A LITTLE IMPROBABLE GARDEN

What better way to dive into summer than by spending six weeks immersed in creativity? From June 16 to July 27, 2004, I completed an art residency at Maison Valois in Vaudreuil-Dorion. Art residencies offer artists the chance to work in new environments for a set period, often with the goal of creating fresh, inspired work. The City of Vaudreuil-Dorion provides residencies at the historic Maison Valois, built in 1796. Projects are typically inspired by the house itself or the activities in Valois Park.

I was one of three artists chosen to create during the summer. My project focused on the community garden beside the building.

Below is an abridged version of my submission:

"I aspire to visually document the evolution of the 2024 community garden next to Maison Valois using photography. These images will serve as sparks for digital drawings, allowing me to weave elements from the evolving plant life into my final works. This creative process aims to capture the essence, growth and transformation of these plants, leaving indelible traces in my artistic expressions.

My main objective is to create digital works that highlight the immense creative potential of the medium. Most of the artwork will be crafted using an iPad Pro or will inspire traditional works derived from tablet-initiated images.

Drawing inspiration from photographs of willing visitors, I intend to create fantastical characters such as gnomes, fairies, and hybrid creatures, seamlessly integrating them with vegetation and Animalia. My intention is to illustrate that myth-making is a contemporary art form, contributing to the tapestry of present-day culture.

In the past, gnome figurines stood as silent sentinels in gardens, orchestrating the harmony of abundant harvests and protecting the delicate balance between animals, plants, and unseen lurking forces. These ancient symbols of protection will serve as catalysts for the creation of new stories, propelling me towards a shared awareness of our collective role in the gentle preservation of our wounded environment. I hope that, like the gnomes of old, the creation of my new fantastical characters will serve to ward off evil spirits."

During the residency, I created four artworks that the city reproduced on a large scale: two pieces at 4'x8' and two at 6'x6'. These were installed on public buildings for a month. I also scheduled 60 hours to engage with the public.

The first thing that struck me upon entering the building was its scent—an aroma of age, dampness, and history. My close friend, Monica Brinkman, helped me set up some of the plant-human hybrid works I had previously exhibited during my Suite Botanique show in autumn 2023. 

Since I worked on an iPad Pro (a mere 13-inch screen at its largest), I had to find a creative way to share my process with visitors. Because the historical building couldn’t be altered with new screws or nails, Monica strung lines between light fixtures to serve as makeshift clotheslines for my progress prints. A few dollar-store clothespins later, and we had a working system!

A few weeks before my residency began, I started photographing the community garden’s growth. I had hoped to capture the entire cycle, from budding to the final withering of the plants, but with my summer residency dates, I had to leave the later stages out. Below are some early photos I took. The drawing at the start of this blog post was inspired by the tulip in the lower-right corner.

The project developed in stages:
1) I photographed the garden’s evolution,
2) I drew plant life and brave volunteers who were willing to be transformed into fantastical creatures,
3) I combined these drawings to create vibrant, detailed images ready for large-scale reproduction.

I drew fervently on my iPad, which struggled to keep up with the large format and high resolution I was using to craft such intricate work. My poor 2018 iPad, loaded with years of artwork and photos, kept crashing. Realizing it was time for an upgrade, I purchased the 2024 iPad Pro, which thankfully only crashed occasionally.

Visitors enjoyed both the installation and the artworks I had on display. One of my exercise class buddies who posed for me, loved prints of Napoleon and asked if I could transform him into the infamous figure. Naturally, in this project, Napoleon became a gnome, complete with fantastical ears and a moustache. I had a great time creating multiple Napoleons to guard a giant zucchini plant.

Not all of the drawings I produced during the residency made it into my final pieces, but that didn’t bother me—I know I’ll use them in future projects. Below are the four works I created, along with the invitation that the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion designed for the opening.

I also put together a video called "Le Petit Jardin Improbable" which played on a loop (without sound) during the opening to give visitors a glimpse of my creative process in condensed form.

Finally, my time at Maison Valois drew to a close. A few days after the opening, the city installed my artwork on four public buildings.

Photos: Christian Gonzalez...The Arena, Library, La Croisée building, & Valois Park chalet:

 

Seeing my work on such a large scale was thrilling, and I was delighted with the results. Thank you to everyone who posed for me—I’ve still got plenty to work with!