Decorate your walls with creations from here

When he moved into his first house with his sweetheart, Mathieu Hoste started looking for creations to decorate his walls.

“Like everyone else, we were inspired by what we saw on Pinterest or Instagram, but in boutiques and department stores we found the same things that hung in my parents’ living room and that we see a lot almost everywhere in the world. photographs and monuments from elsewhere. We were really looking for works by artists that reflect current trends. »

Mathieu Hoste is thinking about filling this gap. He makes his business plan, buys a five-foot-wide printer and devotes his free time to his new canvas printing project in his basement, while at the same time mortgaging half of his house. When he lost his job a year later, at the beginning of the pandemic, he devoted himself full-time to his search for the ideal canvases: signed by local artists, assembled by hand in frames of linden from Quebec, renewed regularly to be sold for a certain exclusivity and at affordable prices.

Mathieu Hoste never returned to work.

Access to a stock exchange, a passage to the issue In the eye of the dragon and agreements with major players such as Simons, Ameublements Tanguay and Must allow his young company in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines to move up a gear.

Since its creation, Oleka Canvas has sent more than 17,000 works mainly in Quebec. It targets North America and Europe within a five-year horizon.

Create to meet demand

Driven to the other side of the globe for love, Swede Erik Rydingsvärd encountered the same obstacle after renovating his home and finding himself with a limited budget to decorate his home. Wall decoration stores, numerous in Europe and in the country of the decoration giant, were conspicuous by their absence in Quebec. He started Opposite Wall, making his posters in the Mile-Ex district of Montreal. The catalog has 3,000 creations that include photography, painting, typography and illustration.

The creative director of this decor and design studio, Rafaelle Chartrand, internally supervises three artists who generate 85% of Opposite Wall’s production. Other artists are added to the freelancer according to the needs and trends of the moment.

Each month the designers immerse themselves in a new universe to generate unique creations in a range of diverse styles.

“The studio’s next collection will consist of abstract images,” reveals Rafaelle Chartrand. I explain my vision to the artists and tell them the mediums I want to see – be it watercolor, collage, plaster – and the chosen color palette. The creations are then digitized. The direction given to the collections is inspired by current or future trends, identified on websites such as Pinterest, Behance and the stores of European competitors.

Every month, Opposite Wall launches about twenty new posters. Some works are regularly updated in new shades to match the colors in fashion.

When the mouse replaces the brush

The majority of the works of these two companies are created on the computer or digitally reworked. “It allows you to print very large formats while maintaining perfect quality. The works are also easily adaptable, says Mathieu Hoste. A customer wants green instead of purple? We rework the image. The company produces per piece, like its competitors here, which allows it to adapt to demand, to personalize its offer, to limit losses and its ecological footprint at the same time.

Graphic designer for 20 years, Anne-Sophie Perreault, aka Toffie, started creating posters for her own account six years ago, as an enforcer and because she couldn’t find anything to her liking. She is now represented by Oleka Canvas, Opposite Wall and a boutique in Brazil, which provides her visibility and manages the production and shipping of her creations, in exchange for royalties on sales. She creates without a precise approach, she says, but draws a good part of her inspiration from the middle century and take special orders on occasion. “Often people send me photos of the rooms to decorate and I start from there to create in collaboration with the client. »

Promote local artists

The exclusivity of the works offered in the wall decoration shops that pop up in Quebec varies from one to the other.

The publishing house Paperole renews its catalog twice a year with new artists, mostly local. The catalog contains some limited edition creations, numbered and signed. Some originals too. This is also the case for the gallery boutique Bref, which changes its selection of wall art every month thanks to its themes. “Basically, Bref was born because we had a lot of illustrator friends who struggled to present what they did and what they are,” says one of the two founders, Cynthia Moreau. “We wanted to publicize their work. »

It is also to ensure that artists have access to good working conditions and can showcase their creations which the illustrator agent Élisabeth Pelletier bought the online art gallery Sur ton mur. The giclées of art it offers, of a museum quality that distinguishes them from the poster, let the creations live for at least 100 years. “We consider our reproductions to be works of art in their own right and even more so for the limited editions”, notes the director, who counts among others Rogé, Cathon, Michel Rabagliati and Élise Gravel in her bosom.

Whoever finds himself in front of a wall when decorating his home naturally has fewer and fewer arguments in Quebec because he does not know how to furnish it. “Without being unique works of art, Mathieu Hoste points out with reference to his paintings, they are creations from here made by artisans from here… which we are certainly less likely to find elsewhere than the famous IKEA bridge. ! »

Seven firms to discover

wall art

When the pandemic hit, Presentation Design had to reorient its business from designing, manufacturing and installing exhibition stands. “To diversify our activities, but above all to feed our thirst for creativity, we decided to create Art Murals”, explains its sales director, Laurence Lefebvre. The canvases of artists from here or elsewhere, sold in limited editions, are printed on fabric, by sublimation and in high resolution at a partner in Montreal. The customer can also upload his own images on the website.

Short

The gallery boutique first saw the light in Mile End before opening its virtual space. Its concept is based on themes around which different kinds of creations revolve. The most recent collection brings rainy days to life in visual art, decoration, more practical objects and some playful ones. Brief works with around fifty artists from here and elsewhere who each take care of the printing of their works which must be taken as they are. Frame options are offered to those who want turnkey.

On your wall

Founded in 2013 by illustrator Élise Gravel and taken over by illustrator agent Elisabeth Pelletier, the web gallery represents more than 20 artists. Sur ton mur manages all stages of the process, from printing to framing made in Montreal by an artisan who works with wood and adds a personal touch with a contrasting wood insert at the corners. For the Holidays, some works will also be presented on canvas.

Paper roll

Paperole is a publishing house as well as a shop/gallery dedicated to the promotion of contemporary illustration and graphic art. The work of the artists is represented there on various media: card games, stationery, posters, clothes and accessories for everyone. Paperole offers some originals, mainly sketches. The frame, made in Quebec in wood and with glass – not Plexiglas – is available in three color choices.

Toffee

Anne-Sophie Perreault, aka Toffie Affichiste, is particularly represented by Opposite Wall, where she launched a special collection this week. It also manages its own platform where, upon request, it is possible to obtain more personalized orders.

Across the Wall

The store offers more than 3,000 different creations, printed per piece: photographs, paintings, typography or illustrations, as well as home wallpapers and wall decoration accessories. The site offers several pre-designed wall galleries for those looking for inspiration and a turnkey framing service. One Tree Planted receives 1% of sales to reforest Canada.

Oleka Canvas

Wall art shop Oleka Canvas stands out for its canvas prints by local artists. His uses a water-based ink that, when baked, fuses with the material. This process ensures the product’s durability and makes it less likely to fade or flake, says company founder Mathieu Hoste. Both the framing and the printing are done in the Laurentians. A tree is planted for every painting sold.