Anne-Françoise Bélanger, professional painter, self-taught, trained in artistic experience structures supervised by professionals, graduated in psychoeducation and psychotherapy, professional member of the RAAV I began my training in drawing and painting in 1989. I participated in the art workshops of the Atelier du Geste de Montréal from 2013 to 2020, I was enrolled in the painting program at the Académie des Arts de Montréal (ACADEM) from September 2017 to June 2019, I have been attending Carole Bernier's workshop in Montreal since the fall of 2019 and I am a member of the Regroupement Art xTerra.
The combination of my academic training and my artistic approach have allowed me the audacity to explore the abstract gesture and the humility to experiment with the ambiguity of a more intuitive approach. I consider my painting to be expressive and abstract. My work is now represented by the Galerie d'art l'Harmattan in Baie-St-Paul, QC, G3Z 1M6
Raw Materials Exhibition
ERGA GALLERY
6394 Saint-Laurent Blvd.
March 10-15, 2026
Noon to 8 p.m.
Opening
Thursday, March 12th
5 to 9 p.m.
Raw materials
Nose to the wind
Feet in the water
Heart in heaven
In sailing, sailing upwind means sheeting in the sails tightly, tightly. Holding the helm, adjusting the course with the slightest movement. Ignoring the current and charging straight into the waves. Then I thought: how can you "sail upwind" something horizontal? The wind is rarely
Vertical! It blows from side to side and doesn't fall from the sky! To bring it up means having it right in your face!
My life seemed to me like a long series of confrontations, clashes, and overcoming obstacles. I'm not good at confrontations, preferring to shift my perspective. I wanted to learn to let myself drift.
Being on the water lets us see the other side of the coin. We see the shores and the cliffs in the middle of the lake. We admire it from within rather than from without. This perspective prompts me to rethink the source of my inspiration. It's when there's no wind that the sail flaps. I thought this
Exhibition in this spirit. I stopped fussing, stopped searching for my wind, stopped facing it head-on, and I gave up on my speed. I turned to the basics to get there: the MATERIALS that I consider RAW in my life.
I revisited my sources. I didn't let myself be carried away by the current. No more headwinds; I took them to the side and aimed for a better course. Raw materials sometimes appear suddenly, form slowly, disappear abruptly, and slip away. The inspiration of
My work was born from all these MATERIALS, shaped by instinct… and the present moment.
Thus, the MATIÈRES PREMIÈRES collection of works comprises the simplest possible media and supports: rocks, sand, oil, ink, gouache, graphite, charcoal, on canvas, cardboard, and paper. A little acrylic.
has established itself, in a more refined style. As for monotypes and engravings, they symbolize surprise, the magical moment when the print appears before our eyes.
I wanted to present you with a variety of works on the gallery walls, reflecting the diversity of what nature offers us. Large and small formats, from pen to three-inch brush, from cardboard to canvas, and everything in between. From agitation to complete stillness.
Have fun and let your eyes enjoy it, without trying too hard to find meaning in the shapes. Sometimes, there just isn't any.
My Raw Materials
water
the wind
the rocks
the mother
the sea
emotion
the air
the word
the caress
the gesture
the other
the sand
space
silence
wood
a child's laughter
the scents
old friends
children
the line
the gesture
hugs
ice cream
the sound of running water
the momentum
the flight of 'birds'
a wink
wood
the forest
thought
a hand
a friend
a line
maple syrup
the scent of the oil
the sound of charcoal on cotton paper
a rough canvas
a torn piece of paper
the matte finish of the gouache
the breaking of a form
ambiguity
carelessness
just one tear
The following works will be exhibited there.
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