Lorraine Bouchard was born in Lachine and studied enamel painting in Limoges, France as well as with Fay Rooke, a professor of enamel on copper painting in Ontario. She creates her colorful enamel on copper works in her studio in Saint Lazare.

            It is worth it to visit Lorraine Bouchard in her St. Lazare studio, as visitors have been able to do for the past two years during the annual Studio Tours. It is a large, bright room reminiscent of an art gallery, with examples of her work covering the walls and arranged around the space. The right corner is dominated by the kiln. It’s where she melts the powdered paints to form the enamel on her copper sheets.

           The kiln is like a shiny metal piece of furniture. It has large metal railings in front of it where Lorraine places and prepares the copper sheets for firing. Although the sheets are not very thick, the larger pieces can be quite heavy. For enamel on copper painting, you have to be both an artist and a master of the technique. Lorraine produces artistic designs but she also knows how to create the effects she needs on the copper sheets. Most enamel painters concentrate on small works but Lorraine can handle even large sheets up to three feet long. These big sheets have to be thicker and heavy for stability or curved so they more easily maintain their shape. If curved, the works are often structured so the curves give a three-dimensional effect to the images on the copper sheet.

            When the sheets are ready for firing, Lorraine opens the kiln door and a tray sides out under the railings that support the sheet. When she operates a mechanism, supports rise between the railings and raise the sheet slightly. Lorraine can then slide the tray and the sheet into the kiln for firing. The intricate arrangement keeps the copper sheet perfectly positioned for firing without requiring any other handling. When the piece is ready, Lorraine can slide it back out, reverse the mechanism and leave the sheet supported on the railings for finishing. Smaller pieces can be self-supporting but large works may be mounted in a supporting frame.

Solo Exhibitions
2010 Musée Régional de Vaudreuil-Soulanges, 1er mai au 13 juin
2007 Vernissage et ouverture de la galerie-atelier de l'artiste, 4 novembre