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- "Tonight someone has to be happier because of me." This is the goal given each morning to his awakening, Madame Cécile Grondin Gamache, painter, self-taught. Once in the evening, she does not forget to take stock of her day.
It's August 15 (1930) in Sainte-Marie de Beauce, after having five boys, that Albert Grondin and Leda Bisson finally welcome in the world their first little girl: Cécile. Five other boys follow before Mrs. Grondin gives birth to three girls and a boy.
As a child, Cécile Grondin Gamache collects all the objects she can to try to revive them. She tells her mother most seriously that when she grows up she will surely do something good. In the meantime, she learns to work by supporting her mother and goes to primary and secondary school in Ste-Marie.
Married very young in (1948) Maurice Gamache, (1923-2011) she gave birth to two boys and a girl died at 9½ months during a fire on their property.
She continues, over the years to maintain her great dream as a little girl, that of telling the laborious history of our ancestors beaucerons. In order to express how she feels, she tries all kinds of crafts, from crochet to macrame. But it is in painting that she finally finds satisfaction. Supported by a husband and sons "in gold", she begins to paint.
During this time, she still occupies the function of sacristan from 1956 to 1984 and she paints. Her best lessons, she admits having taken in contact with her parents and the best school for her, it is the elderly. It is also after their story about the life of yesteryear that she produces her paintings. The old men are for her a "lit lamp" on the past.
She visits seniors as often as possible with whom she has a friendly relationship. In 1985, Mrs. Grondin Gamache produced a book of old recipes collected from seniors. All profits from the book went to the seniors of the Sainte Marie Reception Center. Old-fashioned dishes, Imprimerie Bô-Modèle inc., Scott-Jonction, 1985.
Her first exhibition, it is Robert CIiche who pushes her to organize it. Since then, she has had 14 solo exhibitions in all corners of Quebec, in Ottawa and in Europe, more specifically in Paris. She adds 15 group shows in most provinces from Canada to Yellowknife in the Yukon. We must not forget her participation in several books and representation in 15 museums in Quebec.
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