Saskatoon sculptor Patricia Leguen marks 40 years of art

For 40 years, Saskatoon artist Patricia Leguen has been creating works for the world to see.

“I’ve been drawing my whole life ever since I was a little kid. I was always doodling in school — I used to make portraits,” Leguen said.

Creating portraits then transitioned to creating sculptures after discovering a passion at the University of Saskatchewan.

“I started taking fine arts classes at the university when I first came to Saskatoon in 1979 on an exchange program,” she said.

Luguen grew up in France. Her family wasn’t fond of her pursuing arts, but she didn’t let that stop her.

In 1983, she moved to Saskatoon to continue her passion.

And she’s expanded her sculpting through the elements provided by nature. Leguen has built sculptures using sand, bones, fire, ice, and snow.

She has competed in hundreds of competitions both domestically and internationally, accumulating several awards throughout the decades.

“When I go to competitions all over the world, of course, there’s like thousands and thousands of people coming to watch us work. Sometimes they come at the end of the competition where they see the finished piece, so they don’t really appreciate all the work that it takes. And some come every single day and every day they’re amazed to go, ‘Wow, you did so much since yesterday’,” she explained.

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Her skills in snow sculpting became more important than she knew, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when she was forced to stay home.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, I was stuck at home and there’s always tons of snow in the wintertime. So I was like, well, I’ll start making sculptures on my deck. Why not?” Leguen said.

Recently, when Saskatoon was dumped with over 30 cm of snow during the last week of December, she put her skills to use by creating a sculpture of a woman carrying a child.

Although she said she mainly produces artwork for herself, it’s a passion she’s willing to share with others.

Leguen is offering sculpting workshops at Nutrien Wintershine next month for anyone willing to give their artistic abilities a shot.

“It’s educational in a way because the public can see the amount of physical work that it takes to create something monumental. And children just love it as well,” she explained.

After years of creation, she’s not putting down her tools.

“I have been making sculptures for over 40 years, so I’m not going to stop now,” she said.

Those interested in more of Patricia’s designs can check her website.