Northern Ontario sculptor casts his legacy in bronze: Tyler Fauvelle has installed public monuments across Ontario, including a statue of Stompin' Tom Connors in Sudbury.

• Author: Romaniuk, Colleen

Tyler Fauvelle's work is focused on ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

From a small studio located in Lively, a suburb of Sudbury, the Northern Ontario sculptor creates his work in clay by hand. He then casts the work (at his studio space in Toronto) in bronze or a metal-infused medium to create the finished product.

Not only does he create smaller pieces, but he has also had the chance to create monumental installations that have been featured across Canada.

Just recently, a statue to commemorate Fern Blodgett Sunde, the first woman to work as a wireless radio operator at sea, serving aboard an Allied merchant ship in the Battle of the Atlantic, was installed in Cobourg.

In June 2016, Fauvelle unveiled a life-size bronze statue commemorating Chief Francis Pegahmagabow, Canada's most highly decorated Indigenous soldier and early First Nations' rights activist, in Parry Sound, about 160 kilometres south of Sudbury.

The three-figure bronze features Pegahmagabow in his Canadian Expeditionary Force uniform, a caribou representing his clan, and an eagle (sign of the Thunderbird, messenger). It's located on the Georgian Bay waterfront and was unveiled on National Aboriginal Day.

His other work includes four bronze, stone-mounted reliefs representing the Wendat Circle of Nations in Penetanguishene, and a life-size bronze commemorating Canadian music icon Stompin' Tom Connors in Sudbury.

"I like to tell the stories of regular people," said Fauvelle. "It's very interesting to be able to tell these stories in a meaningful way."

Born in New Liskeard, Fauvelle began sculpting at age eight.

Throughout his life, he always knew that sculpting was something that he wanted to do, but it wasn't until his wife Jana stumbled upon a box of his work that he really considered doing it for a living.

Fauvelle has been a full-time, professional sculptor since 2008. His style can be described as "figurative, with impressionistic touches."

His subjects range from cultural and historical icons to miners and prospectors to wildlife and landscapes.

Fauvelle's success can be partly attributed to his attitude towards his work.

"You have to treat it like a business," he said, and that means wearing multiple hats.

"You have to understand that you're going to need to be able to do marketing and accounting. You need to write proposals, and you have to have some skills in meeting people."

The other important part about running a creative business is managing...