Artist Statement:
Michelle’s creativity is expressed in both science and the visual arts. Painting allows her mind to wander beyond the rigid boundaries and rules of science. Her art is very experimental and abstract works built with lots of textures soon became her favorite mode of expression. She uses mostly acrylics, collages of papers and small found objects, rust imprints and image transfers of her own photographs. Bursts of colors and large shapes, in energetic motions, lead to enthusiastic, bold and simple abstract statements. She relishes in painting on location and the more exotic, the better. 

Namibia Moments was inspired from a dream vacation to that marvelous country. The challenge was to select favorites from thousands of photos to highlight the most incredible moments of the trip. Michelle based her creative process on the photos, altering them digitally to amplify the colours and textures and transferring them to board or canvas, then adding acrylic paint for emphasis. Incomplete photo transfers were overlaid with others forming the basis of more abstract representations. Collages were also produced, incorporating fragments of photographs, Sekishu papers and even Namibia sand.

The artworks were inspired by three very geographically diverse locations: 
The Etosha National Park, a saline desert rich in wildlife provided a series of images depicting jungle animals meandering the arid landscape in search of waterholes, at sunrise and sunset.

Damaraland, a vast, untamed region with highly colourful and ancient rock formations, a petrified forest 260 million years old and the magnificent Twyfelfontein petroglyphs was an amazing and historically charged source of inspiration. 

The Skeletal Coast and Swakopmund, a small resort nestled between desert and the Atlantic Ocean led to artworks describing the magnificently pink saltpans where flamingos stood in their majestic poses. 

Please enjoy these selected Namibia Moments that will make you dream of one day visiting this magnificent land.

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Michelle Letarte was born in Quebec City and is proud of her French heritage. Toronto has been her home since 1975. She has devoted a large part of her life to Medical Sciences and Research. She is currently a Senior Scientist Emerita at SickKids Hospital and Professor of Immunology Emerita at the University of Toronto. Michelle attended the Ontario College of Art on a part-time basis for several years, learning Ceramics, Textiles and Sculpture. She started painting in 1991 and her training has been mostly through workshops and courses. 

Michelle travels the world for scientific meetings and for teaching Immunology courses in the developing world. She often takes holidays around those trips. The diversity in people and landscapes encountered provides endless inspiration. She relishes painting on location and the more exotic, the better. She is particularly fascinated by Africa, and has traveled to Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Ethiopia, Benin, Namibia and South Africa. She take lots of photographs as inspiration for subsequent studio work.
 www.michelleletarte.ca