JUST START.
Atelier Carouge logo in motion. Start.
Atelier Carouge, the genesis.
The idea for Atelier Carouge was found before and after a night at the pub with my buddy Ben. It was sometime in late 2019, and I felt like it was the beginning of my life’s task. My partner and I were in the process of buying our first house, and COVID hit. In June 2020, I filed the trademark paperwork with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
The registration process took over three and a half years and taught me a great deal. During this, task paralysis set in. I stopped actively working on the project, which was supposed to be an apparel brand. Lockdowns and the distance that isolated me from my family and friends during the pandemic shifted my focus inward. I began to realize that something needed my attention.
At the end of 2022, with a 4-month-old daughter changing my life every day, I decided to confirm a growing suspicion. After a lot of work, with the help of a social worker from Autisme Estrie and the late Dr. Normand Giroux, we’ve confirmed that I have Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asperger’s in my case). The following months were a rollercoaster, on the one hand, I was discovering my daughter’s personality, and on the other, I was grieving. Not accepting that the lifelong challenges I was trying to overcome and the continuous anxiety I was dealing with were going to be a part of me forever.
What about Now?
As I write this, It’s been a little under two years since I received the diagnostic. My graphic design business is almost dead, I haven’t been able to focus on client work but most importantly, I’ve come to understand that I need to realign my career so that it evolves alongside my ASD. Thanks to my partner who supported me through this lengthy process and all my ups and downs, I have had the time to figure things out. Well, she would also say that I'd better hurry!
When 2025 began, I had a pretty clear vision, Atelier Carouge would be the moniker for my art studio. I would resume my professional activities in a new capacity. Instead of creating work for clients following their direction, I would bring my artistic process and creation to life and clients would buy the fruits of those activities. This is easier said than done, I spent the last 18 years bending my vision to suit my client’s needs and reverting to being an artist feels like getting up in the morning at 38 years old, it’s backbreaking.
After drawing for a few days, and thinking of all the ways I could manifest the story I’m trying to tell, without capturing or documenting most of it, I’ve come to realize this: I am waiting for the perfect piece of art to share something, I am so used to working for powerful brands that have a deep connection with the viewers that I rejected everything that I have created so far this year. I haven’t documented nor shared my process and in short: I’ve failed at executing my goals.
So this is it, this is my first blog post ever. Its title, Just Start, is a call to action, to create and share my artistic and autistic journey with the world. To hopefully inspire someone to pick up a brush or maybe to help a person living with the same disorder feel less alone.
Follow me to learn more about my process and my challenges as I take on this new chapter in my career.
CA$H FOR ART SUPPLIES
CA$H FOR ART SUPPLIES
Your donations will be used to buy art supplies and tools for the studio. Your contribution is deeeeeeeeeply appreciated.