Laure-Marie Bouchard. Sculptor. Painter. Baie-Saint-Paul, Charlevoix, Quebec. Active mid 20th Century.
“Joseph ramassait les morceaux de bois du moulin à scie, il les faisait sécher pendant trois ans puis les préparait avec soin pour les enfants sculpteurs. Installés dans la « boutique » avec les outils du père, les enfants Bouchard sculptaient dans le pin blanc patiemment préparé, des pièces le plus souvent inspirées de la nature et de leur quotidien : animaux et personnages de la ferme.”
A quote from “Le Patrimoine Immateriel Religeux du Quebec.”
One of Laure-Marie Bouchard’s memories of her childhood: their father Joseph ‘Arsene’ would bring the pieces of Pine that he had dried for three years and give them to the young sculptors to work. Installed in the ‘shop’ with the carving tools ‘du pere;’ the Bouchard children would carve pieces ‘most often inspired by nature and daily life’. Animals and ‘les personnages’ of the farm.
Laure-Marie Bouchard began sculpting when she was fifteen. With a horse she carved for her younger sisters and brothers. Carving was what she excelled at. She became a prize-winning artist and travelers and tourists began collecting her carvings. They came to ‘Le Moulin Cesar’ (what the family called the shop and mill where their father worked his trades) and bought all her works.
Her carvings were often simply varnished especially traditional religious ones and others were painted. She carved professionally for about 10 years when she felt called to the religious order and joined a convent in Chicoutimi, Quebec. One of the four Bouchard sisters who did so.
A very early work by Laure-Marie Bouchard. Carved and varnished Pine. About 12 inches high. 1930’s:
Carving of a Young Girl. Laure-Marie Bouchard. 1930’s.
Laure-Marie Bouchard. Her mark:
Laure-Marie Bouchard. Her mark.
A link to a site with some of her story (in French):
http://www.ipir.ulaval.ca/fiche.php?id=180
One of her Paintings. From Patrimoine Culturel du Quebec website:
