At 14 Isabel Cormier was trying to recreate things that she saw in photographs with her paintbrush, now years later after a stint in Pemberton and now Revelstoke, Cormier puts her own twist on the natural beauty she sees.
“I don’t want to do paintings that I can just print a picture,” said Cormier, who grew up in Quebec.
Though Cormier has been painting for many years, it was only last year that she decided to try and take the hobby, and gift making skill, to the next level.
And since moving to Revelstoke she has joined the Art First Gallery Co-op and even sold a few paintings.
“That has encouraged me to do more,” she said.
At the moment Cormier works three days a week and takes the rest of the time to paint. She has a bright and simple studio space set up in her living room but much prefers painting outside.
Cormier is inspired by landscapes and animals.
Though she worked as a professional photographer in Quebec, she traded in her camera for paintbrushes, finding she could be more creative with the new medium.
“I can make the sky purple and put the moon where I want,” she said with a laugh.
And there is plenty of nature to inspire Cormier in Revelstoke.
“I do a lot of hiking and when I hike I look at the landscape and imagine what I would do with my paintbrush,” she said.
Cormier paints on wood with acrylics. The vibrant colours take her paintings past realism and almost into the ethereal realm.
One of the best parts about coming to Revelstoke for Cormier, is a new colour that she discovered.
“This kind of green, the long grass along the river, I think I’ve never seen a green like this before,” she said.
