About the Artist

Chantel Van de Vrie is a self-taught visual artist based in Shubenacadie East, Nova Scotia.

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Raised on her family’s dairy farm in Stewiacke, Chantel developed a lifelong appreciation for the natural world and a strong creative instinct. She went on to study Business Administration and Marketing at the Nova Scotia Community College, completing a formative work term at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. This experience sparked a deep interest in communications and ultimately led her to return to NSCC to study Public Relations.

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In 2019, Chantel returned to her rural roots, renovating her grandparents’ former home overlooking the tidal marshlands of the Shubenacadie River—part of the Bay of Fundy ecosystem. Immersed in the rhythms of nature and the process of restoring a family homestead, she reconnected with her artistic practice, turning to painting as a way to explore themes of memory, belonging, and place.

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Chantel’s work is inspired by the landscapes that shaped her childhood: tidal estuaries, quiet forests, and the farmland cultivated by generations of her family. Her paintings evoke a sense of light, nostalgia, and the enduring beauty of simple living. Lighthearted and playful, her work often captures dreamlike scenes bathed in soft pinks and warm tones—like a glimpse into a nostalgic dreamscape, where the duality of past memory and deep reverence for the land converge.

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