Claudette Castonguay
Claudette Castonguay is an artist from the Quebec City region. Self-taught, she depicts the individuality of her characters (and her cats!) with spontaneity, sensitivity and humour. Her whimsical scenes are a reflections of her joie de vivre.
Claudette Castonguay - Life is beautiful!
Date and place of birth
Claudette Castonguay was born in Quebec City in 1949.
Background and career
Claudette Castonguay has been pursuing her own research in art for more than thirty five years. A self-taught painter, she has exhibited her paintings across Canada regularly since 1979.
After Special Education studies, she worked with young children for 15 years. In 1984, she finally gives in to her creative impulses and leaves her teaching post to exclusively devote herself to her artistic activities. Her work received a lot of interest from some of the most well-established galleries, resulting in prestigious representations and almost instantaneous success, wich was deserved as well as unexpected. Today the enjoyment she takes in producing her art is apparent and has in fact become her vocation.
Her work and art
Claudette is known for her acrylic paintings that depict the individuality of characters with spontaneity, sensitivity, and humour. An afternoon cocktail party, music and flowers, market gardens and children at play are reflections of her elegance and joie de vivre.
With each new canvas, Claudette chooses her colours and starts to draw. She initially proceeds with the haphazard application of splashes of colour. After that, she turns the painting around in every direction to see images outline themselves. She then harmonizes light with her chosen colours and shapes, and the subject takes form. This approach keeps her paintings fresh and light and conveys the happiness she feels while creating. Her method of creation is based on a great sense of freedom and personal vision.
Claudette Castonguay's paintings invariably contain an amalgam of humour and debonair liberty. The infinite dance of children at play finds its joyous resonance in a harmony of blues, violets and mauves, their smiles, red cheeks and candid eyes seemingly discovering the marvel of a world that resembles the most spectacular of playgrounds.
The world of Claudette Castonguay continues to delight her collectors. This is a universe of bright flowers, sunny skies, fashionable parties, and talented children. Castonguay's young girls play on sunny beaches and dance under dazzling sun. In the crisp autumn air and chill of winter they venture outside, bundled up in hand-knitted hats and mittens. The artist often surrounds her adult females with a kaleidoscope of many-hued images that offer visual clues about daydreams, memories, and emotions.
Claudette Castonguay is represented by the Au P'tit Bonheur Art Gallery since February 2013.
