Courchesne was a negotiator, a well-recognized profession in the northern nation. “Unions in my country are very strong. I negotiated working conditions with the employees,” he recounts. Before coming to Panama, he lived in the Dominican Republic for 12 years. A native of Gatineau, Quebec, he feels very comfortable in our country. For him, the best part is that “it's not cold, like in my country.”

Although he has a son (David) and two daughters (Myriam and Julie) in Montreal, now grown adults who have given him three grandchildren, he decided that he wanted to live in Panama, alongside his Haitian wife Darline. She informed us that they have been a couple for 10 years. Neither the age gap (he's 68 and she's 36) nor differences in culture or ethnicity have kept them from being happy.

Painting has been a delightful experience for him, and he fully enjoys it. He chose the family room as the place to scrutinize his inner and outer world, using this beautiful form of art. Just like his brothers Serge, Denis and Pierre do in Montreal.

He usually alternates time devoted to painting, preferably two or three hours in the afternoon, with another passion, playing chess. Although he also enjoys listening to Mexican and country music. That, and eating.

His wife says that he is a good person with simple tastes. When he comes back home from a trip, she prepares him one of his favorite meals, ground beef bathed in a buttery white sauce, served with French fries. 

Courchesne's art can be appreciated at the Hotel Crowne Plaza Panama on Spain Road. You will see a mix of abstract-realism, using acrylic techniques and dominated by his preferred colors: green, red and black. Eye of the Hurricane, Dracula Village, Moon over Pacific, Wolf Man, Neptune Dance and Stormy Union are some of the titles of his paintings.