Last October, Deb Brissette opened the Highlands Art Studio out of her home in Niverville. Brissette offers art lessons to children on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and also facilitates paint parties. She has also taught classes in other towns throughout the region, including St. Pierre-Jolys, Ste. Agathe, and St. Malo.
Brissette and her husband Paul moved to Niverville in 2016 from Landmark. Although she has worked in healthcare since the age of 17, art has always been an important part of her life. Brissette has painted murals, made crafts, sold paintings, and baked specialty chocolates and candies.
“I had a three-year bout of PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder],” Brissette says of a difficult period a few years ago. “I had buried a lot of my artwork for years. It was into the third year [of PTSD] when I picked up a pencil and started sketching again… Before I knew it, I was feeling better and recovering.”
Because art has brought healing to Brissette, she wants to share this unique form of therapy with others.
“When I first started Highlands Art Studio, I was hoping to get more into the wellness end of it, where art can help make people feel better about themselves and everything they’re going through,” says Brissette. “I’m seeing that the people I’m working with are also finding it helpful.”
For children’s painting classes, available for those ages seven to 14, no experience is necessary. In each one-hour weekly class, students tackle three 20-minute art projects. Brissette teaches everything from different styles of painting to moulding clay and tangling. She explains that tangling is a form of doodling in which the artist repeats the same patterns over and over to create a unique design.
“I’m always trying to keep it fresh and new,” Brissette says of the variety.
On top of her children’s classes, Brissette also offers paint parties, both for kids birthdays as well as for special occasions. She and her husband can host up to ten people in their home at a time, but for larger groups Brissette can meet in other venues.
Brissette loves teaching prospective artists of any age.
“My classes in St. Malo have been very endearing because I have young and old participating together,” she says. “It’s amazing how much they can all do with the same lesson. I love to inspire others, to encourage them no matter how experienced they are.”
