‘I used to carve and display in the back of a barber shop.’

Francine Simard Levesque 

Gnomes and Santas on view this weekend for the Art in the Valley Studio Tour (Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7, 2015) at Levesque's riverside studio in Rowena include, from left, a richly carved and painted  child’s sleigh, a welcoming doorway sculpture, an intricately carved birdhouse (detail here), a 7-foot high sculpture (only a portion of which is shown).

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Francine Simard Levesque hails from Edmunston NB but has lived on the banks of the Tobique for almost 10 years now. Although she started her artistic career as a painter, she says that “once I started carving, I couldn’t stop.”

Her studio at 8 Pokiok Lane in Rowena will be open for the Art in the Valley Studio Tour this weekend. A good selection of Levesque’s work can also be seen in downtown Woodstock NB at the new Creek Village Gallery and Café on Connell Street.

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Watch the video at the bottom of this page to see

Francine carving and discussing this piece

Francine, you started carving wood thirty years ago. In a barber shop you say?
I carved in the basement and displayed in the back of my husband’s barber shop in Grand Falls, yes. Back then there weren’t many women carvers. Everyone thought that it was his work. Wrong!

I’m quite taken not only with the skill that your carving demonstrates but also the very subtle colouration of the wood. Does your background as a painter influence your carved art?
Well, painting is make-believe but carving is all about touch and feel. It’s more hands-on. For me, it’s not hard to do facial features. But if I’m not totally satisfied with the carving ─ an eye, for instance ─ I can fix that with a little dab of paint. I also water-down the acrylic that I use to stain my carvings and then usually dry brush them a little to give a patina.

Even with my Christmas pieces, I use just a little bit of oil paint mixed with linseed oil in as few colours as possible.
That gives the carving an aged look.

Speaking of Christmas, that must be your busiest time of year.
I start carving for the big Christmas sales in August or September and I do a lot of Saint Nicholases. My prices are quite low because I enjoy carving and I don’t need that money to live ─ and the wood usually doesn’t cost much. But when I have to buy and laminate, the prices tend to be higher.

In that situation, is there a lot of preparation before carving?
Yes. It’s more work than the carving itself: planing, joining, gluing, clamping and so on. It’s very time consuming ─ so I try to avoid it.

Do you accept commissioned work?
I always have to have a feel for it but I have done crests and coats of arms ─ even a Santa playing a violin. People are often looking for special gifts that they can’t find in a store.

How about craft markets?
I used to do shows in Moncton, Bathurst, Edmunston, Grand Falls, St. Leonard but after ten years, that’s enough. Now I do the McCain Gallery’s Christmas show and last year I also did their Artists on the Boardwalk.

I understand that you also teach.
Yes and I’ve had a lot of students. I’ve given two carving classes every winter for the last ten years and, before that, I taught painting for fifteen years in Grand Falls. Art was not offered in the schools there at that time. It’s changing but there’s still not enough. It’s a loss for the children.

Carving softwood can be tricky...