Isa Sevrain Mosaic Art

I’m from a small place called Berson near Bordeaux in west south France. My childhood was infused with the culture of a traditional French village, gossip and old stones, accordion “flonflon” and Strauss waltzes without forgetting August carnival.

My parents ran a small trade business and when I was 5 they also took over my grandfather’s vineyard. So, all together, from farming to trading, I developed the skills of perseverance, resourcefulness, quality craftmanship, and communication. At age 9 a woman painter client of my father gave me the most beautiful book I had ever seen, an illustrated Chinese story-book. I think it was the main inspiration of my childhood, an encouragement to believe in the power of expressing my heart.

A classical French education in boarding school introduced me to rebellion, rock’n roll, cinema and classical dance. In 1982 I found myself in the “big” city of Bordeaux. I started to go to the mime school of Philippe Bizot. For the next 5 years I worked with different theater companies and I took jazz and African dance classes. There I also opened up to Arabic culture and all together to a multicultural life. I added travel to my insatiable curiosity to meet more and more people. In 1987 I was working in Switzerland, saving to go live in the Caribbean for a while. With a last minute turn of thought, after meeting some Quebecquois, I bought a ticket for Montréal. When I arrived in December, I questioned my sanity. But I know now, it was meant to be. In retrospect, I feel that moving to Canada has been one of the best thing that has happened to me. From there I kept travelling back and forth to France via Caribbean. After a first trip in 1988 in the Okanagan, I swore that I would come back to western Canada. In 1990, I did and a new part of my life started.

Occasionally our artwork and jewellery selections change, so please contact Sooke Harbour House for pricing and availability. We will be happy to hear from you and answer any questions that you have.