Artist Paulette Brodeur, a longtime fixture on the Salida arts scene, has had a presence downtown longer than most. She opened her first gallery, The Art Studio, on East Second Avenue back in 1994 along with artist Marcy Csiky and later on, Steph Brady. She eventually relocated to the corner of First and Ninth Streets where she created and displayed her colorful, vibrant works until early 2012, when flooding due to broken pipes forced her to relocate. She now operates out of the Sandusky Studios at 222 1/2 F St, #11. Brodeur spent much of her youth in Europe, but her art career can be traced back to when she took private lessons with renowned Ft. Worth, Texas artist Josephine Mahaffey – nicknamed The Texas Dynamo for her high energy and prolificness. Mahaffey, unbeknownst to the then ten-year-old, entered one of Brodeur’s early paintings, an acrylic titled “The Circus,” into the Texas State Fair where the painting was awarded second place. From that point on, art became a way of life for Brodeur. She later attended the Art Institute of Dallas and moved back to Paris for a while, living and working in a home that belonged to the Institute. While in France, she was introduced to Parisian art museums and design houses and was even introduced to fashion designer Coco Chanel at her final showing. She also met another designer, Yves Saint Laurent, while there.
Eventually she retuned to the U.S. where she wound up working in Boulder, Colorado as an interior designer for International Design, a division of Roche Bobois. She thought the bare walls of the furniture showroom needed some color and offered her work to help fill the walls. Her boss was at first reluctant, but after seeing samples from her portfolio, agreed to display them and later also became her rep. Brodeur considers herself a “sensible artist” who doesn’t like to rush her work. Some pieces may take up to a year to complete. She works in mixed media on paper as well as acrylic on canvas and oil on canvas and considers her art a “process of purification” where colors are mingled in varying degrees. Some of her favorite themes are music, expression, poetry, religion, culture and nature. In her words, “The desire to reveal something hidden is always there.” Among the artists she admires most is Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo, who is considered an expert in color. Although she has had as many as 13 galleries worldwide showing her work at one time, she now sells mostly to collectors, “patrons,” she calls them, including one of the editors of Smithsonian Magazine. This summer she plans to return to Europe for a few weeks to get recharged but also to explore the works of Spanish Modernist architect, Antoni Gaudî, whose unique works are largely concentrated in the Catalan capital of Barcelona. For this year’s Salida ArtWalk, Brodeur’s paintings will be on display at Pinon Real Estate, Café Dawn and at her own studio on F Street. Her regular hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 1 to 5 and by appointment. www.brodeurart.com
