Danielle Samson. Sculptor. Wood carver. St-Ilois, Quebec.  Active 2000-.

Danielle Samson makes sculptures of birds from ‘as found’ materials. Particularly driftwood but any root or branch that she comes across. She can be very tongue in cheek with her shapes and her colours and usually adds social commentary to her work. She seems to prove that any shape or form of ‘found’ wood can be made to ‘fly’.  She is self taught and can be found in her studio in St. Ilois on the shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Some examples of her work are shown below. (Taken from her Blog-site.)

A group of three birds by Danielle Samson:

A group of three Birds. Danielle Samson.

A  Pair of Well Dressed Birds by Danielle Samson. St-Ilois, Quebec:

Two Birds by Danielle Samson. St-IIois, Quebec.

From a showing at the museum of Kamouraska, Quebec:

Danielle Samson. Showing at the Museum of Kamouraska.

Danielle Samson “sur l’art populaire’:

C’est de l’art qui ne se prend pas au sérieux. C’est accessible à tout le monde. Il faut que ça reste simple. C’est pour ça que c’est populaire. On ne se pose pas 30 000 questions pour savoir ce que ça veut dire : ça saute aux yeux. Il y a une dimension ludique, humoristique et poétique. Souvent, on reproduit ce qui nous tient à cœur. L’art populaire peut servir à faire passer des messages, mais il n’a pas forcément de dimension sociale. C’est un art qui est plutôt ancré dans le quotidien. Enfin, tout dépend de l’artiste.

“While ‘Folk Art’ can have a message; it is usually anchored in the day to day life of the artist.” This holds true from the early outsider artists to Quebec’s Danielle Samson today.

The confusion between folk ‘arts’ and folk art can be resolved by function. If the work has a function of any kind – to attract a duck, or cover the floor or even sit on, it is isn’t Folk Art. Folk Art like all visual art has no function except to look at. Eye (and occasionally mind) candy.

Claudia Lamontagne. Sculptor. Wood carver. Painter. Quebec City area, Quebec. Active from 2005-.

Claudia Lamontagne is the daughter of the artist Claude Lamontagne (see entry for him). Encouraged by her father, Claudia Lamontagne began expressing her talents in wood and paint. She combines both in her paintings on ‘as found’ objects and canvas as well as making striking carvings of birds (often raptors) and fish. She has a simplicity in her lines and colours that is striking.

A carving of a Salmon by Claudia Lamontagne:

Carved and painted Salmon by Claudia Lamontagne.

An example of her mark:

Claudia Lamontagne. Her mark.

Claire Thibault. Rug Hooker. Fabric artist. Baie-Saint-Paul, Charlevoix County, Quebec. Active mid-20th century.

Claire Thibault made hooked mats in Charlevoix County in the studio of Georges-Edouard Tremblay. She hooked the designs of Tremblay and put her own initials ‘C T’ in a lower corner of the mats and occasionally the mark of the designer (G E T) is also hooked into the mat. An example is shown below. She also had a label with her name and the Tremblay studio name that sometimes can be seen on her mats.

A hooked mat from the Tremblay studio hooked and signed by Claire Thibault:

Hooked mat by Claire Thibault. Signed C T and G E T. 1950’s.

The reverse showing the label:

Hooked mat by Claire Thibault. The Reverse.

The label of Claire Thibault and Georges-Edouard Tremblay:

The Label of Claire Thibault and Georges-Edouard Tremblay.

R. Faure. Painter. Sculptor. Caughnawaga (?), Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

R. Faure. The mark found on a pair of painted bas-relief carvings of the Sanctuary at Caughnawaga, Quebec. They are done on pieces of plywood with the outline of the buildings and landscape carved through one layer and then painted in oil colours; they are self-framed. They are well done and vividly coloured. The photos show the main Sanctuary and the title on the frame of the second painting of the living quarters. They were done in the 1930’s or 1940’s. No other information is known about the artist as yet.

The Sanctuary by R. Faure:

R. Faure. Painted applied relief carving.of the sanctuary at Caughnawaga. c.1950.

R. Faure. The mark:

R. Faure Mark.

Detail of Title:

Detail of title.

Detail of second painting with title:

R. Faure. Detail.

Cecile Grondin-Gamache. Painter. Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce, Quebec. Active second half of the 20th century.

Cecile Gamache is a naive painter.  Working in oils and acrylics, she began painting around 1960. She paints scenes of the early years in the Beauce area of Quebec; the country side and the people who live there at work on the farm and at play. Her work is graceful and full of colour. She has been collected widely by museums, in corporate collections and privately. Some examples are shown below. She signs her work ‘Cecile Gamache’ in the lower right corner.

Cecile Gamache. Painting of Horse Shoeing on the Farm:

Cecile Gamache. Painting. Horse shoeing on the Farm.

Horse and Sleigh in Winter:

Cecile Gamache Horse and Sleigh.