CV Artist Wins Big at State Fair
Castro Valley artist Stephen Bourque received an Award of Excellence at the California State Fair last month for his collage “PRISMATICA”, one of only 15 such awards presented at the Fair this year. The striking collage was created using thousands of tiny pieces cut from California Lottery Scratcher tickets.
Castro Valley artist Stephen Bourque received an Award of Excellence at the California State Fair last month for his collage “PRISMATICA”, one of only 15 such awards presented at the Fair this year. The striking collage was created using thousands of tiny pieces cut from California Lottery Scratcher tickets.
Bourque says his main intention for creating lottery ticket art was to take something that most would consider garbage, losing lottery tickets, and turn them into something that is unexpectedly more unique and beautiful than the original tickets themselves— and possibly even more special than a winning ticket.
“I also strive to create in ways that have not been done before. To my knowledge, I am the first and only to create the specific type of collage art I have created,” he says.
“I meticulously and craftfully cut very precise, small pieces from the tickets to get the desired color and piece needed,” adds Bourque. “The result is considered a mixed media collage that contains an estimated 100,000-plus individual pieces carefully attached together. As a fun fact, I estimate that each piece contains between $10,000 to $20,000 in used Scratcher tickets and takes me roughly one to two months to create from start to finish.”
No, Bourque doesn’t buy all those lottery tickets himself. At least two-thirds of them come from relatives, friends, and kindly store owners who save discarded tickets for him. From those tickets, he has made numerous collages and decided to submit four of them to the State Fair for consideration. All four were chosen for display in Sacramento out of 1,500 statewide submissions. Bourque was presented with a huge ribbon for “PRISMATICA” during a ceremony at the fair, which closed on July 29. He has already sold one of his collages to an enthusiastic fairgoer.
Bourque got into collage art about 20 years ago when he decided to make a friend's birthday gift by cutting pieces out of “piles of photographs” he already had. The resulting collage came out so well that he made more, despite having no formal art training. About five years ago, he decided to see what he could design using lottery tickets.
“It’s a challenge, kind of like creating your own puzzle,” he says.
A native of Canada, Bourque was a competitive figure skater in his youth. He's lived in Castro Valley for 11 years and in San Francisco before moving here. His previous day job was as a small-animal veterinarian and pharmacist, but these days he's helping his elderly mother, tending to a huge succulent garden, and pursuing art. Bourque says he uses surgical skills and education from his veterinary practice to help him do the precise cutting and handling required for his collages. He has won several awards in the past, including a Silver Award at the 2018 Alameda County Fair for mixed media painting.
Bourque is planning a website to showcase his art, but in the meantime, he can be contacted at animal-doctor@hotmail.com .