Studio Stephens-Bourgeault

Painting a Symphony for Your Eyes to Magnify Your Imagination" Patrice Stephens-Bourgeault is a plein-air artist, who combines the realism of traditional fine art with the vision of Surrealism. Her fine art painting captivates a subject matter more real than one would see with their eyes, or what’s produced through the lens of a camera. But, the catalyst which fundamentally changed the way Patrice sees and paints her world, was her work as a scientific illustrator in biodiversity. She uses the microscope as her mode of transportation to enter into this ‘New World’ of entomology. The fine art paintings Patrice brings back from her travels under the microscope will magnify your imagination. This fusion of her fine art paintings and her experience as a science illustrator of insects has inadvertently relocated her into the world of Surrealism’s fantasy. Patrice’s technique is to paint realism with speed and accuracy, as she paints from life on location, without the aid of photographs or overhead projectors. This she does also, with her fine art paintings of insects that are anatomically correct, which she creates freehand while looking at the specimen directly from under the microscope. Consequently, her fine art paintings become intriguing, and reflect with a magnetic appeal, this captivating combination of artist styles. Patrice subsequently ‘paints a symphony for your eyes to magnify your imagination’