Claudette Gamache
“A Special Moment” by Claudette Gamache.

Claudette Gamache, eminent pastelist and oil painter, will be the featured artist for July at the Roux & Cyr International Fine Art Gallery in Portland. She has been working on a new series of art focusing on “Light: A Creative Journey,” including symbolism, spirituality, nature and healing well-being.

Gamache received her BFA from Hartford art School and an MA in expressive therapies and holistic studies from Lesley University. She is a retired RN and registered art therapist. She was president of the Pastel Society of Maine for four years and has taught workshops in New England, France, Hawaii and California, and she also presented in China with the Art Therapy Delegation. She has painted with pastels for over 30 years. Her concentration is on art and medicine incorporating light and nature.

Gamache’s new show, “Art as Medicine: Light, Opposites, Integration,” features 27 pieces. Since the fall of 2023, she has focused on capturing images of light upon darkness, beginning with candlelight and expanding into light in sky, water and space. Her paintings evoke feelings of connection to the universe, our journey within it, and the healing power of art.

Gamache will be at the Creative Portland’s First Friday Art Walk and plans to give a talk about how she was inspired to create this dramatic series with the influence of personal and world events. The First Friday Art Walk event is from 5 to 8 p.m. July 5. Wine, cheese and other refreshments are served and all are welcome to come meet this influential artist. Gamache will begin her talk about the inspiration for this creative journey beginning at 5 p.m.

Gamache writes about art as medicine in her artist statement:

To create is to enter the unexpected, the mystical and the informational.  The creative process is defined as a continued onward movement, the action of passing through continuing development from a beginning to a contemplated end. This is like alchemy where the lid to the pot cannot be removed until one fees from the creative well within. This process involves the body, mind, and soul.  We become the pot where the alchemical process takes place. We are often tested with frustration. The virtues of perseverance, patience, and trust often develop as we continue and stay on this path.

A craving for wellness is a motivating factor in wanting to do a form of art.  We are all creative. The support from someone who believes in us can crack through the years that we were not.

The creative arts are not to be feared. They are essential parts of life, like food and water. They are medicine for the soul. When the creative process becomes a routine in our lives, like eating and sleeping, we will begin to understand wellness and peace. The results of creative art is a feeling of well-being and a source of inner strength. This process feeds our whole self.