CASSELMAN - Situated on the corner of Saint-Paul and Saint-Dizier streets in Old Montreal is a bronze sculpture depicting three ladies talking. Each of the women is round and glowing, radiating the happiness of friendship.
The sensual and inviting creation is the work of sculptor Rose-Aimée Bélanger, who lived most of her life in Armstrong Township near New Liskeard, and now, at the age of 99, resides in eastern Ontario.
Her beautiful sculptures mainly depict women in everyday moments, and are enjoyed in collections around the world.
Now, a book has been produced in French depicting the life and loves of the woman whose art blossomed through the second half of her life after raising her children and assisting her husband Laurent Bélanger in his many business endeavours.
Titled Rose-Aimée Bélanger, à l'ombre des chuchoteuses, the book has been written by author Danielle Carrière-Paris and published by Les Éditions Prise de Parole in Sudbury.
In a telephone interview, Carrière-Paris, currently residing in Casselman, Ontario, east of Ottawa, said that she was contacted by Bélanger's son Pierre to write the book about his mother's art career. Carrière-Paris, a retired lawyer, is the editor-in-chief of the online magazine Action! and is a member of the editorial team of Le Chanion magazine of the Franco-Ontarian Heritage Network, and has written several stories about people who have contributed to the francophone community throughout Ontario.
She said when she was contacted by Bélanger about the project, she researched the subject and "was amazed" to find that she was being asked to write the story of the woman who had created the sculpture in Old Montreal which Carrière-Paris and her husband had been admiring for years.
"It was a dream come true for me to actually get to meet this wonderful lady who now lives in Eastern Ontario, not very far from where I live."
Carrière-Paris was in Cobalt at Laura's Art Shoppe on September 9 for the local book launch. While there, Bélanger also appeared via Facetime for the launch while her son Pierre attended in person.
Carrière-Paris said interviewing Bélanger "was really interesting because she has a great memory, not just about her art but about raising nine children."
As a young woman she had studied art in Montreal, and participated in CANO (Cooperative artists of New Ontario) headquartered in Armstrong Township, developing her interest in pottery, and continuing her studies through JSANO (Junior School of the Arts of Northern Ontario).
Bélanger's first sculptures were slim figures created in bronze, but the bronze did nothing for the works other than to provide durability, Carrière-Paris said.
"Over the years her sculptures became rounder and rounder."
The shape of the round figures allowed the bronze to shine and become a more important part of the work. Bélanger's work also took on a larger format.
"It's very hard for people not to fall in love with her sculptures," said Carrière-Paris. "Every sculpture is of everyday life."
Bélanger was 77 when her career skyrocketed.
"She was in demand. She wasn't getting any younger and it requires a lot of work. She didn't stop. She just continued on."
When 92, Bélanger stepped back from her work and her son Jean became her collaborator and now administrates her work.
From the days when Bélanger's sculptures were being sold for $25 in the shop of her daughter Nicole, to today when the larger pieces command a six-digit price, her life and work has been captured in the new book.
Of the people Carrière-Paris has written about, Bélanger is probably the most inspiring, she said.
Her subject matter is that of women but Bélanger is not a feminist, explained Carrière-Paris. Her works depict her hope for all women.
"I hope that they are happy," she told Carrière-Paris.
Belanger creates her ceramic, bronze and sandstone sculptures by drawing inspiration from the lives of the people around her or people she meets randomly during a trip.
"The sculptures in the round created by Rose-Aimée overflow with life and truth. Her sculptures reflect a warm environment, while being slightly comical. Its main subject happens to be people busy with their daily tasks or enjoying the little pleasures of life. For example, a woman voluptuously tasting a chocolate or abandoning herself for a moment to the vertigo of a swing; or even a gathering of pickers mixing gossip with work, or quite simply workers at break time. What makes his sculptures unique is that his characters have quite imposing builds," says the Temiskaming Art Gallery web page.
Belanger was born in 1923 in the county of Témiscamingue in Quebec.
She produced a significant amount of clay sculptures, some of which were cast in bronze. From sketches of impressions, she first shapes miniatures before arriving at the final sculpture in the desired dimensions.
The book is available for purchase at: Chat Noir in New Liskeard; Laura's Art Shoppe in Cobalt; Librairie du Soleil in Ottawa; Renaud-Bray in Archambault, Quebec; and through Les Éditions Prise de Parole in Sudbury.
Darlene Wroe, is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with the Temiskaming Speaker. LJI is funded by the Government of Canada.
