Featured Artist Cynthia Chartier

Painter Cynthia Chartier presents a fascinating collection of contemporary figurative works inspired by a love for cubism. See more of her portfolio on her website.

 

 

Art is the mirror of who we are and what we would like to become.

 

 

My first art teacher was a nun and cubist painter who encouraged me to learn everything I was curious about. She taught me how to paint and sculpt using my intuition.

 

 

I  also teach art to anyone who has the desire to create. I try to encourage my students to learn the same way I did, because art is the power behind every civilization. When a civilization is trying to control and conquer another, what is the first thing they steal? Their art.

 

 

I paint people with intriguing stories. I love cubism because it alters the time/space reality and allows your vision to get lost in the process. This makes it more complex and interesting.

 

 

I love the way vibrant color evokes emotion. I add found objects, sheet music, newsprint with different languages mixed with globs of glaze and thick impasto oil paint for texture. This is where the layers of the story begin. My paintings tell a story with hidden messages evolving from one layer to the next.

 

 

What I love so much about painting is how it makes you focus. When you focus for any length of time, you create your own reality. One time I had a dream about a man’s face that was so compelling I had to paint him. It was my painting of Blue Man. Next thing I knew, I was having lunch with the man I painted from the dream. We became good friends for years to come.

 

 

I attended art college, but didn’t finish. For some unknown reason I was diagnosed with depression. Because of that, it was a struggle to go to class. So I dropped out and started painting on my own.

 

 

I started learning the techniques of paintings that took my breath away. I did this because I never had a choice about being an artist. It’s who I’ve always been. This is how my style emerged.

 

 

I worked in theatre as a scenic artist for a while. After that, I opened my own business as a trompe l’oeil artist. Then abstract art became inescapable so I began exhibiting in galleries across the country.

 

 

My work has been represented and exhibited in Boston, Austin, Houston, Dallas, LA and Palm Beach.

 

Cynthia Chartier invites you to follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

 

 

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