JEANETTE PEKARI

Painting

514-931-2169
EVIKE13@videotron.ca

I was born in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) on December 3 rd, 1957. My parents are of European descent. When I was three years old my mother noticed that I was more interested in playing with art materials than toys, expressing myself and communicating more with drawing than with speech.

After visiting many doctors, I was diagnosed as “aphasic”, which means that I had to take speech therapy and go to a special school. I studied at Davison School in Atlanta (Georgia, USA) from 1965 to 1972. It was there that I WON MAY DIRST PRIZE FOR MY ARTWEORK, DRAEING A Christmas card in 1965. After Davison School, I stayed with my parents in Montréal (Quebec) where I attended the Mackay Center School for the Deaf in 1972-74. I then went ton Switzerland for three years. I spent a year at Chateau Beau Cedre in Montreux, and from there I went to Lausanne, at Chateau Brillantmont for two years. I was after told by my teachers and my private tutor ands mentor, Mr. Williams, a well-known artist in Europe, that I have talent. He recommended that I go to London (England) to continue my art education.

In 1978-79, I took the Foundation course of Fine art at Byam Shaw. Then I spent three years at the Goldsmiths’ College (1979.82) where I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in Textiles and Fine Arts.

My mother chose to live in Cannes (France) where I followed her and stayed for four years. Surrounded by beauty of the Cote d’Azur, I started to paint and prepare for exhibitions.

I have had 86 exhibitions to date and sold roughly 3000 pieces of my art work – mostly to galleries although some were donated to charities (ink, watercolours, gauche, acrylic, oil, serigraphy’s, weavings, tapestry, and machine embroideries). Two of my machine embroideries hang in Hampton Court Palace Museum in East Molesey (Surrey, England).

In the summer of 1992, friends of my mother invited me to stay with them at Aix-en-Provence, where they own the hours of the late Paul Cézanne. I was fortunate to stay in this beautiful environment and wherever ÍI looked, I saw the paintings of Cézanne. I painted every day and I felt as though I was painting with Cézanne.

I call my painting from this period “Painting with Cézanne.” I am back in Montreal since November 1986. I’m working with Art collectives and galleries doing group and solo exhibitions.