Although he is going blind, Gary Leclair, 83, of Val Therese still enjoys seeing the colourful paintwork and fine details of the many birds he has carved in miniature over the years.
His works are also something that a lot of his friends and fellow carvers still enjoy seeing and appreciating.
Leclair's love of carving goes back to the early 1960s when he had joined the Canadian Army. He was posted to Montreal and that's where he met a young student nurse named Joan.
She was from Fredericton and was in Montreal for three-months of pediatric training. The young couple began dating.
"Anyway, I dated her for three months, though she was going back to New Brunswick. We didn't have a lot of money … and we used to walk up and down the streets in Montreal," Leclair recalled.
On Sainte-Catherine Street he saw a gift shop that had a little wood carving of an old man.
"And I really fell in love with that little curving and I thought you know what, when she goes back to Fredericton I'm going to buy that for her as a little bit of a token of appreciation, so I bought it."
As luck would have it, it was a few weeks later that Leclair was posted to the Canadian Army base at Gagetown, New Brunswick, which at the time was the second largest military base in Canada. Leclair called up Joan and the couple began dating again.
On weekends, he would spend time with her family on a dairy farm near Fredericton.
"To make a long story short, I fell in love with her and I married her," said Leclair.
Over a period of time, the couple moved to Sudbury and a young family member was visiting. Leclair said the little girl took his favourite wooden figurine and let the dog play with it. His favourite carving was destroyed.
Leclair said he was so upset about that he decided he should try to learn wood carving.
"That's what got me into carving. I bought an X-ACTO set at a little hobby shop that was in Sudbury on Pine Street called D&D Hobby Shop. And I started to carve a little man hoping to duplicate it," said Leclair.
Some years later, Leclair visited a craft show at Confederation Secondary School. He said he saw a display of bird carvings, and although he was not interested at first, he was persuaded to try carving birds. At first it was miniature ducks, but Leclair said he was soon introduced to the idea of carving smaller songbirds.
In time, his interest grew and Leclair began taking specialized classes in carving the songbirds. He traveled to the United States to take part in workshops as well as courses at the Haliburton School of Fine Arts and Canadore College.
Leclair also took part in international competitions such as the Ward Foundation’s Ward World Championship carving event in Ocean City, Maryland. He has been able to carve, paint and sell several miniature birds to friends and collectors.
In recent years, Leclair suffered from an eye disease, macular degeneration, a condition that has seriously blurred his central vision. He still has some peripheral vision.
Leclair said he tried to continue carving, but even with the use of a special magnifying device provided by CNIB, he was unable to continue.
Of all the different and colourful carvings Leclair has produced over the years, he said his favourite is a half-sized version of a crow. He said it is one of the birds that he won't sell because of the work he put into it and the fine detail that can only be appreciated when one sees the bird up close.
Interestly, Leclair said there is no black colouring in the paint. He said it is made up of a variety of iridescent colours including a deep navy and a burnt umber. He said it took him many hours to carve and many more hours to paint.
"Oh no, nobody has enough money to buy that crow," he laughed.
Len Gillis is a reporter at Sudbury.com.
