Lorne Bouchard was born in Montréal in 1913, both of his parents were from Québec. He started sketching at the age of eight. He studied draw­ing at the Barnes School of Art under Wilfred M. Barnes and drawing with Professor Maurice Felix at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Montréal from 1930-32. He was encouraged by Clarence Gagnon to paint scenes of Québec.

To earn a living Bouchard worked as a label designer for many companies, beginning with Dennison Mfg. Co. Ltd., Drummondville, Québec from 1935-46. In 1952 he worked as freelance illustrator. He did covers for Maclean’s Magazine and many private commissions for advertising agencies. Along with advertising Bouchard completed large paintings for the board rooms of many large corporations such as Nordair, Seagrams, Hewitt Equipment and others.

At the age of 18 he exhibited in a jury show with the Royal Canadian Academy. Gagnon and Maurice Cullen had a large influence in the development of his early works.

Bouchard  often worked with a palette knife and brushes, he continually searched for fast drying mediums since he enjoyed painting outdoors. He would work quickly to catch the effects of sunlight and atmosphere, normally finishing a painting in just one sitting. Bouchard painted in a variety of mediums including water colours and tempera, but most of his paitnigns were done using oils. Occasionally he used felt-tipped pen and ink directly on paper with no pencil sketch underneath. Throughout his artistic career, Bouchard  also worked with clay, wood, stained glass, metals and mosaics.

Bouchard was first introduced to the north country in 1928, when he worked in northern Québec and Ontario. Overly impressed with the beauty of each province, Bouchard  returned a number of times to paint the landscapes. He also painted in many other regions of Canada, loving especially the Laurentians, British Columbia, and the Gaspé area. For his time, Bouchard  created landscapes in a refreshing style catching the mood of the day implementing realistic and impressionistic techniques. In the 1960’s two of his painting trips were recorded in Weekend Magazine, including his three-week cruise trip up the Mackenzie River in 1963 with his wife and Mr. & Mrs. David Molson.

Bouchard  died in Montréal in 1978 at the age of 65.