Lori Bagnérès, a visual artist born in Ontario and living in North Vancouver, completed her MFA in contemporary art from L’école Nationale des Beaux Arts de Grenoble in 1993. She currently pursues multiple creative interests as an artist/curator/educator in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Her paintings are held in corporate and private collections throughout Canada, the US, Europe and Australia. Her artwork has been placed in public institutions such as St. Paul’s Hospital (Vancouver), Lion’s Gate Hospital (North Vancouver) and The Hope Centre (North Vancouver). Lori’s artwork is currently represented by private galleries in Ottawa, Waterloo, Colllingwood, Victoria, New Westminster & Invermere and publicly at The Cityscape Community Artspace in North Vancouver.
Lori Bagnérès’ mixed media artwork derives its depth from the interconnectedness of spaces that humans share with the environment. Images of serene landscapes meld with an edgy, cultural world. Lori exposes the dichotomy between urban, graffitied surfaces and her natural surroundings. Through her mark-making and image manipulation she has created a new niche of contemporary landscape painting.
Q. When you first started your career, how did you know you were ready and what made you start?
I have made a few career changes in my lifetime, from being a professional engineer to my present day career as a mixed media artist. I knew I was ready for a change when I became unmotivated and lost interest with number crunching in my engineering design work. I’ve always had a passion for art, and painted on a part-time basis so creating artwork full-time was always in the back of my mind. I had an opportunity to make a shift towards the arts when I moved to France in 1988 with my husband, and was accepted into a contemporary art school there. I haven’t looked back since nor regretted either of my choices. I think I’ve benefitted immensely from both of my post-secondary education experiences.
Q. What or who has been your greatest influence in business?
That’s an excellent question and somewhat of a no brainer. I would have to say that the “team” of people that have influenced me the most in business are Pennylane Shen and David Ellingsen of Dazed & Confucius Consulting @dazed.and.confucius. Pennylane Shen is an artist consultant, curator and educator. Since 2006, her company has offered one-on-one consultations to over 1000 artists each year in addition to business development seminars to audiences worldwide. David Ellingsen is her professional partner and also an artist consultant and artist/free-lance photographer.
My business as an artist changed when I met Pennylane back in 2015 and therefore I would highly recommend her or David to any artist no matter what stage they may be in their careers. Both have assisted me from proposal writing for art exhibitions (public and private galleries) to writing a concise artist statement to designing my website. I keep in touch with Pennylane regularly and David also advises me a few times a year. I honestly don’t know where I would be today without their direction and constant support.
Q. What is your favourite thing about what you do in your career and why?
My favourite thing about my artistic practice is the freedom to start my day in my studio and create and experiment with whatever mediums I choose to. Since I work with acrylic, oil paint and various other mixed media I can be liberal about my choices. I also shoot and then manipulate my own photographic images and this also may change depending on what I would like to express in my compositions or the series I’m working on.
Q. What is your number one priority when it comes to your career and daily work?
I suppose it would be to remain as authentic to myself and to my expression in my artwork as I possibly can, trying to respect this in my everyday practice in the studio.
Q. What keeps you motivated on a daily basis?
The feedback I get from my customers/clients! Buying original artwork can be a huge investment for someone, so for me it essentially comes down to when a client contacts me after purchasing or commissions my artwork. When they take time out to express how my art makes them feel or how much they appreciate the piece motivates me in my practice as an artist and inspires me to keep creating.
Q. Do you have a mantra or phrase you live by? What is it?
Yes, I do…
What you think you create, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you become.
Connect with Lori:
www.loribagneres.com
@loribagneres
www.facebook.com/loribagneresart
www.linkedin.com/in/lori-bagneres
