Rarely will we remember what we thought when encountering a work of art, but we will never forget what it made us feel.
In this quest for feeling, emotions linked to happiness are considered simplistic and superficial. It doesn't matter, yes, happiness is light, and it might even make you happy... And that's precisely what self-taught painter Johanne Thomassin applies herself to: making people happy through her painting. Welcome to Galerie le Chien D’or. It's here in her art gallery that she welcomes you. As in all art galleries, you can admire paintings on the walls, but here the contact is different. The artist has set up her studio. Johanne Thomassin paints in front of you. As if you were arriving at a friend's house, the contact is immediate and warm. Johanne Thomassin studied psychology. She has a feel for people and listens well. Human contact is inseparable from her artistic work.
Her favorite subject is flowers. It should be noted that her flowers are a reminiscence of her childhood in Saint-Joachim - Cap-Tourmente. They are, so to speak, a maternal imprint. As a child, she would sometimes have nightmares at night. Her mother would immediately come to her bedside and guide her thoughts to dispel her fears... “Close your eyes... imagine large fields of flowers. Observe the wind swaying them. Which way is it blowing? What colors do you see?” Johanne Thomassin never paints with a model. She paints what inhabits her with the joy and happiness that characterize her.
This is true for all her subjects. For example, her boats... When she was a child, her father worked protecting migratory birds as a wildlife warden. Some days he would take the youngest of his ten children with him on his boat to Grosse Île, off Cap-Tourmente. Her father, a tireless worker, was also responsible for the stables of the wildlife reserve. Not so long ago, these horses still plowed the fields of Saint-Joachim. She saw them from the family home. Today they plow her imagination.
Other themes in her painting include landscapes. These do not escape her memories. They evoke the nature of Cap-Tourmente. Then there are her characters. These mysterious beings emerge on the canvas as if they were coming from her native land. “I paint light in the balance of contrasts and tones. I always paint things in motion. I have a free energy within me. I am light. I don't like heaviness.”