From our Family To Yours ...

This all started at Christmas 1986, when our boys were three and one year old. They got curious and pulled down the Christmas tree, breaking many glass ornaments. Nobody got hurt, I pulled the youngster out of the wreakage and noticed he had small cuts on his knees.

I never liked this idea of glass ornaments, there are never any left to pass on to the next generation. So, I went down to my small woodworking shop, using white pine I turned a couple wooden balls. Using a wood burning pen, I drew a snowman on one and a santa on the other, adding colours and their names ..et voila!

It was family and friends who first created a demand for the wooden ornaments, not only do we still have the first two, but we still make them by hand for many families and their friends.

We use white pine from our controlled local forest industry. Great care is devoted in the selection and drying process of this light wood. It is then turned on a lathe before going through many sanding steps.

I create an original acrylic painting for the designs. The image is then reduced on several films and, with precision, these are etched on several metal plates depending on the colours. Using this lithographic printing system, I am able to faithfully reproduce my art works directly on the wood one colour at a time.

We take pride in performing so many skills in such a small piece of wood that will last many generations!

Gaétan Courchesne, artist/owner