Pierre LaChance

Artist Pierre LaChance

Chief of Wood Artist Pierre Lachance Westbank BC King of Wooden Automotive Crafts He's the King of Wooden Automotive Crafts LANGLEY TIMES (date) Written by Janis Foster Photo by John Gordon HENRY FORD had a vision of functional, basic, transportation for every family in America.... Pierre Lachance has an entirely different and aesthetic vision: he transforms the metal sculpted lines of vehicles into the warm radiance of wood. Lachance, 32, has parlayed his love of conveyances and construction vehicles into an art form that is winning ravesand plenty of sales ordersfrom automotive enthusiasts. His handcrafted wooden classics were proudly on display at Willowbrook Shopping Center's "Just for '95" car show two weeks ago. Lachance started his wood carvings while still an adolescent. The Cloverdale resident explains, "I always had a passion for automotive things and I dream of owning a Porsche. I just started creating my own. I thought, if I want it, I'll build whatever I want. I'll fill my hearts desires." Twenty years later, the father of four continues to work from books and magazines, enhancing his designs into "instant specs" with computer graphics before crafting his vehicles with oak, alder and black walnut. "I'm using a primitive format and integrating it into a very high tech format. I go with the past and the future and integrate them together for the now," he says. Whether it's a boxy jalopy, a sleek and aerodynamic sports car. a chrome-laden Chevy with outsized fins, Lachance approaches each reproduction with equal enthusiasm. "I build everythingeverything you can think of. You name it, I've got it. No one does what I do at the scale and the speed and with so much variety. I go from a Harley Davidson to a tractor-trailer to a Jaguar." "I spend two to three days on one item and start on another...It's unlimited. It doesn't stop. I like creating, creating, creating and creating with new concepts." Lachance also handcrafts wooden toys and this Christmas donated 160 of his pieces to the children at Langley Memorial and Sunny hill Hospitals. He took the remaining packages and gave them away door to door to children in lower-income housing complexes. Sizes for Lachance's pieces range from miniature cars and trucks to expansive ships to full-size motorcycles. Most of the pieces are custom built to order. His joy comes in experimenting with the sculptural appearance of a vehicle and the challenge of perfecting each piece. His lifelong ambition is to become "The King of Wooden Automotive Crafts" and he believes that goal is well on the way to being realized. communityplus1.com