Nathalie Parenteau - Eclectic Yukon Artist
When asked how her images take form, Yukon artist Nathalie Parenteau promptly replies: "They take shape on their own. I just scratch the canvas with the paint brush and there they are."
Born in Montréal, Québec, Nathalie has retained the dramatic artistic tradition of the French Canadian culture. Emerging from a family background which cherished the arts, she found her artistic path at an early age. A love of nature and solitude also provided the fertile breeding ground for a rich and varied painting career. She arrived to this station after several detours which include volunteering with a youth group for a year after high school; living in the Yukon wilderness in tepees, wall tents, cabins and drafty trailers; earning a bachelor of sciences in biology at the University of Western Ontario; and traveling the globe. She now lives in Whitehorse, Yukon, where she works as a professional artist and shares her life with partner Peter and Haida Gwaii, her personal canine confidante.
Although her painting subjects seem to have the eerie property of having their own will, Nathalie admits to spending significant amounts of time with each painting to reach a subtle balance in both composition and tones. Her keen sense for melodrama has found the perfect outlet in this work. After viewing a painting, people often remark to feeling destabilized, of being pulled out of the known world and being put face to face with a new reality. Her work reach both genders at a deep and unconscious level and can be best describe as universal in its appeal.
Nathalie's style is easily recognizable and is collected by people from all over the world. She works both in acrylics and oils and is known for her sensitive representation of the subject in its environment. Her work is sold extensively across Canada and the United States.