France Jodoin (b. 1961) 

France Jodoin is a Canadian contemporary artist known for her maritime scenes. Painted in a semi-abstract style, her work is a modern interpretation of European Romanticism.  

Jodoin was born 1961 in Sainte-Madeleine, Quebec, a rural community in Monteregie. A graduate of the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Jodoin attended the Ottawa School of Art and the Saidye Bronfman Centre in Montreal.  

Jordoin worked as a translator for almost 20 years before starting to paint. She describes herself as a self-taught artist. She cites her sister, who is also an artist, for inviting her to join an art class she was teaching for changing her life. She took the class for three years before taking the leap of faith to become a full-time visual artist. 

In 2000, she moved to Montreal where she has participated in shows at Cirque du Soleil, and at Thomas More Institute Annual Art Exhibition at Galerie Loto-Quebec. Her first solo exhibition was mounted at Sylvianne Poirier Art Contemporain (Montreal) in 2002. 

She describes her work as instinctive and does not plan much. Starting with an abstract landscape and then using mark making to guide her towards a more specific image. The imagery in her work has always included water and skies, two vast spaces, inbetween which she places architecture, boats, the human figure and flowers, which tend to be her main subjects. 

Jodoin lives and works in Cowansville, Quebec, and is married to Canadian artist Kevin Sonmor. Her work is found in Quebec museums including; Musee des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke, Centre d’art de Kamouraska and Cirque du Soleil, as well as in private collections and in galleries in Canada, France and the United States.