Artist in Focus - Gaétan Caron
Caron expresses his creativity via oil painting on canvas, digital photography and using water base mixed media on paper. These mediums pair well with Caron’s ability to notice, to look and to see the raw, the real and the beautiful, especially in nature. He lives and works off-the-grid on an orchard located at the heart of the Mendocino Hills in Northern California.
Caron is also one of the two founding members behind Lost Art Salon, an art gallery in San Francisco. His artistic inspiration comes in part from his passion for modern art but also through the hands-on experience of collecting the art of various 20th Century artists.
Have you always been creative? And is there a particular moment you realised you were?
I grew up with a mother who was creative. She expressed it in her flower garden and via textile work such as weaving. After college, while I was working as a French teacher, I decided to enrol in the ceramic program of L'École de Céramique Bonsecours in Montréal. I had always been an art appreciator but never thought I could express my creativity through doing art myself. During that program I realized that art was a passion of mine.
How did you learn your craft?
I started as a ceramicist. But eventually I moved to San Francisco and found it difficult to have a clay studio of my own in a very expensive city. With my best friend, we decided to create a gallery specialized in 20th Century historical artists who were lesser known. At times, some of the collection's oil paintings needed quick restoration. I learned how to use oil paint that way. A little later I became a parent. I found myself going into nature with my child, camera in hand. Photography became another medium to express my creativity.
What 3 things inspire you?
Nature, nature and nature. Whether via the landscape, the flora or the fauna, I'm very much inspired by nature.
What are the main themes behind your work?
The garden, the forest (mountains) and the ocean (sea, lakes, rivers, creeks).
Who have been your biggest influences in your career? Artist or otherwise.
I collect 20th Century artwork via Lost Art Salon in San Francisco, a gallery specializing in the rediscovery of historically significant artists who have been lost to time. The collection reflects the major movements of the late 19th Century through the present, with a strong emphasis on 20th Century Modernism.
What exhibitions have you seen that have stayed with you?
A Paris exhibition at the D'Orsay presenting the landscape and its spirituality.
What else would you love to do or achieve in your career?
I am in the process of building an art studio on the wild side of the land I live on with the intent of coming back to clay.