Canadian Folk Art and Outsider Art
Jacqueline Tremblay (nee Bouchard). Painter. Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec. Collage Artist. Active late 20th Century.
A niece of the family of Bouchard painters and sculptors, Jacqueline Tremblay uses mixed media and makes painted collages using eggshells.
In this link to the Canadian Musem of History, Tremblay talks about her art and about the Bouchard Family:
http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/arts/art-quebec/art-quebec3_6-e.shtml
Ercell (E.G.) Nickerson. Sculptor. Bridgetown, Nova Scotia. Decoy carver. Active mid-20th Century.
He was a decoy carver and also made smaller ornamental carvings of Canada Geese and other waterfowl. His work often bears a label on the base with the name and town or Province. They are very well painted and carved with metal legs and feet. Most are from the 1950’s-1960’s. (There is some evidence of other family members also involved in the carving.)
Two Geese by Ercell (E. G.) Nickerson:
Ercell (E G) Nickerson. Two Carved Geese.
An example of the Nickerson mark:
E. G. Nickerson Mark.
Another Mark:
Ercell (E G) Nickerson. Mark.
Don Boudreau. Sculptor. Painter. Woodcarver. St. Bernards, Nova Scotia. Active late 20th Century.
Don Boudreau was a lumberjack and a woodworker until the mid-1970’s when he also became a wood carver and folk artist. He made life sized carvings of people and whirligigs and animals and birds. Don Boudreau had a fondness for making painted carvings of bathing beauties. He is well published (From the Heart) and is in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia as well as the Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec.
Ref:Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, A Life of Its Own (1997)
Ref:National Museum of Man, From the Heart Folk Art in Canada (1983)
Ref:Kobayashi/Bird, A Compendium of Canadian Folk Artists (1985)
Ref: Canadian Centre for Folklore Studies. Canadian Museum of Civilization.
Ref: Anne Sutherland and Zalman Amit. The Sutherland/Amit Collection. Smith Falls, Ont. 1994.
Collins Eisenhauer. Sculptor. Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. Active mid 20th Century.
Collins Eisenhauer was a primitive artist. He began carving in 1964 after he retired. First with larger pieces that he put on his front lawn; painted wood carvings of Geese and water birds. And his impressions of people. After he was discovered (first by by Antiques pickers and dealers who were at first inclined to hide his real identity) and then, in the early 70’s, by the public), he began signing his carvings and his reputation spread. His work became topical and classical and attracted a great deal of attention.
Many of Collins Eisenhauer’s most interesting and strongest works are those inspired by classical themes; works such as Leda and the Swan and others inspired by society’s attitudes.
A Carving by Collins Eisenhauer:
Collins Eisenhauer. Nova Scotia. Man and Goat. 1976.
His Mark:
Collins Eisenhauer. His Mark.
A link to Collins Eisenhauer in Can. Mus. of Hist.: This Other Eden:
http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/arts/eden/edout00e.shtml
Ref: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, A Life of Its Own Chris Huntington and the Resurgence of Nova Scotia Folk Art (1997)
Ref: Marie Elwood. Folk Art of Nova Scotia. Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Halifax. 1976.
Ref: National Museum of Man, From the Heart Folk Art in Canada (1983)
Ref: Nova Scotia Folk Art Festival Society, A Joyous Vision – Contemporary Folk Art in Nova Scotia (1995)
Ref: Anne Sutherland and Zalman Amit. The Sutherland/Amit Collection. Smith Falls, Ont. 1994.
Ref: Blake McKendry, An Illustrated Companion to Canadian Folk Art (1999).
Robert McCairns. Sculptor. Turkey Point, Ontario.Active 20th Century.
Robert McCairns. Born in Scotland in 1905, he immigrated to Canada in 1923. He became a Gamekeeper at a hunting reserve near Turkey Point and over the years began to carve birds of the area (usually those found in Western Ontario). His carvings were well done, very expressive and always painted. He usually signed his work on the base. The example shown here is carved in Pine, with shaped metal legs and is mounted on a chunk of split hard wood.
A carving of a Shore Bird by Robert McCairns:
Robert McCairns. Woodcarver. Turkey Point Ontario.
His mark:
Robert McCairns. His mark.
Ref: Thanks to Irene Lescher for the image.
Ref: Artists in Canada. (Website.)
