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Growing up in New Bedford, Massachusetts,
Melanie Chartier was exposed to music, dance,
drama and fine art and identified herself
as an artist from her earliest memories.
With a focus on painting, Chartier received
a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the
Univ. Mass. at Dartmouth and a Master of
Fine Arts degree from Southern Illinois
University. She met husband Scott DeHainaut
at Southern Illinois, and after marrying
in 1990 they lived in the Chicago suburb
of St. Charles until 2001, when Scott's
job brought them and their daughter to Cape
Cod. Chartier enjoyed a 10+ year career
as a certified professional picture framer
and has also taught part time at Newbury
College in Massachusetts and Elgin Community
College in Illinois.
The natural surroundings and icons of Cape
Cod are a strong influence on Melanie's
work: "These particular places and
things are both part of everyday life and
held up as revered symbols…they reflect
the "US" culture of the Cape and
Islands. I am a painter with strong tendencies
toward traditional realism. The natural
thing to do of course is to use these icons
as subject matter. The problem is to avoid
the veritable minefield of cliché
painterly statements one could make about
them. One of my goals is to use iconic objects,
but have their meaning be secondary to the
requirements of the composition and themes
of my painting. I am arranging objects to
create the appearance of a gestural dialog
or encounter. Some objects are in a role
as architectural setting and others are
given an anthropomorphic role. I think of
them as actors on a stage set."
Cape Cod has enabled Chartier to rediscover
her painting roots. She is currently an
artist member of the Cape Cod Art Association
and the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.
Artist's Statement:
" Living on Cape Cod, it is difficult
to avoid being influenced by the natural
surroundings. There are icons here. They
are both part of everyday life and held
up as revered symbols. These particular
places and things reflect the “US”
culture of the cape and islands. It reaches
back, maybe, to before the first Nantucket
Basket.
I am a painter with strong tendencies toward
traditional realism. The natural thing to
do of course is to use these icons as subject
matter. The problem is to avoid the veritable
minefield of cliché painterly statements
one could make about them.
One of my goals is to use iconic objects,
but have their meaning be secondary to the
requirements of the composition and themes
of my painting. I am arranging objects to
create the appearance of a gestural dialog
or encounter. Some objects are in a role
as architectural setting and others are
given an anthropomorphic role. I think of
them as actors on a stage set. "
Melanie Chartier's Artwork ranges
in price
from $300 to $2,500
Visit
Melanie Chartier's website
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