that it will work with the art."
She has worked in the past with a wide variety of palette media but lately has settled on oils as her preferred colour vehicle.
"I found it's more alive," she said. "You can add to it differently because it interacts strongly, and you can leave your palette out for days and it still has vibrancy. I love the vibrancy. The colours are always vibrant even after they dry."
She has artist family members with experience using oils and that piqued her curiosity. She has also been a lifelong scientist in the art lab, teaching herself the skills that are now self evident. She practiced heavily, and still relishes her studio time.
"I still feel like I have a long way to go, and I hope I always feel that way," she said.
"It's a wonderful journey. You're always a student of art. I just love practicing and making discoveries and improving my skills. I love the opportunity of having a show to work towards, but nothing is better for me than just immersing yourself in the process in my studio."
It was another artist and close friend, Amanda Jean (proprietor of Orange U Creative and a multi-disciplinary creative), who suggested that Godeau turn her substantial talent at the easel towards the computer. It was a providential idea. After taking the New Media Technologies program at CNC, Godeau is now a veteran professional in the genre of graphic arts and web design. She has worked in the past for Printwerx, SpeeDee (now Mills), UNBC and currently for Boardwalk Properties/Brink Group.
"I feel pretty lucky," she said.
"Obviously I would love to paint full-time but I consider it a gift that I get to be an artist for my job, to have a creative career."
I Dream Of Mountains is a thick slice of her latest creativity. The exhibition is up in the Rustad Galleria inside the Two Rivers Gallery until Nov. 25.
