Carmel Debreuil has been a working artist since she was a teenager selling pastel portraits on the streets of Paris. She traveled extensively around the world including Europe, Mexico, Canada and Australia supporting herself with her art work.
After immigrating to Australia, she married rockstar and Grinspoon bassist Joe Hansen and had two children. Carmel has had several successful solo and group shows in the last two years and is showing galleries in New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria. Clients from Australia, Canada, Europe and Asia have been collecting and commissioning her work. She is incredibly prolific and has a definite unique style.
Carmel’s work is strong and colorful. She works on shadow boxed ply which she creates from scratch. The wood itself is a feature of the creation as much as the paint and the subject itself. A knot might become the eye of a rooster or an entire owl and the swirls and patterns of the grain add texture to the fabric of the clothing. The work has a cast of children whose stance and attitude is full of the bravado, nonchalance and swagger of youth in contrast with their obviously childlike features. The viewer is transported back to a time when it seemed possible to ride a larger than life goose or when your toy monkey was your best friend.
“I don’t idealize children having two of my own. But I do admire their confidence and their imagination and their absolute belief in their future and the dreams. I definitely am trying to capture a time and a feeling when the world was just one big endless possibility." - Carmel Debreuil, 2013.
1990 – 1991 - Spent two years in Paris, France working as a portrait artist
1992 - Studied bronze sculpting with Michael Vaccarro in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Solo Shows
1996 – One-month solo exhibition at The Byronian, Byron Bay, NSW
2012 – January – Solo exhibition (You’re Innocent When You Dream) at everything that’s beautiful gallery in Bellingen, NSW
2012 – November – Solo show (An Unbeatable Waste of Time) at Karen 19 Contemporary Artspapce, Gold Coast.
2012 – December – Solo show (Urchins, Rascals and Whippersnappers) at Art Piece Gallery, Mullumbimby, NSW
2013 – June – Solo Show (Whippers and Snappers) at Old John’s, Coffs Harbour, NSW
2013 – November – Solo Show (Raw) at The Treehouse, Byron Bay, NSW
2014 – March – Solo show at Manyung Gallery, Sorrento
2014 – June – Solo show at Brisbane Modern Art Gallery, Brisbane
2015 – April – Solo show (Look at Me! Look at Me!) at M2 Gallery, Sydney
2016 – March/April – Solo Show (Every Story Tells a Picture) Grafton Library Gallery, Grafton NSW
2017 - 2018 - Solo Show, Ground Earth Woolgoolga
Group Shows
2005 –Echoes, Manitoba, Canada
2012 – March – Northern Rivers Portrait Prize, Lismore Regional Gallery, NSW
2012 – May – Art Melbourne, Melbourne VIC
2012 – June – everything that’s beautiful gallery, Bellingen NSW
2012 -August – CamArt, Melbourne VIC
2012 November – Retrospect Gallery, Byron Bay NSW
2012 – December – Karen 19 Contemporary Artspace, Gold Coast QLD
2013 – April – Affordable Art Fair, Hong Kong
2013 – May – Karen 19 Contemporary Artspace, Gold Coast QLD
2013 – June – Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne VIC
2013 – June – Northern Rivers Portrait Prize, Lismore Regional Gallery, NSW
2013 – July – Group show at Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne VIC
2013 – August – Downlands College Art Exhibition QLD
2013 – August – 19 Karen Contemporary Artspace Gold Coast, QLD
2013 – September – RAW Collective, Byron Bay, NSW
2013 – September – Manyung Gallery, Mount Eliza, VIC
2013 – October – RAW Collective, Byron Bay NSW
2013 – November – Affordable Art Fair, Singapore with Manyung Galleries, Victoria VIC
2014 – Febuary – Art Central, Coffs Harbour NSW
2014 – April – Northern Rivers Creative Roadshow, Maclean NSW
2014 – May – Canterbury Art Exhibition, Melbourne, VIC
2014 – June – NG Gallery Sydney NSW
2014 – July – Art Central, Coffs Harbour NSW
2014 – September – Yeronga Art Show, Brisbane QLD
2014 – September – Art Central, Coffs Harbour NSW
2014 – September– Manyung Gallery, Sorrento VIC
2014 – October – RAW Collective, Byron Bay NSW
2014 – November – Art Central, Coffs Harbour NSW
2015 – April – Plunge – Clarence Valley NSW
2015 – May – Arts Factory, Coffs Harbour NSW
2015 – June – GoArt, Grafton NSW
2015 – September – Botanica at Big Fig Art Gallery Bellingen NSW
2016 – March/April – Plunge – Clarence Valley NSW
Other
2000 – Completed several commissioned portraits, including Pat Davern, guitarist for Grinspoon
2012 – March – Selected as finalist for Northern Rivers Portrait Prize held at the Lismore Regional Gallery, NSW
2012 – May – Participated in Art Melbourne
2013 – February – Commissioned by Grinspoon to create three stage backdrops for National Tour
2013 – June – Finalist for Northern Rivers Portrait Prize held at the Lismore Regional Gallery, NSW
2013 – July – Selected as a finalist for the Wilson Prize, Lismore NSW
2013 – December – Winner Artist of the Year RAWards Byron Bay, Byron Bay NSW
2014 – October – Finalist Portia Geach Memorial Award
2014 – December – created public mural for Livi’s Place, Port Macquarie, NSW
2015 – January – backstage artist for The Laneway Festival, Brisbane, QLD
2015 – September – Judge – Lillipilli Art Exhibition, Woolgoolga, NSW
2018 – August – created three wine labels for Tilba Valley Winery, NSW
2018 – September – Judge – Lillipilli Art Exhibition, Woolgoolga, NSW