Artist Spotlight: Marilou Villeneuve-Last
Submitted by The Steel Spirit
For many, the eternal winter months bring on a nostalgic longing for past summer days. The sight of the shovel can make us cringe after continued ‘day dates’ with it. Many people start booking their warm-weather vacations during the deep days of winter. By February, those of us who are not winter sports people, get tired of this cold. It can be hard to find inspiration under a dome of weather that seems to beat us down.
When you meet someone who truly loves the winter it can be alarmingly uplifting to the winter skeptic. Marilou Villeneuve-Last is one of those people who loves the season of snow. Some of her best memories occurred in the landscape of winter while serving in the military. These experiences have shaped her inspiration for art over time.
Villeneuve-Last joined the Army Reserve in 2003 as a resource management support clerk. She stayed in the Reserves the next 14 years although she changed uniforms, shifting to the Air Force Reserve and then the Naval Reserve. In 2017, she transferred to the Regular Forces as an imagery technician.
Villeneuve-Last deployed on HMCS Athabaskan in 2014 to take part in Operation CARRIB and sailed on the Atlantic in various exercises. In 2019, she participated as an imagery technician in Operation LENTUS to help the civilian force through the floods in the province of Quebec. In 2023, she deployed on MV Asterix to take part in Operation PROJECTION in the Pacific. Villeneuve-Last has worked in Shilo, Man.; Halifax; Montreal; Ottawa and Borden, Ont.; however, the majority of her years in the military were spent in Quebec City at CFB Valcartier.
“Quebec City to me is a magical city. Every corner you turn, there’s history, old architecture, yet you get to another part of the city and you’re well into modernity. I spent many hours wearing out my shoes walking in the old town. It is a city heavy in history and I love history. It gets really cold but Quebec City is where we embrace winter. We celebrate it with the winter carnival, one of the oldest in the world. I’m a winter person and this is something that inspires my painting,” she said.
In 2022, Villeneuve-Last transferred to CFB Borden and became an instructor for the Imagery School at Canadian Forces Training Development Centre. “I get to tell stories through my lens. I love meeting people and [to] capture their emotion, their own stories,” she said.
Villeneuve-Last’s artwork hung in The Steel Spirit art gallery in Barrie, Ont., in 2025. One of her abstract pieces, Winter, was on display.
“People often create art about things that they love. However, how Marilou talks about the city that she loves, really draws others in to remind us of the memories we all have of places that have shaped us. Places that hold our happy memories locked in time are what define us. Though like any enticing book, new chapters and new seasons can be just as inspiring as old ones,” said Barbara Brown, founder of The Steel Spirit galleries.
It certainly can remind us that a season can be much more than a weather network daily check. It can simply be the background of very happy times in our lives and how we embrace them. The seasonal frame of a chapter in our life book.
The winter-hibernation months can be the best months to seek out our own talents, when the weather doesn’t permit us to stay outside for long periods.
“Many people say they’re not artistic, but sometimes it’s that they haven’t tried the right medium. Art is not only about painting or drawing. When you’re not too hard on yourself, it can be truly satisfying to create something and practice a medium you’ve always wanted to try,” said Brown.
One of Villeneuve-Last’s favourite motivational quotes is, “Embrace the hardship. This too shall pass.”
Sometimes it’s about embracing the wild weather knowing it too will pass, and to capture our own memories through creativity … no matter the season.
The Steel Spirit is a platform for artists from military, first responder and hospital practitioner services to share their art and their stories. They are always looking for new submissions and involvement in upcoming galleries.
For more information, visit thesteelspirit.ca.
