Old Mills

At a young age, Jean-François visited annually an old cousin of his mother who lived in a castle. But what seemed like a castle to Jean-François was in fact a huge stone building, an old mill near a brook where the miller, Jean-Baptiste, ground the grain and brewed different mash for farmers of the area.

Much later, in 1998, at the age of 30, Jean-François moved to the old mill in Baie-Saint-Paul with the desire to save this heritage and to live from his art in Charlevoix. In 2001, the young artist and his lover created “The Secret Gardens of the Old Mill” and shared this heritage in many ways until 2005. Jean-François Racine produced, with Patrick Arsac, the “Ghost of the Old Mill”.

Over the years, the young artist decided to list the old windmills and watermills of Quebec and to create a unique collection of artworks. The first exhibition included almost thirty works and was presented in Montreal in 2002. The second was presented in Baie-Saint-Paul in 2003.

This section shows those paintings which are, for the most part, from another era. Note that since this collection, the artist discovered new mills that he didn't have the opportunity to paint yet. Maybe one day this collection will be nurtured again? You can then find here the photos we have of the artworks in this collection, although this directory is incomplete.