So freaking excited to announce that we are back at Granville Island this week. A Cagey Beard & I are a little rusty, so I held off on announcing until I was sure we remembered how to set up our display & could get Square working to process payments. The ever frustrating supply chain issues mean we are already sold out of quite a few things, but hopefully will be fully stocked up by the time our next days begin.

If you’re visiting Vancouver or one of our lovely local fans, come see us June 13th to 19th! We may be there earlier if the waitlist opens up, but will definitely be booked for that full week. Yay!

Click here to see the rest of our summer dates.

Hello friends!

Ever since the pandemic forced us to pack up our table at Granville Island back in March 2020, my life has been pretty much flipped upside down. Selling my work at in-person events (like festivals, markets, craft fairs & art shows) is 80% of my income. Shutting down was scary, but I understood we all had to do our part. Remember “2 weeks to bend the curve”? Yikes! In hindsight it seems obvious, but at the time, I had no idea that 2 years later we still wouldn’t be back to normal.

I know I fared better than a lot of people. I’m healthy. My partner, John, is healthy. My extremely high risk parents are fine. I have a lot to be grateful for!

But I’m not gonna lie…it’s been really fucking hard.

We’ve been able to keep limping along by selling online in my Etsy shop & doing commissions, but it has really felt like one blow after another. From supply chain issues to retail shop partners closing down to losing several friends & family members, it’s been rough. And lonely! I didn’t realize how much I’d miss my Granville Island family – both the wonderful artists I’ve worked beside for many years plus all of the customers that used to stop by my table to say hello.

While it looks like Granville Island may never reinstate the “Day Vendor” & let us set up our table again, it does look like craft fairs are coming back. Hopefully I will have good news to share soon! I’m applying for several shows & can’t wait to see your faces again.

Hope you’re hanging in there too!

After 11 years of markets, you’d think we’d have this whole thing running like well-oiled machine by now, but it seems like every year we end up stumbling through with no sleep only to collapse on Christmas Day (usually with a cold too!).

I’m just finishing up building a new display for our first & biggest market – Circle Craft. It runs November 7th to 11th at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

To be fairrrrrrrr, we do work as a pretty great team when it comes to setting up & tearing down our booth. John gets a little annoyed with me when I decide I definitely NEED to build something new for the display every year – and of course only start working on it 2 weeks before the show – but we always manage to pull it together. Packing copious amounts of snacks is key to not getting snarky with each other!

(Don’t remind him of the time I accidentally knocked over the 8 foot tall pillar that holds up my side wall. It was not damaged at all (yay!)…because Cagey Beard broke its’ fall (boo!).

Without further ado, here’s our schedule for the 2019 holiday season:

When I look at my calendar, it seems hectic with so few days off, but I’m actually less stressed than in previous years because:

1. We’re not travelling to any out of town shows.
2. I’m no longer part of the Culture Crawl.

Number 2 is a big bummer that took pretty much all year to get over. I was forced to move out of my beloved studio back in the spring & am currently working from home. Our place is packed to the rafters with art supplies, tools & vintage frames! Again, huge props to my partner, John, who has been an absolute gem through this whole mess. He never even complains about the mess!

As much as I will miss all the wonderful faces that toured my studio every year, it will be nice to pack up Circle Craft & not immediately have to head over to the studio to prep for the opening only 2 days later. I’ll get a few days off to catch up with my online Etsy orders, restock my stores etc.

Hope to see my lovely Vancouver friends & fans at some of the shows this year!

So excited to kick off the annual Eastside Culture Crawl tonight! Once a year all the studios in my building, 1000 Parker Street Studios, are open to the public. The weeks leading up to the Crawl are fun to watch as artists stay later & later at night, the garbage gets overflowing with old frames & scrap materials purged to make room for all the visitors. It’s like spring cleaning combined with an awesome gallery show of everyone’s newest work. And since you’re buying directly from the artists, there are usually deal to be found.

Find me alongside my fabulous studio mate Kari Kristensen in studio 204.

FESTIVAL HOURS 2018

After some ups & downs with my website, I am finally back (minus a few lost posts)! 2018 has been such a busy year filled with tons of market days at Granville Island, so my introvert tendencies are being pushed to the extreme. I pulled back from social media quite a bit this year to try to preserve some of that quiet head space my brain seems to crave so much, but the flip side is – you get kind of lonely. It’s such a common way for the people I care about to communicate that when I’m not actively checking Instagram, I start to feel a bit out of the loop. Definitely need to work on striking a better balance.

Summer flew by this year with some fun outdoor festivals & lots of tourists visiting Vancouver, snapping up almost all of my new resin tree paintings. I didn’t get to paint as much as I would have liked to (when is that ever NOT true?), but I made sure to get out hiking a couple of times to snap a bunch of inspiration photos. There were a lot of forest fires again this year, so I was thrilled to get a sunny September day with clear-ish skies. The view from Dog Mountain is pretty stunning. My doggo agrees!

Now that fall is fully in swing & the rainy days have started, I’ve settled into the studio & have been working on some new resin paintings for my holiday markets this winter. The first one kicks off with Circle Craft, starting November 7th. I’ll post more info along with my booth number ASAP. It’s coming up quick!

After a great time visiting Alberta for Make It Edmonton, I’m back in Vancouver & getting prepped for the Etsy Vancouver Market happening December 3rd & 4th.

Ring in the festive season with the Etsy Vancouver Market, your one-stop shopping event for one of a kind gift-giving! Browse our carefully curated design and handcrafted goods made by over 80 local makers and artisans, including jewelry and accessories, home decor, body care, and art!

WHEN?
Saturday, December 3: 10am – 8pm
Sunday, December 4: 10am – 5pm

WHERE?
115 Victory Ship Way, North Vancouver, V7L 0B1 (map)

Next up – Make It Vancouver at the PNE Forum from Dec 8 to 11th

At Make It Vancouver you will find something for everyone on your holiday list. From clothing, accessories, art, home decor, gourmet goodies, baby and kid items and other unique treasures. The vibe at the show is upbeat, positive and fun! Our exhibitors (Makies) come from all over Canada and are passionate about what they make. When you buy handcrafted gifts you not only support someones dream, but you become part of the story.

With over 265 makers, food trucks & a beer garden, you’re sure to have a blast! Click here to buy advance tickets & save $2.

WHEN?

Thursday, December 8th, 2016: 11am – 9pm
Friday, December 9th: 11am – 9pm
Saturday, December 10th: 10am – 6pm
Sunday, December 11th: 11am – 5pm

WHERE?
PNE Forum 2901 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC (map)

Last, but not least, you can still pick up last minute orders from me (or my partner John a.k.a. Cagey Beard) at Granville Island from December 12 to 18th.

WHEN?

Monday, Dec 12th to Sunday, Dec 19th: 9am – 7pm

WHERE?
Granville Island Public Market, 1669 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC (map)

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support! I know there are tons of choices for shopping during the holidays, and I truly appreciate your efforts to support the local makers in your community. When purchasing supplies, I make every effort to buy green & eco-conscious first, then local, then Canadian, then American.

Sitting at my desk looking around me at what goes into all of my products – it’s kind of amazing how many small businesses your dollars fund. From the local print shop who makes my business cards to the family run business that constructs my wood panels to the small company who labored to create a healthier resin for artists…it’s inspiring to think about how much of what I make also supports our economy as a country.

Thank you!

This weekend my studio building is hosting the 2nd annual Parker Art Salon, a fantastic art exhibition displayed along the labyrinth walls of 1000 Parker Street. This warehouse building is 98 years old & studio spaces of all sizes & shapes have been carved out over the years, so it’s a treat to see the doors open & take a peek at the creativity housed in every nook & cranny.

Unlike the Culture Crawl (in November), the Salon allows artists & guests to mingle throughout the hallways where each artist gets a 10 foot span to hang their work. At the Crawl, I tend to get stuck in the back of my studio because the building gets so packed with people, so I’ve been really loving the opportunity to see other artists’ work & get the time to chat with them – without feeling a pressing need to dash back to my studio!

Friday, April 22nd — 7-10PM

Saturday, April 23rd +  Sunday, April 24th — noon–4PM

1000 Parker Street  Vancouver, BC

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS:

SATURDAY:

NOON – 1PM Lynn Falconer – sculpture mold making

1PM – 2PM DeSerres – acrylic mediums and paint

3PM – 4PM DeSerres – mixed media

SUNDAY:

NOON – 1PM Michael Brown – egg tempera painting

1PM – 2PM DeSerres – acrylic mediums and paint

3PM – 4PM DeSerres – mixed media

After hibernating through most of January & taking a bit of a social media holiday, I’ll be back in the studio this Saturday for a studio open house – part of Vancouver’s First Saturday Open Studio project!

http://firstsaturday.weebly.com/

My studio will be open to the public on Saturday, February 6th from 12-5pm. It won’t be a full set up (like during the Culture Crawl) since some of my studio mates are out of town right now, and also because this is the time of year I’m set up to actually work in my studio! As much as I love the Crawl, it gets so packed that I end up stashing a lot of stuff away to give more space for foot traffic. But if you’re looking for a much quieter version of the Culture Crawl – this is a great time to pop by!

You can find myself & my super talented printmaker studio mate – Kari Kristensen – at the 1000 Parker Street building, studio #204 (at the top of the stairs.)