Jocelyn Caron. Sculptor. St.-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec. Active mid-20th century.

The brother of Paul-Emile Caron, Jocelyn Caron was known for his larger presentation  woodcarvings that he made for corporations as gifts and sports teams as trophys.  His works were usually varnished Basswood or Pine and mounted on a separate base. He always signed his work with a chisel.

A carving of a Hiker by Jocelyn Caron:

 

A Texaco Service man at the Gas pumps. Made as a company presentation piece:

 

 

Leo Boisvert. Sculptor. Wood carver. La Perade, Quebec.  Active mid-20th century.

Leo Boisvert made carvings of animals and birds in Pine. He had a strong and vibrant color sense; painting all of his carvings in primary ‘as found’ colors. I am unsure of his dates but most of his work dates from the 1960’s and 1970’s. He usually signed his work; often with an ink stamp and sometimes by hand.

A Leo Boisvert carving of a running horse:

 

His mark on the base of the Horse:

 

A carving of a Bird on a perch by Leo Boisvert:

 

The mark on the base:

A relief carving of a Bird by Leo Boisvert:

Leo Boisvert mark in ink by hand:

A. Couillard. Sculptor. Wood carver. Gaspe, Quebec.

Maker of models of the boats found along the Gaspe shore. Active in the mid 20th century. His models were often larger ones, up to 24 to 36 inches long, and had fishing rigs and gear including  buckets and anchors in metal. Shown is a signed example of a fishing dory with sails. It is approximately three feet long and has a Cod fishing rig with hooks. It is in a private Ottawa collection. (Circa 1970.)

Model of a Fishing Dory by A. Couillard:

 

Detail showing signature:

 

Yvonne Bolduc. Sculptor. Painter. Baie-Saint-Paul, Charlevoix County, Quebec.

Yvonne Bolduc was born and grew up in Baie-St.-Paul in Quebec’s Charlevoix County. Largely self taught; she learned wood carving from her father, made many of her early canvases from Burlap  and most of her early paints from ‘as found’ materials including earth pigments and vegetable dyes found in the fields and gardens of the Charlevoix County country-side..

She drew her inspiration from traditional Quebec scenes, the beautiful Charlevoix County and Quebec novels. ‘Maria Chapdelaine’ by Louis Hemon and ‘Un homme et son peche’ by Claude-Henr Grignon are among the best known influences. She worked her images in ‘Seed Paintings” (literally sculpting the image in seeds and coloring them). And in paintings on hand made canvas (using Burlap)  using her own hand-made oils and watercolors. Mlle Bolduc also carved in wood (Eastern White Pine), creating incredibly beautiful deep relief sculptures, some up to six feet long by two feet wide. The last are some of Quebec’s finest wood carvings as you will see in the examples shown below the article.

Yvonne Bolduc is one of Quebec’s most important naive artists of the 20th century. She was multi-disciplined, multi-talented and possessed a remarkable vision in all of them. Her sister was the painter Blanche Bolduc.

A short biography of Yvonne Bolduc:

http://cwahi.concordia.ca/sources/artists/displayArtist.php?ID_artist=197

Ref:Charlevoix et ses peintres populaires

Dubé, Richard et François Tremblay, Peindre un pays: Charlevoix et ses peintres populaires, Laprairie: Éditions Broquet, 1989, 160 p. (Collection; Signature Plus), ISBN: 2-89000-105-9

 

 

Shown below is an example of one of her large ‘bas relief’ carvings. In Pine wood and painted in water and oil colors, it is signed and dated in the lower right (1954). 

 

A detail from another Bas Relief by Yvonne Bolduc. Notice the detailed carving of the trees and the Partridge flying into them:

 

Detail from ‘The Doctor’s Visit.’:

 

And Sleighing in Winter:

 

Shown below is an early painting by her on one of her hand-made canvases. Made from sized Burlap. The image was a favorite of hers; a horse-drawn  sled of logs in winter. The painting would date from around 1950.

We can imagine the difficulties she faced working with her own-made paints on the Burlap medium. (She appears to have developed a ‘dry brush’ technique in order to deal with it.)

 

Ref: A link to a web site about Charlevoix County and its inspiration for Yvonne Bolduc (in French):

http://recit.cscharlevoix.qc.ca/biosphere/08_epoques/814_pop2.htm

Elzear Roy. Sculptor. Wood carver. Pointe-a-la-Fregate, Gaspe-Nord, Quebec. Active mid 20th century.

While best known for his wonderful bird carvings, Elzear Roy  also made models of the boats seen along the Gaspe shore. Elzear Roy coloured most of his birds in ‘as found’ colours but some are varnished and with an outline of colour around the wing feathers. They usually had metal feet and his mountings often were very unusual. He would mount them on carved objects such as books or hands. His carvings were exceptional. They were often well painted in primary colours and they are rare.

Shown are some of his bird carvings.

Elzear Roy. Carving of a Blue and Yellow Bird on a Post:

 

Elzear Roy. Bird on a Branch:

 

Another example by Elzear Roy:

Elzear Roy. A Bird in The Hand:

His Mark:

 

Ref: Jean-Francois Blanchette. Du Coq a l’ame:l’art Populaire a Quebec, Presse Universite D’Ottawa, 2014.