Eric Guenette
I am an American painter currently living in Lagos, Portugal. I am also a songwriter, guitarist and professional graphic designer, but it's the lure of the limitless possibilities of painting abstraction that makes it the most daunting and intoxicating creative endeavor I know. Standing before a blank canvas might seem to be simple task, but there are a thousand tiny decisions that have already been made beforehand and an even more complex ritual that unfolds after the first stroke is been applied. Song is verse and chorus; the guitar is scales and notes; graphic design eyes profit with every pixel. Abstract art is blatantly weightless and untethered. With every stroke, there are always new answers and new questions. To progress, one begins to construct a cobbled mass of techniques, rules and judgements ... not unlike someone lost at sea ... gathering nearby flotsam and fashioning random items together in order to stay afloat. Every artist is different and coalesces their own interpretation of what it takes to survive the artistic process. So, why would someone put themselves through such a thing? Discovery over discomfort, I suppose.
One of his biggest influences was my grandfather, Marcel Guenette, who was a golf shoe maker at Footjoy in Brockton, Massachusetts for thirty years. He could build anything with his hands. He would often be found in his small wood shop in the back yard in Winter Park, Florida. As a child, I would be transfixed as my grandfather constructed all sorts of projects from scratch with whatever materials he had laying around. I am inspired to this day by his spirit and ingenuity. I feel that it is important for me to be involved in every aspect of the artwork, from the construction of the homemade frames, stretching house painter drip cloths as my canvas material and finishing most of the artworks with white pine decorative framing.
Graphic design is very much a team effort with the client and the application of many of the principles are invaluable working through the painting process, but the difference between art and graphic design is that artist is afforded the opportunity to remain uncompromised by outside influence. Even songwriting is not immune to the whims of what is expected and what is not.
Taking a cue from my grandfather, I intentionally work with a variety of unusual whatever materials present themselves ... household latex, acrylic and spray paints on fiberboard, painter's drip cloths, bedsheets, couch lining, carpet, wood, styrofoam, foam core, cardboard and other substrates. Most of the structural and decorative framing is constructed by hand. The work takes on a imperfect and organic feel. I rarely use brushes. Paint is commonly applied with scrapers made from things like leftover wood frame pieces or small flexible plastic cutouts from used butter containers. Most of the artwork is signed and dated with a construction nail.
From the time I started painting around 2000 in West Palm Beach, Florida to Albuquerque, New Mexico and then Lagos, Portugal, I have always had makeshift art studios. Put me in a dusty garage or on a sea sprayed patio, with the random infusion of dog hair, dirt, bugs, and accidental red wine spills, and I am ready to do it all again. Thank you for your time. Please contact me with any thoughts or questions.
............................
E X H I B I T I O N S :
2024
Abstrac.Ted - Feature Nov
2023
El Verde Inn (Rio Rancho) - Dec/Feb
2024
Albuquerque Sunport - Sept/Oct
Sandia Heights Artists Studio Tour - Sept
Tramway Centre (Albuquerque) - Jan/Dec
2022
Albuquerque Sunport - Sept/Oct
Tramway Centre - Jul/Dec
Sandia Heights Artists Studio Tour - Sept
2021
Sandia Heights Artists Studio Tour - Sept
2020
Sandia Heights Artists Studio Tour- Sept
2019
Sandia Heights Artists Studio Tour - Sept
2018
Sandia Heights Artists Studio Tour - Sept
2017
Sandia Heights Artists Studio Tour - Sept
2016
Sandia Heights Artists Studio Tour - Sept
2015
Sandia Heights Artists Studio Tour - Sept
............................
Eric Guenette was born in Winter Park, Florida (1967) and lived in Haymarket, Virginia as well as Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida until moving to Albuquerque in 2009. He currently resides in Lagos, Portugal as of 2025 with his wife of 21 years.
............................
Shown are the current artworks that are available for purchase. Most of the physical artworks are in Lagos, Portugal, with the exception of a few pieces, which are currently located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
