Osler artist Michelle Thevenot’s work was recently recognized at a national level, as one of her sculptures was chosen to represent the CBC Arts logo for the month of January.
Each month, CBC features a new take on its arts logo, which is created by a Canadian artist.
Thevenot specializes in wood carving (with a chainsaw). She typically salvages material from dead or fallen trees on her country property, and she uses power tools to transform the lumber into a piece of art.
She was very excited to put her own spin on the CBC Arts logo and for her artwork to be recognized at a national level.
“It feels really good to get that attention and just be recognize for the hard work that I’ve been doing,” said Thevenot.
Thevenot has been familiar with the CBC Arts logo monthly feature and when looking at previous designs she noticed the majority were all drawings and none were created in the three-dimensional realm.
“I sent them (CBC) a message and pitched my idea and what I do for art, and they absolutely loved it,” she said. “They wanted to see a wood carving (as their logo) so it was a little bit different for them and they were excited.”
She contacted CBC last November about the idea and they immediately wanted her to create a logo for the month of January.
After she got the okay that her art was going to be featured, she quickly came up with a design and began working on the project, which had to be completed within a month.
“My style of work is Canadian animals and plants and nature, and that was just the generic theme that they (CBC) grabbed a hold of,” said Thevenot. They said, ‘we want you to do a winter theme’ and they gave me creative freedom to do whatever I wanted after that.”
What inspired her to do the particular design for CBC Arts was when she looked upon the winter scenery around her, she could hear the cheerful chirps of the chickadees.
Their bright and lively demeanor brought a smile to her face as they flitted amongst the spruce trees feeding on cone. Also the CBC logo reminded her of the circular pattern found at the end of spruce or pine tree cones.
Even though Thevenot just started wood carving in 2019, she has plenty of experience in the art department, as she studied Art Education at the University of Saskatchewan.
Before wood carving, she did more traditional art which included painting and drawing, and she wanted to do something different.
“I just wanted to create something a little more tactile and experience more three-dimensional work. So carving really fit that niche for me, and it involved painting and drawing too,” said Thevenot. “It still weaves in a bit of my previous experience into the overall sculptures.”
When Thevenot first started to create art by using a chainsaw she said it took a lot of trial-and-error, but it didn’t take her too long to get the hang of it.
“I didn’t receive any specific sculpture or carving training at all, and that was a very new endeavor for me,” she said. “I learned by observing other carvers.”
Thevenot really enjoyed the project she made for CBC Arts because she had to use different styles of art.
“It wasn’t just a carving project, it was also photography and digital designing,” she said. “The whole project was multi-media and many different forms of art were involved.”
It takes a lot of time to create this type of artwork, as this particular project took 26 and a half hours to complete.
Since the project was on the smaller scale it took her less time to finish compared to her larger wood carving designs.
“The larger carvings would take more time; fifty hours and up wouldn’t be unusual, and it just depends on the amount of details and what else is involved.” Thevenot said.
Thevenot is not a full time artist, as she does office administration for a construction company, but she still loves creating wood sculptures during her spare time.
“I would love to connect with people who are interested in my style of art. I think it would be a wonderful to connect with other people and create for them,” she said.