Chantal Sicard de Carufel-Leduc has been dabbling in various artistic mediums since she was a young adolescent; anything from sketch, pastels, collage or painting created a consistent draw. Native of Timiskaming, she continuously challenged her artistic abilities, however not until 2007 did she feverishly produce abstract works during her university years. This was the first time that she’d lived in a large city and resocialization was impactful; art was a tool she used to cope with the culture shock of the city.
Chantal studied psychology and social work at the University of Waterloo while competing in sports at the international level. She last competed in Malaysia winning an Arm-wrestling World Championship in 2015. After the World’s in Malaysia, she and her then Sports Coach, Roman Svoboda, knew that they would have to continue collaborating in the world of art, but she would have to retire from competitive sports. Roman was a former athlete, a war veteran and an Artist/Restorator who studied Engineering; she, a self-taught artist with little foundation- a neophyte to the artistic world, a Social Service Worker by trade and an avid athlete. They shared one particular foundational belief; you get where you need to go with “drive, determination, and dedication” and with this they plunged into an intense working relationship over the course of the 3 years producing a combination of over 400 sketches/works and various assignments to develop her artistic skills. And thankfully so.
Today, the work has taken on a life of its own and Chantal is developing her own style moving fluidly between mediums and themes. She’s shown some of her work at the McLaren Art Gallery in Barrie, Ontario to raise money for their organization, in the past 3 years, and this marked the debut of her public showings.
Chantal is of Algonquin and French heritage and her connection to the land, and particularly to the North, is important to her. She describes her connection to the “bush” as being a vital part in staying balanced. This shines through in her art work. She also has strong interests in the impacts of politics which will continue to permeate through future pieces. Much like her mentor, Chantal will dabble in almost any medium to invent and interpret her world around her.
Artist location: Southern Ontario
Native de la région de Timiskaming, Chantal Sicard de Carufel-Leduc explore en auto-didacte l’art depuis plusieurs années. En 2014, elle rencontrera son coach et futur collaborateur, Roman Svoboda, aussi anciennement son coach sportif pour le championnat mondial de Bras de fer, qu’elle a remporté en Malaysie en 2015.
Ensemble, ils étudient les arts classiques, en utilisant la peinture à l’huile, l’aquarelle, crayon, et pastels; avec les techniques des Grands Maîtres et la formation acquise de restauration d’oeuvres d’art par Roman depuis plus de 58 ans.
Pendant 5 ans, Chantal travaille intensément, chaque semaine, sur de nouveaux croquis et peintures en se laissant guidée par les critiques, challenges et défis que Roman lui prescrit.
Leur collaboration lui apporte fruits avec des publications dans les hebdomadaires; International Artist et Fusion Art. Elle se modernise aussi en se faisant un second studio en Belgique.
Chantal est devenue membre Active de la Fédération des Artistes Canadiens depuis 2019 suite à l’évalution et la reconnaissance de son travail par un panel d’experts canadiens en art.
Elle expose son art depuis quelques années à la galerie MacLaren, à Barrie Ontario, pour rècolter des fonds pour leur établissement. Elle a exposé au Rotunda de Barrie pendant le mois de septembre 2019, et sera de retour septembre 2020.
En complément d’une formation en art privilègiée, Chantal possède un bac universitaire en psychologie, jumelé avec un bac en services sociaux de Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
From 2015-2018, she was the understudy of, Art Restorer, Roman Svoboda. Their collaboration provoked intense explorations of various mediums such as graphite, ink, pastel watercolor, and oil paints experimenting from figure to plein air work. “It is with this intense foundation that I’ve been able to infuse all of these elements together in various genres, from abstract to surrealism to portraiture; each telling a story of the world around me.” She is now an Active Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists since 2019 and now pleased to be part of the newly developing Toronto Chapter of that Federation. Her goal is to become a full-time artist while balancing her career in Social Services and athletic pursuits.
Education
Student of R. Svoboda 2015- 2018
Art history study of Da Vinci, Turner, Lautrec, Bruegel, Drurer and others. Foundational study of Ink, pastel, watercolor and oil techniques, minor art restoration, draftsmanship, and some frame making.
Collaborations
Active Member of the Canadian Federation of Artists October 2019-present
Awards
2019 Fusion Art March edition juried contest – finalist “Ballad of the Butterflies”
2019 International Artist Magazine April juried contest – finalist “Oppression”
Expositions
2020 5 accepted submissions to the Federation of Canadian Artists
2019 Headlining art expo – Rotunda Barrie City Hall September 2019
2017 MacLaren Art Center “Off the Hook” art auction
2016 MacLaren Art Center “Off the Hook” art auction
2016 MacLaren Art Center “Benefactor program”
2015 MacLaren Art Center “Off the Hook” art auction