‘In painting, I don’t like rules and I don’t follow a lot of them.’

Oil painter Jean Richard

Familiar scenes, such as this field in Kamouraska, Québec, 

gain from Richard’s uncommonly grand perspective.

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Jean Richard in her studio

Raised near Rexton NB, Jean Richard now lives in Dumfries although she works in Fredericton. An avid paddler (kayak and canoe), Richard says that she loves to “take off down the St. John River and paint for a few days.” A member of the Plein Air Painters of New Brunswick, she is also fond of Grand Manan Island and much of her painting is done there.

Her landscapes can be seen locally at the Creek Village Gallery in downtown Woodstock. To highlight Richard’s remarkable work, a reception will be held there on Tuesday, July 14, 2015 between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. All are welcome.

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When did you take up the brush, Jean?

I got hooked in 1998. First I tried portraiture and still life ─ I was all over the place ─ then I discovered landscapes. 

Do you work from photos?

At first I did but then I went “plein air”. When I paint from photos, shadows are black but outdoors there is colour there and you see it. Now if I work from a photo, I take artistic license and I feel that it’s really improved my work. But I love being outside where I can immerse myself in a scene while I’m painting it ─ seeing the daylight colours, hearing the birds. The same scene can be different every time I paint it depending on the weather or the light. It’s an amazing experience that I try to capture on canvas so that the viewer can feel it too. 

Prince William, NB

A lot of your work has an amazing softness. 

It’s evolving. There’s a variance between my studio work where I have lots of time, therefore allowing more detail, and painting outdoors where I may only have a few hours and need to paint quickly and simply. But I do want my “plein air” work to be a bit looser ─ to have a more painterly quality. Maybe I fuss too much.

"I want to find a happy medium between looseness 
and realism"

Tell me a little about your technique. The rules you don’t follow.

I usually tint the canvas red or orange which brings out the greens in the landscape. You see some of the red and it makes a difference. (In the video below, Richard elaborates on her colour approach.) I draw with diluted paint and build up the thickness. Apart from that, I don’t really have a formula. The scene dictates how I will paint it and, mostly, it depends on the trees. Somehow it just comes together.

It all depends on the trees?

To a great extent, yes. The trees will dictate in what order I paint the scene, whether I start with the background, middle ground or foreground. Take this work on my easel for instance. I painted it last August on Grand Manan and I’m still working on a tree. On the island, most of the trees are crooked from the wind and salt and, here, the crookedness is off.

“I see the land differently now that I paint it.”

Have you had many shows?

My first solo show was about seven years ago. Then I did a show in Richibucto NB with my friend Chantal Richard and, more recently, another show with Chantal for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s fiftieth anniversary. 

I’d say that was a great compliment for a landscape artist.

Others may see plain yellow; I see colour in that field.