Additional ToolsFirmers and gouges are the principal instruments used in wood sculpture. However, many other complementary tools, employed in woodwork and cabinetmaking, can prove highly practical for sculptors: saws, planes, squares, jack planes, tracing irons, etc.

In a general way, we call "craftsmanship" the work of a single person or group with a limited number of individuals who manually produce an object and use only a limited variety of tools and materials. However, the term is greatly contested, since no-one agrees on what it should designate or exclude.

Craftsmen are generally [Read more]

In Canada, craftsmanship enjoyed an important rise during the 50's. At the time, they advocated values of self-sufficiency, which undoubtedly fed this popularity. Utilitarian objects, or art, made by local craftsmen were then preferred to those assembled in factories.

Today, it's estimated that more than 1.5 million Canadians spend at [Read more]

The notion of Folk Art dates back several centuries in Europe. At a period when an enormous gap separated the popular class from the educated elite of society, oral tradition played an important role for many people in the transmission of superstitions, tales, fables, and legends.

In the 17th century, some began collecting all these [Read more]

Folk Art groups together all creations which reflect the traditions or culture of a people or social group. It's generally not elitist, that's to say it's accessible to all, including those having little or no knowledge of art. It disassociates itself from fine art and learning inherent to academic teaching.

Folk Art mainly draws its [Read more]

The term "Folk Art" was long endowed with a pejorative meaning, making reference to the uncultivated masses. Although it's better viewed today, it's lost none of its ambiguity, and all do not agree on what it designates.

In point of fact, Folk Art can become confused with the Raw Art or Naïve Art, in particular because it [Read more]