Lise Lacaille was born in Saint-Hubert and has never left her native region. When she was living in Verchères, she painted the old windmill seen from her window. Today, she lives in Saint-Bruno, not far from her birthplace. However, locationhas little effect on Lise Lacaille's ability to work. Ensconced in her studio, withdrawn into herself, she gives free rein to her imagination and lets the images come to her. It is at these moments that her ideas for subject to paint are born. "I have enough ideas to last me a week."
What comes to mind are moments, scenes from everyday life, previously observed and stored in her memory to be transformed into rounded shapes and brillant colours. Lise Lacaille has developped a very personal and unique style. From landscapes painted from nature nature as a means of perfecting her technique, her focus has shifted to the human figure. Her canvas are peopled by couples living in obvious harmony and with true equality between the sexes. Faces remain blank and the body predominates the scenes. It takes up all the space, to the detriment of the head which appears very tiny. The artist has successfully captured the human body in all its movement and so her figures seem to come to life on the canvas; they speak to us. The rounded shapes, exaggerated by broad brush strokes, reproduce the gestures of a body in motion. The background is secondary, a mere outline, like the faces. "I realized that the figures I was drawing before I developed this style which has become my own, all had the same characteristics and my canvasses were dominated by body language." Hand movements and the rustle of clothing are accentuated by the round shapes. The lines are generous. And the point of view is that of a small child watching as her world is envaded by exaggerated adults with expansivee gestures.
A painting by Lise Lacaille is an explosion of pure colour. Whenever she puts the finishing touch on a canvas, the artist realizes that once again, guided by her inspiration, she has shown a marked preference for the colour red. It literally dominates and gives the scene a vividness that is palpable, an energy that is accentuated by the gestures of the figures.
Lise Lacaille no longer paints outdoors. She has no need. Her studio provides all the necessary conditions for artistic inspiration. "I have my routines; my environment is comforting and stable. I don't need anything else." Her figures come to life in her imagination. However, the exercice demands an enormous amount of concentration. "The more I withdraw into myself, the more the images invade my mind." Lise Lacaille paints harmony, gaiety, joy. And this is exactly what these large bodies in motion convey.
Sylvie Gourde – Journalist
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Lise Lacaille Tell me a story…….
One day a young girl was strolling through a shopping mall with her parents when her attention was suddenly drawn to an old man painting a large fresco. The act of creation bewitched her. While she didn’t particularly like the subject matter she was fascinated by the magic that was taking place under her eyes. It woke in her a desire to become an artist. While she was only seven at the time she was certain about what she wanted to do. Lise Lacaille has never doubted that the chance encounter in a shopping mall determined her future career.
The years passed and the young girl became a woman in love with painting. Lise Lacaille offered me all the pleasures of her passion on a silver platter in her peaceful home, in a peaceful neighbourhood in the peaceful town of St. Bruno.
The reason for all the peacefulness is that Lacaille needs a lot of calm because she is hyperactive. It’s difficult to believe because she looks so serene and self-possessed. Her excess energy flows into her creative work. Which can best be described as real little jewels, or marvels of fascinating stories. Bits of life that you can attach yourself to, moments that you want to live, evenings that you would have liked to have been part of. One envies her subjects because they really seem to know how to live. Thinking it over, she paints the kind of people that should be among us.
They are large in spirit, flamboyant and carry the scent of an inexplicable sweetness. These women deploy all of their sensuality knowing full well how to take their place in our zany society. They are certainly delicate but they are made strong by their hearts and spirit.
The artist’s compass is movement. She knows well how a dancer moves, the soft blow of a bow on a cello’s strings or the way a ball hits a ball on the billiard table. And she knows how to make us laugh. Her paintings are adventures in pleasure. From young to old there is something for everyone.
It goes without saying that behind all this entertainment there is an incredible amount of diligent and determined work. Lacaille is up and at her easel early in the morning. When she steps down it is usually to nose around in a book researching something to do with what she is painting. At other times the self taught Lacaille is happy to pursue her own path. A lot of work has gone into her present evolution. Above all else, the knowledge of when to let go. At the moment when she succeeds in letting go, her creative source becomes a river.
In her true moments of relaxation she likes to do stretching exercises. This helps keep her shape and at the same time she can lose herself and decompress. With her daughter and her husband she likes to sail on Lake Champlain. Their sail boat is like a country house. It allows her to rest and forget her work.
Lacaille’s technique is to join the agreeable and the useful. She generally works in large formats on masonite, which she first undercoats and then sands. Then she does her outlines in charcoal and shades them with diluted acrylic. She prepares her base coat with acrylic because it dries rapidly saving her time. She finishes with oil because it gives her the time to play with the qualities of light and dark.
She started using this technique during the early 90’s. Before that she painted oil landscapes in a traditional manner. When she discovered “her” technique she started having fun with her subjects and this sparked a creative explosion.
Her source of inspiration is everything, her daughter, her husband. One day her daughter told her about seeing a mother pushing a baby carriage. It was a tender moment and in almost a blink of an eye Lacaille had painted it.
Lise Lacaille is happy and above all else, grateful. She knows how difficult it is to climb the art world ladder, and that many talented artists never make it. With confidence and without trying to rock the boat too much, our dreams can be realized. She dreams of evolving in her art while remaining unique in her genre. In any case, she is already unique in my book. Have you ever seen anything like her work? I haven’t. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see her name linked to these large coloured figures.
Lacaille is not as zany as her subjects but she does have a certain joie de vie. Her paintings do make us smile and for that we can all thank her.
