‘I have a traditional approach that some say is a nice kind of weird.’

Clay artist Denise Violette Michaud

Michaud with two of her art dolls and, along the sides of this image,

 several heads she has sculpted recently in her atelier near Grand Falls NB.

---

Denise Violette Michaud has a large studio and showroom near Grand Falls where she turns out all manner of clayworks including a highly creative series of art dolls which, she says, “some love and some don’t.” She is mostly self-taught but started out in liberal arts at Université de Moncton and later took three years of horticultural studies at the Institut de technologie agroalimentaire in Saint-Hyacinthe, Qc.

Michaud is a member of the New Brunswick Crafts Council and one of her intricate pottery pieces is currently touring with their show “The Thing That Happened” which touched down in Florenceville-Bristol earlier this summer at the McCain Art Gallery.

A selection of her work can be viewed in downtown Woodstock NB at the Creek Village Gallery and she maintains a large inventory at her Violette Station Studio near Drummond. She also has a portfolio online and participates in the Art in the Valley Studio Tours (September 26-27 this fall).

---

Denise , you have a remarkable range and you’ve earned many accolades. How did you start?

I always wanted to work on the wheel and I got into clay through an introductory pottery course. Then I was looking for a hobby at some point and took up jewellery which led to a glass bead course. From there, I started making clay beads.

I have a very traditional approach 
which I’ve tried to make my own.

Well, your art dolls are certainly very contemporary.

I just started doing them this past winter. I used to sew and make quilts so the dolls combine pottery and sewing, both of which I enjoy. I usually match the head of the doll to the fabric that I’ve chosen even though I could use molds for the faces. But I prefer to make my own.

What inspires these artful faces?

I like looking at people and I make the doll faces based on what I see. My children think they’re weird ─ but a nice kind of weird.

“Abattue” by Denise V. Michaud was shown earlier this summer at the

 McCain Art Gallery as part of a NB Crafts Council touring exhibition.

 "Discouraged", as the title translates, amply demonstrates her angst

 after visiting several special care homes.

But some of your heads have nails in them instead of hair!

I like to integrate the industrial into the art. [Laughs] It’s like bringing new life to rusty old nails.

Tell me a bit about the piece that was chosen for the Craft Council show.

This piece represents the people with dementia and Alzheimer’s who I’ve seen in special care homes, trapped in their world like zombies. My mother, who always encouraged me, is in a nursing home and that whole experience is represented in that one work ─ and we’re still living it every day.

So much of your work is emotionally connected to your life experiences…

Art gets my feelings out there and, frankly, I’m always surprised when people like it.