Canadian Folk Art and Outsider Art
Willie Leduc. Sculptor. Decoy carver. Valleyfield, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.
His decoys were typical of the style of Valleyfield decoy makers. the wings and feathers were carved and they had a pronounced paddle tail.
Bluebill attributed to Willie Leduc:
Willie Leduc. Bluebill.
Warren Meiler. Sculptor. Decoy carver. Hamilton, Ontario. Active late 20th century.
Michel Fedak. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Saguenay, Quebec. Active mid-1970’s on.
Michel Fedak works primarily as a sculptor. He carves in Pine and his subjects are universal: Birds and animals and the people around him. He has a strong and vibrant color sense and uses high gloss colours. He has been collected by several Canadian Museums. He usually signs on the base: ‘Fedak’.
I am including a link to a short biography of him on the Corniche Gallery Website as well as a link to The Canadian Museum of History where he has been collected.
A carving of a Pheasant by Michel Fedak:
Michel Fedak. Carving of a Pheasant.
Michel Fedak biography:
http://www.galerielacorniche.com/en/michel-fedak-2/
And Art:
http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/arts/art-quebec/art-quebec3_2-e.shtml#c2
Michel Fedak’s thoughts on creativity:
“All my life I’ve rubbed elbows with hard science. What I find incredible about folk art is that if you feel like making a cat that doesn’t really look like a cat, it’s no big deal! You’ve got the scope to create, you aren’t limited to a specific style — you’ve got all the freedom you want. I don’t want limitations. I don’t want to be hemmed in. I don’t want to feel that I have to arrive at this or that result.”
Andrew Melanson. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Nova Scotia. Active mid 20th century.
Andrew Melanson made painted wood sculptures. An example seen is a carving of a black and white cat playing a fiddle attributed to him. It is unsigned. There is no other information as yet about this artist.
Armand Lafleur. Sculptor. Woodcarver. New Brunswick. Active mid 20th century.
Maker of painted wood carvings, mainly figural. An example that I have seen is a painted wood carving of an Inuit hunter. It was signed and dated ‘1972’. Another example is similar but unsigned. There is no other information as yet for dates and locations.
Below are two examples of his work. The first unsigned:
Inuit carving. Armand Lafleur. New Brunswick. Unsigned. 1960’s.
Image compliments of Adrian Tinline.
Another example. Signed and dated 1972:
Carving of an Inuit by Armand Lafleur. New Brunswick.
Ref: the Collectivator Website.
