Posted by Stefane Bougie on January 09, 2000 at 8:28:12 p.m.:
Stefane Bougie is the second born in a family of three sons, all of whom are bird carvers . Stefane has always lived in the Valleyfield (Qc) region.
His talent developed at a very young age thanks to his devoted and very understanding parents who allowed him to have a small zoo in their home, with butterflies, frogs, feathers and bird nests. Ducks then joined the group in the family room situated in the basement.
Following his older brother's footsteps, Stefane started to sculpt in 1982 and in 1983 he was initiated to first competition in Montreal. Through the Gallery Prescott, he became acquainted with other artists, mostly painters such as Jean-Luc Grondin, Ghislain Caron and Pierre Leduc.
His discovery of Pat Godin in 1986 led him to his growing and great interest for the competition of bird sculpture. In addition to Godin 's influence, there were also many others such as Victor Paroyan, Bob Guge and most certainly Jett and Jude Brunet.
In 1982 he started to compete internationally with a miniature black duck. He won second prize (novice); this was to be the first of many winning pieces in other numerous competitions throughout Canada and the United States.
Stefane uses different methods in order to execute a piece: Observation in the field; photographs to chose the luminosity, general ambiance or to capture a movement; bird skins and videos for visual guides and ornithology books for written information. Evidently he also uses his own imagination. Months of research will be done for each sculpture to ensure its accuracy in color , anatomy and attitude.
Although he specializes in ducks and birds of prey, for Stefane a bird carver knows no boundaries but has interests in all the winged fauns in East North America.
Striving for perfection, he participates in many discussions with his carver and painter friends and reads scientific material frequently. Two words describe well Stefane Bougie' s work: diversity and quality.
Stefane, his wife Sylvie and their two children, Frederic and Alexandra, now live in a house in the country near a pond where ducks live and on land that is well disposed to attract birds. Stefane is an electrician at Goodyear Canada Inc.