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Thursday, November 29, 2007

 

RP Leo Beauchamp Interview 11/13/2007

This interview started of with the introduction of Leo Beauchamp by the interviewer Suzanne Kelly who immediately compared Mr. Beauchamp to Wallace Stegner and his creation of “Wolf Willow”. Going into the interview I knew we were going to be listening to a painter and his creations but I amazed to find that Leo’s painting have a lot more to them. He had done research on his family that dates back to the 1500s where he learned that his original last name was “Deauchamp”. We find out that his ancestors (Jack and John Beauchamp) come from France to Canada and settled by Montreal for 5 or 6 generations. From Canada they decided to make the trek to North Dakota. One of his Great Grandpa’s at the time was a Blacksmith and all 9 of his kids came to Olga, ND to pursue farming. As shown in her diaries, the mother did mostly woman work such as washing clothes, going to church, and having strict disciplinary rules. Leo further went into the development of his book, “9th Generation Grandfather, from birth to death”. It literally did discuss the beginning of his life until he left this world; from meeting his first girlfriend to building his first house out of logs on the frontier. Other memories that Leo touched on were of Olga, and his Grandpa. He then touched on his parents and how it was as a child growing up in Olga, with the different chores, accidents (his brother), family rituals and dating on the plains. He ended with changes in that community and the construction of his paintings with different painting techniques and the stories behind each piece.

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