Colette Dionne
Began her career in fine arts at 12 years old when she won a red ribbon in a community show. At 16, one of her paintings was selected in a Quebec wide student exhibition to hang at the prestigious Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
At 23 years old she owned and operated an art Gallery for 3 years in Montreal where she sold and framed commercial art as well as her own work in oils and other media. She was accepted as a member of the Lakeshore Artists Association in the seventies where she exhibited in yearly juried shows and obtained other awards of merit ,selling locally and to international collectors.
For 6 years ongoing, children and adults of Beaconsfield and area were to attend her art and craft classes and workshops. Yet, Colette found no passion in fine art painting and simply stopped pursuing it:” I felt I had nothing to say”...
By then, a mother of two daughters, Colette couldn’t really stay away from the arts. She was involved with ballet-(her first love and real passion) theatre and television design creating many sets, lighting and costumes for children ballet groups and later for events in hotels (Holiday Inn, Hilton etc). Her horticultural hobby and flower show awards led to many design contracts with an indoor and outdoor landscape company (Terrafolia).
In the early ‘80s, she played a pioneering role in the computer graphics industry as her work could be seen in trade conferences and demo reels all over the world showing off the new technology. She designed and directed many electronic animations and show openings for CBC TV, commercials for various clients and later was executive producer for dozens of motivational and educational training videos for the Metropolitan Life Ins. co. as well as broadcast commercials for “On the Road Again “ and Newsday in CBC Ottawa.
After a fertile bout in desktop publishing and multimedia production, she founded Timebox Inc. in 1991. Once again a pioneer at the - bleeding edge- of technology she and her team choreographed images, movies, sound and text to create a rich interactive experience for the user. Five CD ROM titles directed to the educational market were the result of this publishing company. Of note, a first product launched in 1992 : “Columbus Day by Day” included small Quicktime movies- a first on CD- and was judged the most complete resource on the subject. Their last title “Dreambuilders, the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame” was created with the support of the National Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Council of Professional Eng.
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In need of a rest from the computer milieu, Ms Dionne semi-retired on the shores of the Mississippi River in Almonte Ontario volunteering her time in schools helping children to use computers creatively. Here on the outskirts of Ottawa, in 2000, she opened a small Bistro which featured each month on its elegant walls a different artist and a different menu. This was quite a new experience for her channelling her creativity in eclectic menus and special events. This was a time, she never regretted but one after which she says” Now I’m sure , I’m retired”.
As a retiree she has returned to her life’s work in art finding a new passion in sculpture. After intensive workshops at the Haliburton School of the Arts she admits that “Perhaps , now I may have something to say”.
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Her works in stone and in wood can be seen at local galleries and in her sculpture garden and studio in Beaver Valley near Collingwood from May to November as well as her studio in Costa Rica and local galleries there during the interim 6 months.
Education:
BA Universtity of Montreal-History of Art
Graphic Design Diploma, Westport Conn.(3yrs)
Professional Theatre Program, John Abbot,Mtl (2yrs)
TV Production Design, Art Direction, CBC Toronto (1 yr)
Courses & Seminars: Marketing, Intellectual Property
Week intensive Workshops:
Woodcarving,
Concrete
Mosaic
Month Intensive Stone Sculpture Haliburton School of the Arts