Born in Casselman, Ontario, Canada, I come from a long line of woodworkers. My grandfather Francoeur was a master woodworker and he had risen to being the foreman in a doors and windows factory in 1930's and 1940's. His personal shop "la boutique" was in our backyard (we were neighbours) and from a young age I was pounding nails and building bird houses and small toys in there. My passion for woodworking was born in that old shop and never faded. My dad was a woodworker but mostly an electrician. Me and my brother were raised to work in the family business but I always regretted my dad was not building houses rather than just wire them!

Self-taught, I have perfected cabinetwork over the last 35 years and have become passionate about woodturning in the last eighteen years. I love to combine different species and work with shapes, textures and colors to highlight the natural beauty of each piece. I like to use simple lines and I favour modern designs. I like to feature the natural beauty of the wood itself, its colours, grain and texture. "Imperfections" such as cracks, bark and knots become important features of some of my decorative pieces.

I was awarded various prizes since 2002 at the Valley Wood turners Competition, one of which being “Best of Show” in 2004. I have contributed to the Government of Canada bank of presents for foreign dignitaries, have appeared on CTV’s Regional Contact, a show featuring local artists, and have exhibited my work in various municipal and commercial galleries in the Ottawa region. Now that I am retired from a career as a high school teacher and a federal government program manager, I plan to pursue my passion of woodturning by getting more training, experimenting with new designs and techniques and participating in more art shows in the region and beyond. I hope you will enjoy my Etsy shop! If you like my work feel free to ask for other samples of production since I have a large inventory of functional (bowls, containers, cutting boards) and decorative (vases, weed pots, decorative boxes, driftwood pieces) pieces.