'All my life, into nothing': Water main break devastates Longueuil artist's studio

Artist Louise Rouleau says flooding from a water main break in Old Longueuil on Montreal's South Shore early Tuesday has cost her not only her life's work, but "my whole self."

Rouleau, who paints under the name L'OR, says "a huge wave" of water raced into her house from the broken main on Belcourt Street and quickly filled her basement studio.

"It was amazing how fast it was," she said. "It lifted tables, everything was floating."

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Rouleau had seconds to grab a few things, but the damage was already done.

"I've lost everything," she said. "It's all my life, into nothing. It's heartbreaking, it really is."

Insurance doesn't cover her work

Portfolios containing hundreds of works of art were damaged, she says. The cost in ruined materials alone — paints, pastels —- is "thousands of dollars."

She will meet tomorrow with insurers to assess the damage, but her art isn't covered.

"As an artist, insurance companies never want to insure [your work] because we're not Picasso, but we're still marketable and on the market," she says.

"I'm an international artist, I've won so many prizes, I feel that I'm accomplished as an artist."

A website called Fine Art America has two of her works for sale online — both for more than $2,000.

A solo exhibit currently showing in Chicago has 30 paintings, and she says that's now all that remains of her career to date.

But she'll continue to paint — "I still have my two hands and everything I need to paint."

It's just going to take some time to get back in the game, Rouleau said.

"I have to absorb this, and let go of all of my life up to now… but I'll still paint."

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