Tucked behind Clinton Foodmart is a world of creative expression. There you’ll find Rochon Fine Art, a gallery and working studio which has housed the work of husband and wife artists, Louie Rochon and Sandy Rubini-Rochon, since 2016.

Feeling stuck, Sandy was searching for another outlet. Her artistic change in course came about 12 years ago after visiting a weaving exhibit at the Bellevue Art Museum. “It was one entire wall of an interactive weave, and they had materials all over the place, encouraging people to pick up pieces and contribute to the weave. I did that and it lit me up.” She started frequenting local thrift stores and collected material and scarves, as well as trimmings left over from gowns given to her by a Nordstrom seamstress. She started pairing these items with driftwood collected from the beach with her son, creating a freestyle weave of materials between the two pieces of wood, which she refers to as “the bones.”

Originally from Michigan, Sandy came to Whidbey Island in 1994. She started as a writer (publishing the novel, Viola in Waiting in 2024) and then turned to nature-based encaustic (mixed media) photography. “That really satisfied me for 10 years,” she said. “Then it got to the point where it just kind of left me—the creativity part of it.”

Her first full piece was born out of the loss of her beloved dog. “I was looking for some way to cope with it,” she said. She took his leashes, collars, and different mementos and wove them together. “That’s when Louie said, ‘this is really beautiful. You need to consider creating more,’” Sandy recalled. “There’s something about using my hands, and the hunt to find repurposed materials. I just love it.” “There’s three-dimensional art out there, but you’ll never see anything like this,” added Louie.

Across the hallway from Sandy’s first piece, in their Whidbey Island home, is Louie’s first reworked and completed acrylic painting, which forged his current path. Like Sandy, Louie journeyed down a few different roads before landing on his current medium. Hailing from Quebec, Louie moved and traveled quite a bit before landing on Whidbey in 1995. He left a successful real estate career in search of artistic expression, having tried everything from life-size papier-mâché and watercolor to fine art photography. “I totally burned out,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do.” 

“It’s not work. That’s what is so fantastic about it,” he said about the act of painting. “I can’t wait to get in and create. It’s getting into the zone where nothing else exists.”

One day, Sandy brought out a painting of Louie’s she’d found from his time in Alaska, hoping to display it. At first, Louie, who has bipolar disorder, resisted because Alaska was a reminder of a dark period in his life. “One night I was depressed,” he said. So, he pulled the piece back out and started working on it. “I started making some moves, doing some freehand line work, and for about two hours I was totally in that space.” That space, or the “zone,” has been unlocked more and more through Louie’s use of acrylic paints. “It’s not work. That’s what is so fantastic about it,” he said about the act of painting. “I can’t wait to get in and create. It’s getting into the zone where nothing else exists.” Louie found that painting on loose, rather than pre-stretched canvas, has facilitated a certain creative freedom. “That way I can crop it however I want to,” he said. 

But like any artist, those moments of flow can stagnate. On days when he’s felt unmotivated, he relies on his “123 rule” that he discovered through his two-year solo walk across America for children with AIDS. He explained, “Even on the most difficult days I put on my boots. I took three steps and got started.” That philosophy helps motivate him to paint. “I have to walk right through the door, I get into the studio, and I just sit there until something comes up.” Taking those steps of entering the space and being present with the materials usually culminates with paint on the canvas. 

Whidbey serves as a source of motivation for their work, with Sandy’s driftwood plucked from friends’ private land on the island and the colors of the seasons informing their pieces. There’s been significant growth of the arts community since they first came to the island. But there are obstacles, too, primarily their location. “That’s the biggest thing we are challenged with,” said Louie, noting their gallery is located in a place ferry visitors pass by on their way to more frequented island locations. By encouraging a presence of studios and galleries in their current spot, Louie and Sandy hope the Clinton Art District will become more of a destination, drawing in tourists and enthusiasts. 

“There’s so much negativity everywhere you look. “Flowers aren’t hopeless. They make people feel good. It’s a rebirth.”

With an impressive body of work between them, both Louie and Sandy hope their art can also benefit their community and the couple wants to start donating their respective pieces to help nonprofits raise money. 

And when there are difficult times, both Sandy and Louie’s art gives them a reason to enjoy and engage with life, nature, and their community. For Sandy, the creation of her pieces continues to be an endless well of inspiration from which to draw. For Louie, he often paints flowers and finds joy in them, as do others. “There’s so much negativity everywhere you look,” he said about what people are often faced with in our current world. “Flowers aren’t hopeless. They make people feel good. It’s a rebirth.”  

Visit Rochon Fine Art Studio and Gallery at 4777 Commercial Street in Clinton. Call 360-362-5275 or visit RochonFineArt.com (Louie’s website) and Vintimo.com (Sandy’s website).