Local artist Melissa Jean was born right here in southeastern Manitoba, but her work is currently on display in galleries across Canada, not to mention hanging in the homes of art lovers around the world.
Jean was born to Neil and Audrey Rempel of Niverville. Growing up, she and her family moved around a lot, but they returned to Niverville when Jean was a teenager. That’s where Jean met her husband, Bill Klippenstein, and eventually the pair moved to Kenora, Ontario to raise their children.
After 20 years in Kenora, Jean and Klippenstein moved back to Niverville in 2023. Since then, Jean has converted the lower floor of their bilevel home into an art studio.
Jean also has a new studio opening in Kenora later this year. This studio will allow her to be part of a larger, more public art space.
Born Melissa Jean Rempel, her middle name comes from her grandmother. And it was her grandmother, Jean Neufeld, who first introduced her to oil painting when she was 14 years old. Jean immediately fell in love with art and has been painting since that day.
“When I sign my name now, I sign it ‘Melissa Jean,’ to honour my grandmother and everything she did to get me started,” says Jean. “It just felt more meaningful to put her name on the paintings. That was a very deliberate thing.”
Jean says that painting is a natural byproduct of loving what she sees all around her. As a teenager, she lost the vision in her left eye. Losing her depth perception was a devastating loss for a young artist—but in some ways, she says, it changed her for the better.
“[Losing my vision] made me change the way I saw the world around me,” she says. “I looked for clues in light and shadow to determine how far away things were. It made me hyperaware of my surroundings and incredibly grateful that I still had one good eye to see. I don’t take one sunset for granted and I am thankful for each day I am alive and here to witness the beautiful world we live in.”
For many years, painting was a hobby for Jean as she jumped around from job to job. But as she grew in skill, her hobby became a career. In 2011, she was able to quit her job and become a professional artist.
Jean was quickly able to get her work into a few galleries. Now her art is showcased in eight galleries across Canada. A large part of Jean’s job is supplying art to these galleries, but since the COVID-19 pandemic she has also been selling more and more out of her studio.
Although Jean worked for many years with oil paints, she has been using acrylics for the last ten years. Her passion is landscapes and capturing the beauty and serenity she feels when being in nature. She’s especially in love with the Lake of the Woods and finds a great deal of her inspiration there.
“I’m really drawn to nature. I like wild nature without structure and I like to imagine what it’s like without humans, basically. I love painting on the lakes because often you don’t even hear or see anyone. I’m just by myself, and I hear the birds. And it’s just so serene. It just feeds me. Like, one painting on the lake could feed 10 or 12 paintings of inspiration.”
Jean is known for her commissioned paintings of other people’s favourite spots as well. She is often asked to paint the view from a customer’s cabin.
“Part of my job is meeting people and really getting to know what they love,” says Jean. “Most of the time, there’s a bit of a connection to the lake and it just means a lot to them. So that’s kind of special to be a part of that.”
Jean describes part of her process for painting someone else’s most cherished spot.
“Often when I’m painting, there’s a word that sticks out in my mind. For example, calm. And I’ll just continue with that vibe throughout the painting and kind of keep that word rolling around in my brain while I’m doing it. And I get those words from these conversations I have with people when they’re talking about their custom painting… So I pick up on these little cues and come up with an idea.”
Like with any job, creating art can have its challenges. Jean says that she will occasionally jump into the creation of a painting with such excitement that she soon realizes she hasn’t paid enough attention to the composition of the piece. But years of experience have taught her what to do next.
“When that happens and I don’t have a good start from the beginning, I just literally burn the painting and start again. I’ll build a big fire and throw the painting in, even if I’ve worked on it for a month! If the composition doesn’t feel right, if it doesn’t feel right to me, then I don’t want it in the world. You know, it’s very healing, because [the painting] turns from an object into the air and it can come back to me in a different form and I can start again.”
Jean’s two children seem to have inherited the artistic gift from their mother. Her son Jackson is in a band and will be performing at this year’s Niverville Olde Tyme Country Fair. Her younger child, RJ, created the cover art for Jackson’s new album and is currently attending a visual art program at university.
Last year, Jean presented a painting to Bryan Baeumler, host of Bryan’s All In on HGTV. On April 14, Jean will be featured on an episode of the show talking about her work.
On April 6, Jean, along with the Niverville Chamber of Commerce, will host an Open Studio event for those who are interested in viewing her artwork. The event will run from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at her home studio at 67 Claremont Drive in Niverville. There will be a draw to win a print of one of Jean’s pieces.
