Interview with Claude Bolduc

q)Tell me something about yourself….What’s your background…?

a) I’m passionate by Human Being…in the sense of the Soul… and I’m looking for reach God through the intimacy of this soul …For myself… the way of the unsuspected ,unbearable and unknown “Feminitude” ( the sensuality-sexuality… moving into the permanent struggle between Eros and Thanatos ) is the only way to reach in rare and precious moments … the Thuth ( and feel a little bit… God).
For a large part, my background is coming from my strict catholic education. Especially by my maternal grandfather who was a sculptor (of religious subjects). He influences me very much. And my other major influence come from my paternal grandfather who was a trapper. He was,most of the time, living into the forest. He taught me the respect of life and also, an other way through Nature, to reach God…The inner result for me is a curious ,strange and active mixing between the right Reason and the irresistible appeal of the Instinct. The dog and the wolf are living together inside me…

q)When growing what was the greatest force pushing you towards art?

a)I start to paint one year before my divorce with my first wife… At this time (87) I had never paint and I began as an autodidact… pushing towing my art by an irresistible force …a need to express myself…The painter Arthur Villeneuve ( my first mentor) gave me the final impulsion for start to paint…

q)Were you inspired/encouraged by any one person to pursue your craft?

a) At the beginning nobody understood my reaction… I isolate myself in a little room in my house ( in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada) …for paint . After a while The character of Arthur Villeneuve was an example for me and help me to pursue my craft.


q)How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

a)I paint description of my inner reactions… sensibility… with the help of unconscious for explain the conscious…



q)Are certains colours,shapes that you’re drawn to?

a)For represent unconscious, I like use different mixes of brown, red and yellow …also a bit of blue.

q)What other talent would you like most to have?

a)I would love to be a good musician; and also a good writer.

q)What’s your favourite mediums to work in/on?

a)Oil on canvas.

q)What artists influence or have influenced you(these need not be visual artists)and how have they done so?

a)Arthur Villeneuve inflences me by his incredible determination to paint . A lot of others masters of art impressed and have inflenced me at different levels : Frida Khalo, Jerome Bosch, Francis Bacon, Picasso, Dali, Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Otto Dix, Bruegel, Chagall, Kokoschka…

q)What non-visual art interest you and does this have an impact on your art?

a)Music and literature… Literature has a real impact on my art. I like read a lot about Symbolism in all cultures… and I’m full of all these readings …

q)What do you think about artists using the Internet as a forum for sharing their work?

a)I think it’s a excellent way to promote art and learn about other artists and theirs works…

q)What is your favourite toy,game or other artefact from your youth(and do you still own it)?

a)My favourite child’s artefacts are connected to my 2 grandfathers… The self portrait’s sculpture of my maternal grandfather… and a picture of my paternal grandfather with a moose’s head on his shoulder…

q)Got any new projects planned?

a)I’m waiting for my artistic maturity’s period…

q)What advice can you give to other artists to help them improve their chances of survival in this global village we call our home?

a)Be yourself… find your own way… choose all the time the solitary journey…be suspicious as a wolf…starving but free…

q)Favourite books/authors?

a)Book : The Bible… Authors: Boris Vian… Daniel Pennac… Jacques Neirynck…and in cinema: Woody Allen…

q)Favourite music?

a) Jazz, Classic, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Chanson française ( Brassens, Brel) Richard Desjardins…

q)What do you fear most?

a)To be in jail for 20 years with a person without the sense of humour…

q) Your contacts…

a) www.claudebolduc.com/