Manon Marchand

Finally, in order to share her passion, she obtained a second bachelor’s degree in teaching visual arts. For the next 12 years, to suit her ambitions, she opened “Le Nouvel Art”, an elementary art school offering evening classes where she could afford to paint during the day.

A trip to the Canadian Rockies was a major turning point in her career as a painter. It was then that she discovered hiking in the mountains which completely changed her perspective as a landscape painter.

Since then, she has received several awards and distinctions including an honorary mention from the Mondial Art Academia and the Armand Vaillancourt trophy at Rencontre des Arts St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Manon Marchand now lives solely from her art. She proudly presents her theme of mountain hikers in search of fulfillment. Manon Marchand is a professional member of IAF, RAAV, MAA, three associations that evoke recognition from her peers.



Artistic Statement

I am known as a mountain painter because my landscapes are those I paint at high altitude. My more aerial point of view gives the effect of immensity and differentiates me from my landscape peers. With photos taken during my hikes, I observe more in depth and I understand better what I admire. I feel the history of the land through the geological beauty.

In my paintings, the atmosphere transforms reality into a sense of quest and accomplishment. My spontaneous trowel strokes give raw relief that mimics the mineral and wild effect of mountain nature. For the finishing touches, a fine brush enhances some of the more sensitive details such as a distant hiker.

It is only when my landscape is finished that I add my hiker. The location of the character is determined by the pictorial composition, the perspective or the intention of the message to be brought. The walker comes to animate the landscape, it directs the eye of the spectator towards the summit thus suggesting the impression of something greater than oneself. It expresses either a feeling of quest or the state of a perfect communion with nature.

Walking in the mountains brings this will to advance towards a goal. The more I advance on my path, the more my landscape evolves.

As a painter, I always have the challenge to reach the balance between making the figurative beauty of the landscape felt and bringing out my inner vibrations as a hiker through the image.