Herve Prevost. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Saint-Victor, Cte Beauce, Quebec. Active 1970’s -c.1990.

Herve Prevost was a black smith near Pontbriand, Quebec. After retirement he began making windmills and whirli-gigs. In the late 1970’s he began casting cement forms for his yard; making painted concrete animals of every kind. He never signed or sold his work.

Ref: Jean Simard, Pour Passer Le Temps: Artistes Populaires Du Quebec, Gouvernement du Quebec, Ministere des Affaires Culturelles. 1985.

Paul Perron. Sculptor. Saint-Marc-des-Carrieres, Quebec. Active mid 20th century – 1980’s.

Paul Perron was a self taught sculptor in limestone. He was a quarry worker in limestone and discovered an ability to sculpt in the medium. He went from working on dressing the stone to carving busts of people and small animals. Both his father and grandfather were carvers. He signed his work.

Ref: Jean Simard, Pour Passer Le Temps: Artistes Populaires Du Quebec, Gouvernement du Quebec, Ministere des Affaires Culturelles. 1985.

Roger Ouellet. Sculptor. Charlevoix, Quebec. Active 1960’s – .

Self-taught in every respect, Roger Ouellet was a ‘patenteux’* who decorated his home, his yard and his life with his creations. He sculpted in cement, stone, plaster, metal, plastic, glass and paint. He made a bread oven in his yard in the shape of a Moose (using ‘as found’ real antlers and concrete). He carved a marquetry ceiling in his kitchen out of small wooden squares. His home and yard was his ‘canvas’ and his available ‘materials’ were never ending. He carved anything carvable  from tree trunks to pine cones. He never signed his works.

* A ‘patenteux’ is someone who makes ‘thingamajigs’.

Ref: Jean Simard, Pour Passer Le Temps: Artistes Populaires Du Quebec, Gouvernement du Quebec, Ministere des Affaires Culturelles. 1985.

Eleuthere Nadeau. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Saint-Eleuthere, Cte Kamouraska, Quebec. Active 1960’s – .

Eleuthere Nadeau carved small animals in the round as well as making carvings in bottles; miniature calvaires (Calvary), chairs etc. A popular souvenir in Quebec in the last century. He also was known for making canes and walking sticks using “le verges de Boueuf” – a Bull’s penis. (An unusual craft.) Using ‘as found’ materials – from clothes-pins to corn cobs (hand made tobacco Pipes) and a minimum of tools Eleuthere Nadeau made a variety of creations most of which brought him attention – visitors and spare money.

Ref: Jean Simard, Pour Passer Le Temps: Artistes Populaires Du Quebec, Gouvernement du Quebec, Ministere des Affaires Culturelles. 1985.

Yevette Mongrain. Sculptor. Saint-Stanislaus, Cte Champlain, Quebec. Active 1970 – .

Yvette Mongrain was a maker of ‘odd things’ or “des ‘bebelles’ ” to use a lovely French word. Using a variety of ‘as found’ materials she made structures for her yard. Things that turned in the wind or just looked interesting. Everything brightly painted. She entertained herself and the people passing by her yard. Lessard, in his book* used the term: ‘heteroclitic objects’; an archaic but delightful term never the less. She removed them from the yard and stored them inside in winter time. Yvette Mongrain used available ‘as found’ materials in her works; from soap containers to old lanterns. Yvette Mongrain was a maker of abstract art.

*Ref: Jean Simard, Pour Passer Le Temps: Artistes Populaires Du Quebec, Gouvernement du Quebec, Ministere des Affaires Culturelles. 1985.