East Side Culture Crawl

If you haven't been out for the best art stroll (or marathon!!!) of the year in Vancouver, then you should go out today! Visiting artists in their working environments can provide such a greater understanding of their work and sources of inspiration. Many of the SFM artists are participating in the Crawl including ...

Arleigh Wood
Laura McKibbon | cul de sac design
Janna Hurtzig | Astrosatchel
Denise Wilson | Bronsino Design
Amy Stewart | Olie Designs
Clarie Madill | heyday designs
Jenefer Pleadwell | 1000 Flowers
Naomi Yamamoto | Flightpath Designs
Lincoln Heller | FiveLeft
Heather Braun-Dahl | Dalhaus

Scroll down the page and find artists links on the right side! See ya on the Eastside!!!

SFMers @ Circle Craft!

From November 11 – 15 you can find some of our SFM gals at the Circle Craft Show in Vancouver at the Convention and Exhibition Center! If you are in the area drop by to view some of the works in person! While you are there grab some postcards and give them to all your friends because they are really pretty and good reminders to come visit us all on Dec 12 & 13!

Anat Basanta - Fine Jewellery
Caroline Miller - Fun Jewellery, Booth 335
Ulla Clark | Lu Prints - Home and Personal Accessories

Caroline Miller

Caroline gravitated toward jewellery at an early age, when as a young girl growing up in Victoria, BC she would sneak plastic earrings onto her ears and into family portraits.  Since those days she has apprenticed as a silversmith in Uruguay, earned a diploma in Jewellery and Small Object Design from the Kootenay School of the Arts and studied in the coppersmithing town of Santa Clara del Cobre in Mexico.  She currently works from her studio in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada.

Her work and inspiration are derived from the many oddities of personality and its ongoing progression.  Balanced with these flights of fancy are the permanence of geometries, physics and the techniques of a practised silversmith.  Her choice of materials incorporate the precious with the semi-precious; gold and silver and gemstones are often combined with found objects or plastics.  Caroline’s work is distinct in design, sometimes bold, sometimes subtle.  Classic style is often married with contemporary flair.

Caroline has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants and is committed to strive towards new and fresh approaches to her craft.  She can be contacted at info@carolinemiller.ca for orders, queries and commissions.

Brendalyn Avender

Brendalyn Avender works in metal using industrial processes with the idea of creating simple works of wearable art that are conceptually and economically accessible. Powder coating allows Brendalyn to suffuse her pieces with color while retaining the flexible and durable qualities of the metal. Through exploration of metal and color, she combines the two in a way that confounds the viewers’ experience. At  first the pieces may appear to be made of a different material, such is the uniformity of the colored surface. It is not until the cool surface is touched or the pieces are heard striking one another that the viewer becomes assured of their metallic nature, creating disjunction between initial perception and deeper experience

Audra Neil

Audra is a graduate from the Alberta College of Art.  She currently works in the set decorating department in film and makes stuffies as well as indulging in her other endeavors.

Audra has been making a host of stuffed animals for many years.  The stuffies are always evolving and no two are exactly the same.  All are made by Audra and can be found locally at Barefoot Contessa on Main Street and on Commercial Drive.  They can also be found at www.tedde.com and www.dearhome.ca.

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Arleigh Wood

Arleigh Wood studied at Concordia University in Montreal and the University of Hertfordshire in St Albans UK, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours. Wood has participated extensively in national and international exhibitions. Her work is in private and corporate collection and has been featured hotels and in various interior design magazines including Canadian House and Home. Wood’s paintings have also been used in films and television shows like the “Designer Guys”. When she is not working in her Vancouver studio, Wood enjoys fast-paced urban explorations and peaceful natural escapes.

In an artist's statement Wood explains her work as, "Comprised from a series of specific images that are characteristic of my initial vision, I utilize photography to capture visible impressions during my travels and in my daily encounters. My mixed media process distills the initial photographic image into a multilayered composition that includes various painting, collage, and printing techniques. Oils, acrylic, and especially the application of encaustic (wax media) alter appearance of the original photograph. Details are highlighted by scratching back into the surfaces, while silkscreen, etching, and woodcuts are used to create emblematic patterns and repetitive imagery. 

These ethereal and romantic images are not depictions of the past or the future but exist somewhere in between, floating in memory and dreams.."

Anat Basanta

I am fond of using familiar ornamented “retro” patterns, almost kitschy wallpaper like designs, which typically appear in fabrics, ribbons and laces. I use these textured patterns alongside woven silver to capture the femininity. softness, fluidity, and airy nature of knitted textiles. Synthesizing metal work techniques with those typically used in textiles, I blur the boundaries between the two mediums. I tend to work with simple forms, and strive to reach the meeting point of beauty and intrigue.

Amy Stewart | Olie Designs

Amy Stewart was raised in 108 Mile House until moving to Vernon at the age of 9. After leaving home Amy left to Vancouver and enrolled in counseling and psychology courses to pursue a career in counselling, then moving to Edmonton deciding on a career in Child and Youth care. During that time she moved to the Netherlands to do an exchange program in Art and Play Therapy. Creating has always been part of Amy’s life, as not only does she love it, but finds it a huge stress relief when working in her field. She started Olie Designs in Vancouver, in September 2007 and took her love of knitting and turned it into a business. Now Amy works as a Child and Youth Victim Support Worker and is happy to be working in a field she loves while being able to also creating knit items to love and share.

Little Known Facts

*Shiny Fuzzy Muddy was named for the media it aimed to represent (shiny jewels, fuzzy fabric, muddy clay) and though still adequate, the name may not completely encompass all the amazing work and intersections of materials that one can witness at our shows!*

*Our first show was in Dec 2003. Contrary to the number 10 attached to our upcoming show we are not quite 10 years old. From 2004 - 2006 we held shows semi-annually in the spring and winter. The upcoming SFM 10 show will be our 7th winter show :)*

*We started in a small space - the common room in a condo complex - but outgrew that space after about 3 years. We rented a space in TinselTown one year for the winter show and moved to the Video In Studio (VIVO) on Main Street the following year where we remained until our Big Break this year! A window of opportunity opened up to us while we were on the hunt for a new space earlier in this year - a cancellation at a Main Street architectural icon ... our 10th and largest show to date will be held in Heritage Hall this year with 24 magnificent makers, designer and artists presenting what they do best!*

Welcome!

Here it is - our official blog! We are going to be using this as a stage to introduce you to the artists that are participating in show 10 this December! Get ready to see the artists in their creative processes as we invite them to send us studio pics and descriptions of their activities. We will also be highlighting the fabulous art items you will be able to find on Dec 12 & 13 in person at Heritage Hall!

Thanks for joining us and for supporting creative culture! Stay tuned...