By Joan F. Simoneau, Community Reporter
Marlborough – Michele Renee Ledoux, a former resident of Marlborough, was one of the 175 award-winning artists who displayed fine and functional art at the Paradise City Arts Festival held in mid-November at the Royal Plaza Trade Center.
The sign at her booth, resplendent with her artwork, read? “Michele Renee Ledoux Fine Art,” the name of her studio in Evergreen, Colo. Her work has a constant theme – the intention to invoke spirit and inspire alchemy – the transformation of the mundane into magic. It has been exhibited in solo and group shows both nationally and internationally, is in private collections, and also has been published in an award-winning book.
In 2010 she was inducted into the National Association of Women Artists in New York City, of which she remains a member and for whom she will host a solo show in New York City in April 2013.
In addition to both national and international recognition, her recent accolades include: 2012 Honorable Mention, IEA EncaustiCon, Gallery Nord, San Antonio, Tex.; and 2012 First Place, Castle Rock Art Fest, Castle Rock, Colo.
“As an artist, I am committed to choosing to experience each moment with passion, authenticity and presence, allowing my work to go where inspiration leads me,” Ledoux said.
She recently returned from Paris, where she continued her pursuit to “share my love of poetry, philosophy and connection to Zen Buddhism through the creation of unique and spiritually inspired work.”
Ledoux explained her technique.
“Free from commitment to any single style, my work reflects an ever-evolving organic synthesis of mixed media including encaustic (wax) recycled materials, solar plate intaglio, photography, painting and drawing with found-object framework,” she said. “By means of building up and breaking down, texturing, and layering, my work seeks to scratch the surface of true human nature and, as such, often addresses social, political, environmental and spiritual matters.
“Philosophically, my work has been likened to a reconciliation of the old with the contemporary, the decrepit with the pristine, the refined with the rough.”
After graduating from Marlborough High School, Ledoux attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she studied philosophy with emphasis in eastern religious studies. The professional development of the self-taught artist included workshops, along with individual and group study with artists, printmakers, educators, poets and several Zen masters.
She then relocated to Evergreen in 1998, where she currently resides and works as a full-time artist.
She is the daughter of Joan Ledoux of, Marlborough, a teacher at Marlborough High School for 32 years. Her late father was Robert Ledoux, a postmaster in the city and a city councilor.