For any of you who are local, and missed out on the City of Craft show, here's your chance! I'll be participating in a new show on Queen Street close to the park. Mavrik wine bar is hosting a small show and sale this weekend, on Saturday the 15th. I'll be showing lots of prints, jewellery and handmade cards....stop by and say hello!
Oooooh! The lookbook for City of Craft 2012 was launched today, and created by the extra talented Arounna, of Bookhou http://www.bookhou.com/....I love how it turned out, it looks great, and a sneak peek into all of the work that will be showcased this weekend.
Well, I'd better start winding down soon, as tomorrow is going to be an early and looong day. A long weekend for that matter. Hope to see some of you at the show on the weekend, and for those who can only take a look from afar, here is the lookbook!
The countdown is on! Hope some of you can make it out to the event this year, which will be the largest yet, taking over half a block on Queen West! A lot of great artists are participating, and it will be a chance to buy some lovely things for those special ones on your list.
City of Craft is just around the corner, and I'm getting pretty excited, and finishing up new pieces, prints and other surprises in my studio, in time for the show. Here's a post on their blog, curated by Covet Garden. where they feature my work....I hope to see some pals at the show next weekend! Oh, and here is a great piece by Toronto artist, Julie Moon.
For the second year in a row, I've participated in the "Give and Take", organised by MADE gallery in Toronto. It's a great fundraiser, and a wondering opportunity to be both charitable and support local designers. If you can come out to the party, it will be memorable for sure!
I've created a giant, evergreen tree sized version of my wooden axe brooch for the show, hand fabricated in walnut.
Things are rolling along here in the studio lately, preparing for the City of Craft show which rolls out the first week of December (looming!) http://www.cityofcraft.com/, and trying to keep up with all of my custom orders and standard shipments this time of the year.
I just finished up and shipped a custom order to Brooklyn, New York for a couple who incorporated crushed stones into rings that they dreamed up. I hope to post some photos of them soon!
I'm working on some new cards for the city of craft show, several new jewellery designs, and some postcards that will make you smile.
Two super exciting things this weekend:
My Harriet Grey kitten tattoos arrived on Friday in the post, just in time to wear to my friend Gillian Batchers jewellery studio opening, at Jewel Envy in my hood, Roncesvalles, in Toronto. http://jewelenvy.blogspot.ca/. It was really great to catch up with some pals at both Cardinal Rule, and Intersteer as well, over the weekend.
Harriet Grey is an illustration artist, who drawings are soooo delicate and detailed. She works out of the UK, and recently launched a series of temporary tattoos, based on her illustrations and drawings. http://harrietgray.blogspot.ca/. The last photo in the post is from Harriets Etsy page: http://www.etsy.com/shop/harrietgray. The other two are madness in my kitchen~!
I'm inspired to make some of my own, in the near future...yet not kittens. I'm thinking of a series of Canadiana tattoos...stay tuned!
Oh that's right....it's that time of the year again...
Directed by Canadian darling sweetie rootbeer painting artist, Marcel Dzama, who I certainly crush on, not only for style, but for serious content. A founding member of the Royal Canadian Art Lodge, the group dissolved in the late 2000's but were inspirational during my early post grad days.....
Marcel Dzama, Shelley’s Historic Morning, 2005, Ink and watercolor on paper, 8-part drawing. Framed: 34 x 49 3/4 inches (86.4 x 126.4 cm)
Crisp leaves underfoot, grey, quiet mornings, simmering pots of harvest soup on the stove, houndstooth jackets, pumpkins and expectation. I've finally come to terms with the fall, and the fact that it is no longer summer (sigh).
I am pretty happy we (mostly) missed any of the extreme, and dramatic weather that has been experienced in New York, and in the southern USA due to hurricane Sandy..... Flights have just resumed in New York, but many of the subway stations are still underwater. I hope everyone is ok, and has power and normalacy returned to them quickly.
Happy Halloween to all, here is a bit of a soundtrack for the fall.....
I'm not really sure how it's Fall already, and Thanksgiving has passed. I just celebrated it last night, a week later, but it was a great celebration, and so good to see everyone.
There are many things to be thankful for, and here is one of them....
All images by Allan Grant Thank you to the LIFE Archive.
I've recently gone on the seach for new pieces for my shop, and here is one....a great vintage, hand carved, wooden cup perfect for dipping into a freshwater spring on your hike in the bush.
I am in serious Fall denial. And I love Fall, don't get me wrong, but what happened to this summer?
Back in August...Kiki Nakita, the editor and director of My 365 online magazine contacted me to write an article for her magazine.
It was fun to collaborate with her and create a list of Etsy tips for new and current sellers. I hope that it is a helpful resource to people starting out. Here is the link:
It's difficult to imagine how hard it was... the isolation and discomfort, the broken hearts.
I'm currently reading "Roughing it in the Bush", by Susanna Moodie an English writer, who emigrated to Canada in the 1830's. Her editors wanted her to write a book that would serve as a guide for Englishmen and women considering emigration to Canada, but instead she gave them the truth.
The bitter truth, about how truly difficult it is for someone of relative wealth and with no prior experience with farming to start a homestead in Canada. Published in 1852, it was the first honest, firsthand account of a settlers experience that wasn't romanticised or misleading.
The publishing house was shocked....at the time Canada was being promoted as a utopia for the British emigrant, a land of natural riches and great beauty.
It became wildly successful, and is still in print and a great read, published by a rare book company. It's part of a trilogy and I'm looking forward to the other two books, if it is even possible to find them.
These pics are from that time period, and from Retronaut. The first image is a portrait of Susanna Moodie.
Your white dress and shoe days are numbered....the early mornings have been getting a bit chilly, I think I need one last holiday hurrah before embracing Fall 2012. Here's some Tim Walker for Vogue UK....some lovely white numbers to squeeze in before the season is over!
I've wanted to open up a vintage shop for several years on Etsy, and it's finally become a reality! I kept shoving the idea aside, having more than I could manage with teaching, exhibitions, and custom work. I initially opened the shop in 2008, but it was a really bad time to try and tackle such an endeavour with a family illness on top of my professional commitments. So it sat, and eventually I shuttered it, thinking I would get back to it shortly.
Well, *sigh*... it's been a while. A lot longer than anticipated, but finally, I'm swinging open the door and welcoming you in! Featuring an ongoing collection of carefully curated home and cottage decor pieces, vintage clothing, vintage curiosities and previously loved ephemera from the past, the shop will have new pieces added to the collection on a bi-weekly basis, so be sure to add me to your favourites on Etsy, and check back from time to time to see whats new.
Here's a small selection, but check back, as I'm still working on shooting the pieces that I have in the studio.
It's been a busy week for my axe brooches....Liam Vu from Global News (local Toronto News morning show), came by my studio yesterday, and picked up a couple of my axe brooches...he wrote me earlier to let me know that he was wearing one on air this morning....(never finished this post till Friday, so It was actually Tuesday morning). I never got to see their on air debut, however, as I was deep in sleep, when his show aired! I'm still not getting great sleep due to a noisy early departure of neighbours on a daily basis, so I grab sleep when I can.
I also got a note from a very thoughtful client of mine, Jennifer Pitt, who got married this summer, in Toronto and had a wedding with a bit of a Canadiana bent to the festivities. It was very sweet that they chose one of my pieces for their special day....I think the sterling silver and cherry axe brooch looks great here! https://www.etsy.com/listing/82925014/secret-order-of-the-lumberjack-society
Their intimate wedding included a lovely lunch at the Brickworks, Cafe Belong, which is a stunning space. http://www.cafebelong.ca/
Their wedding emphasized an inclusion of exclusively Canadian Designers: Fluveog shoes, Coriander Girl for amazing floral inspiration, http://coriandergirl.com/, and the dress, made by Mikaella Bridal, http://www.mikaellabridal.com/.
