Born in 1952 in Arvida, Quebec, Chris Charlebois has spent most of his life in British Columbia. He attended the Vancouver School of Art and his painting instructors were Don Jarvis and Bruce Boyd. Since then his work has been collected by numerous private and corporate collectors.

Charlebois is very active in the local art community, and has successfully participated in many live art auctions. Chris also teaches art at the Steveston Village Phoenix Art Workshops.

Inspired by the west coast environment his work is evolving into a kind of nature based abstraction.
Charlebois believes that his work must be an honest investigation and at times uses a sketch or photo only as a brief reference. But the original impression in the mind's eye is always more truthful.

He seeks the beauty in nature that is constant and found everywhere, even in a clump of grass by the roadside or a nondescript bush near a ditch.
Charlebois says there seems to be a point of departure where the painting ceases to be simply a copy of the subject but takes on a meaning and importance as itself. " I cannot compete with nature, but I can attempt to add to it."

" My goal as a painter has always been to simply express. Nature is the source of that expression. I look for the gesture in nature. It is this dominant line of movement and structure that all the elements in a painting will be built upon. By taking apart (abstracting) the components of the subject, then rebuilding making systematic logical choices a result of clear expression can be attained."

"From nature I find direction. Colours and lines seen or felt, are expressed as infinite notes, harmonies, patterns and rhythms. From these references my paintings are formed."

"Dense with colour and texture, Chris Charlebois' paintings are abstracted landscapes inspired by the marshlands and rainforest of the West Coast. He offers us unusual and often overlooked viewpoints of our native environment finding inspiration and creating beauty in his close-up views of tangled grasses and fallen leaves. His tools to achieve this masterful drama of nature are simple: a piece of wood produces textures that create the impression of rippling water, or a jumble of weeds. The result is a feast of colour, gesture and line that bring us a little closer to the beauty of nature's continuous cycle."
Lynn Ruscheinsky, PhD.


Chris Charlebois's CV