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Éloi Thibodeau has been a professional sculptor for 35 years and many Quebecers have already been able to admire his creations, notably dinosaurs.
For as long as he can remember, this Beauceville resident has always loved creating with his hands. When he was six or seven years old, his father gave him a large playdough kit. “ I think it was the greatest gift of my life. I had fun with this for years », he said in a video interview with EnBeauce.com.
It is precisely this passion that pushed him to resign from his position in housekeeping and cooking at Saint-Georges hospital more than thirty years ago. Since then, he has made between five thousand and six thousand pieces in fiberglass. “ I always had a passion for building and sculpting things, mascots, figurines, comics. So in 1993 I told myself that enough was enough and that I had to make a living with my ideas, my talent, my dream. »
At that point he opened what he likes to call ” A dinosaur shop » where he sculpted more than 200 life-size dinosaurs in two years. With his small team, they participated in several exhibitions in Canada and sold creations as far as the United States.
Subsequently, he expanded his area of expertise by also working with farm and forest animals, sets for water parks, etc.
Memorable projects
Éloi is very proud to have believed in his dream. Thanks to his work and determination, he was able to carry out major projects.
« I once had a rather special request. It was to make a dinosaur for a Hollywood film. I’ve dreamed of it since I was eight years old! », he first remembered. So it’s his 40-foot-long T-Rex skeleton that we see in the film A night at the museumreleased in 2006.
Two years later, Beauceron received a call from an American woman who wanted a dinosaur park in Texas, with a few fiberglass dinosaurs. Éloi therefore produced seven or eight, including a t-rex and an iguanodon. The largest piece he had to make for this project was a life-size brachiosaurus. “ It has a big neck, a brachiosaurus, 50 feet high and 90 feet long! It took three months of work to make it in eight pieces. » Even today, it is still in place even after having suffered a tornado.
Éloi Thibodeau always had in mind opening a park in Beauce to offer a new tourist attraction. Although people didn’t support his project, he launched with a Christmas-themed park in 2010: Eloland. Nearly 9,000 people came to visit the site during the two months it was open for the first year. Then, an insectary section was added. Everything ran for four years at Éloi in Beauceville. Subsequently, the facilities were sold and moved to Scott where the Woodooliparc.
The artist also created a gigantic tree for the Miller zoo which measures 40 feet in diameter, 60 feet high and on which you can see 100 animals carved in the bark. “ Clifford Miller wanted something original for his new animal reserve so I made a tree of life like Walt Disney », underlined Éloi. It was made in 40 pieces which were assembled on site.
Recently, Éloi Thibodeau created the sets for the Beauceville mini-golf course on which he worked for a year and a half to create a western atmosphere.
Today, as retirement approaches, he is making fewer big projects and has other ideas for the future.
A new passion
Three years ago, he discovered 3D printing and made a new passion for it. “ I print pieces for fun because I’m a figurine collector, I must have 200 or 300 in my basement. » He sands and paints them himself to add them to his personal collection. “ I have fun with this. »
More projects are coming, including a new comic book and possibly stop-motion videos. “ It’s just for fun, I don’t plan to make a living from it. »
All his projects and all his achievements were born from Éloi’s desire to believe in his dreams and to do something he loves. “ Everyone has talent, you have to find your passion, go for it and find your way. The advantage is that you will be happy, in the morning when you get up you will be happy! We only have one life so we have to have fun, do what we love. You have to work though, there are no miracles », concluded the Beauceron artist.
Watch the full interview in the video above.
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