Early years Born in 1962, Chartrand was adopted and raised in Montreal, Quebec. She graduated from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1986 and earned a certificate in Arts Education at UQAM in 1988. After graduating she began making a living by creating poster graphics and giving workshops in exhibitions across Canada and Europe. Before becoming involved in animation, Chartrand worked as a painter and illustrator. In 1986, Chartrand became working as a layout and colour artist. She joined the National Film Board officially as a colour artist, assisting Pierre M. Trudeau during the shooting of
Enfantillages (1990). She then collaborated on
Jours de plaine (1990), co-directed by Réal Bérard and André Leduc.
Professional career Additionally, Chartrand is in high demand as a lecturer for conferences, master classes, and art workshops worldwide. She guides artists and shares the techniques and craft involved in creating paint-on-glass animation. In 1994, Chartrand was given advanced courses in paint-on-glass animation by
Alexander Petrov. A painstaking process which involves years of painting thousands of paintings and filming them frame by frame to create a fluid motion. Chartrand is the subject of the documentary
Finding Macpherson (2014), directed by
Serge Giguère, which follows the artistic processes she undertook in order to create her short film
MacPherson (2012). It also draws parallels between Chartrand and Frank Randolph Macpherson, as she traces her Haitian heritage through the film. ==Artistic style==