Douglas Gimbel is intrigued by ideas and by conveying them through art.

Throughout three decades as a painter, sculptor and singer/songwriter (currently with his band, HDRnB), Gimbel, now living in Portland, has explored ideas, sprituality, human nature, and himself, through these creative mediums.

Satyagraha. A term coined by Mohandes Gandhi associated with nonviolent resistance. A philosophy he employed to overturn unjust laws imposed on Indians in South Africa. As Gandhi wrote in the March 23, 1921 edition of the weekly periodical, Young India, “Satyagraha is literally holding on to Truth and it means, therefore, Truth-force. Truth is soul or spirit. It is, therefore, known as soul-force.” In English, soul force became the most widely used phrase to describe the philosophy of Satyagraha.

Gimbel developed a fascination with the movement of non-violence during his travels to India.

After returning to Boothbay from one such trip, Gimbel stopped in to the East Boothbay General Store for breakfast and conversation with former owner Marshall Irving. Irving asked him why he was so drawn to India, and Asia in general.

“As a peace activist, I had to develop something that was contrary to my Type A, Western male nature,” Gimbel said. “Traveling in India and studying Gandhi taught me a lot and helped me develop these traits in myself. Satyagraha, or soul force, describes what it takes for an individual to be a non-violent revolutionary. It requires action, hard work, fortitude and force of will.”

Irving asked Gimbel if he would sculpt a likeness of Gandhi for him. As an alternative, Gimbel suggested a sculpture that embodied the idea of Satyagraha. The deal was sealed with a Masonic handshake.

Using a white pine log that had fallen from a tree naturally, he began several sculptures at his former East Boothbay studio. When he had the form he wanted, except for the hands and face, he burned off the lower half of the body. Since the early 1990s, Gimbel has applied the elemental energy of fire to many of his sculptures. For him it is symbolic of purification, destruction and creation.

Two special burner units were made out of two 55 gallon drums, over six feet in length, by a local welder. The units were cut end to end, top to bottom, and stood on legs, creating what appeared to be one long trough. Gimbel had to move the piece as it burned, not only to ensure only the areas he envisioned should be, but to prevent the fire from growing further than he wanted it to go.

Satyagraha was left out in the elements to age (a process that would take six years) and take on a graying patina. Two years later he set up a studio in Portland and moved the sculpture to an enclosed outdoor area for four more years of aging. This year, he completed carving the hands and face.

“When you juxtapose the 'new' (newly carved) wood against the aged wood and burned areas of the piece it appears that the act of meditation or prayer accesses the source of Satyagraha,” Gimbel said.

On July 28, he delivered the sculpture to Irving in New Hampshire.

“He was thrilled with the piece, we had a great reunion,” Gimbel said.

Although he has had to downsize from his 14-foot wood sculptures of the past, Gimbel is still very drawn to the act, and the art of wood carving.

“I like its solitary nature; it's a meditative act,” Gimbel said. “The repetition of carving wood is Zen-like, but hard work. The simplicity of the labor allows my mind to be at peace.

“By working on this sculpture in a medium like wood, it was created from a place similar to Satyagraha.”