Today we’d like to introduce you to Brigitte Boulay

Hi Brigitte, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

I often say that you don’t become an artist, you’re born one! This is very true in my case. I think I’ve been creating since the time I could hold a crayon. My Mom was an incredible artist and she nurtured my artistic curiosities. My dad was a musician and he comes from a line of professional musicians so I suppose you could say that it came naturally to me.

My inspirations come from my soul… truly! I know it sounds cliché, but my creations are inspired by what takes my breath away (good & bad). Love, sadness, nature, historical stories, fashion, architure; it all plays a role in what comes out.

I’ve always expressed myself through art. From writing poetry, story telling, visual arts, paper arts, etc. there’s been an artistic outlet throughout my life. I took professional classes (Ottawa School of Art, Algonquin College, University of Pennsylvania, etc.) and garnered those skills by practicing daily.

Putting yourself out there on a professional level is one of the most courageous things you can do, but if you have a passion, you push through and seize those opportunities.

Now that I’ve answered in a typical fashion, let me tell you about a relatively recent experience.

For the first time in my life, I could not create! I mean, no desire, no ideas, just nothing. I had suffered a mental breakdown, concussion and broken left wrist. It was about a year that I couldn’t create a thing. I would go to my easel or go through my beautiful papers and nothing… blank.

I went through all of the emotions of my artistic loss (did the breakdown or concussion change me that much?!). That’s it, I’m not an artist anymore. It had been 8 months from creating something daily to nothing.

One morning, I decided to write down how I felt and as it turned out, there was a lot of emotions, certainly not nothing. Ok so now I can paint how I feel… yay, an idea! I went to my board and looked at all the colours I had to choose from and I angrily chose black. This is how I feel… a pure black canvas of nothingness. As I sat looking at this black canvas, all I wanted to do was run. I wanted to run so fast and so far that I would end up running through the city, the villages, the forrest until I collapse and sleep… leaving the world behind and then after a long nap, waking up in peace and feeling light as a feather.

You got it, that’s what I painted and have been slowly creating again since. It feels good to be creating with colours again (as odd as that may sound). There is a change in my art and I’m embracing that evolution.

Maude Lewis – Canadian Folk artist, Jeremy Dutcher – Canadian composer, Frida Kahlo – Mexican painter and Jean-Michel Basquiat – American graffiti artist are some of the artists that inspire me to push forward and continue creating through my emotions. What lies ahead will hopefully be many artistic adventures including inspiring others through evoking emotions with my creations!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

If I can encapsulate it all into one word, it would be depression and the fact that I’m an introvert and public engagements exhaust me.

That’s my struggle and it’s a constant fight between succumbing to it and working through it. I also suffer from fibromyalgia, arthritis and diabetes. It’s a fine balance to work through it all, but I think my art reflects all of that! :)

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I’m an abstract realism palette knife artist, stationery artist and a creative writer/poet.

I’m proud of everything that I’ve done to bring me here today. I was once told that when taking guitar lessons, you can’t call yourself a guitarist until you master the F chord. The same holds true for the art world, once you’ve sold one of your pieces, you’re officially a professional artist and btw, I sold my first piece when I was 8 years old for $2! Mastering a skill takes time and dedication so it’s something to be proud of once you’ve been noticed artistically.

My greatest achievements/proudest moments have been receiving an eagle feather, being chosen to create an art panel at the TD Place in Ottawa, every art gallery feature, interview, being nominated for awards are always very proud moments.

I’m still in awe that I’ve created pieces that have made many people smile or ponder and I’m incredibly touched to have created special pieces to mark an event in one’s life. I’m quietly very proud of all of my accomplishments.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?

I don’t really believe in luck. I believe in karma and that hard work pays off.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brigitteboulayart?igsh=MWYxeHFtbnh4ZGprZQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089496280874&mibextid=LQQJ4d