Side Street Studio Blog | The best art that B.C. can offer

Jack Olive writes;

BEAUTIFUL ABSTRACT DESIGN TEA POT

 Growing up in Thunder Bay, Ontario in the 40′s and 50′s, I spend much of my time drawing, painting and photographing the images around me.

 I registered for drawing and graphic design instead, and when the instructor for ceramics called out the door of the pottery studio that he now had an opening for me, I found my life’s work.

BEAUTIFUL APPLE DESIGN CASSEROLE

In 1971 I moved to Vancouver and became a founding member and director of the Vancouver Clayworks Society, a 12-member cooperative ceramics studio.

BEAUTIFUL APPLE DESIGN CAPPUCHINO BOWL

In this creative atmosphere I worked with other members of the group to develop methods of applying imagery through drawing, painting and photographic images to ceramic sculpture and pottery.

PEARS DESIGN PITCHER

The optical effect of stretching graphic images around a circular from fascinates me. Peripheral vision bends what the observer sees at the edges. Ceramic glazes with their richness and capacity for layering and depth of imagery, give the opportunity to create a mirror of that peripheral view as images bend around the surface of a pot.

BEAUTIFUL PEARS DESIGN SERVING BOWL

My work in clay is both functional and decorative. I work with wheel thrown and slab built form, all fired to cone 1 with over and under glazes. All pieces are food safe and the wheel thrown ones are oven and microwave proof. I have formulated my clay and glazes to fit with a slight compression that prevents crazing, and creates a very durable and chip resistant surface.

ORIGINAL PEAR DESIGN JAR

I now work out of my own studio on the beautiful Sunshine Coast of British Columbia and you can see my outstandingly good value work at Side Street Studio, a long established Victoria based arts & crafts studio and web store – www.sidestreetstudio.com

Jane W. Janzen…
Creator and President write’s ….
Creating AROMA CRYSTAL VIBRATIONAL THERAPY body care products is more than my business; it is my pleasure and life’s mission.

At the age of five, and with an intuitive understanding of what I was doing, I spontaneously began gathering plants and flowers and diffusing them into essences and tinctures. Embracing both of my grandmothers’ traditions of herbal medicine I have apprenticed with shamans, herbalists and healers. In a passionate quest to help heal our planet, I have made frequent trips to the deserts of the American Southwest and Mexico, as well as other parts of the world, immersing myself in the study of the healing properties and potentials of bio-electric technologies, semi-precious stones and crystals, herbs, earth and sea salts, and pure essential oils.

In 1989, I began to share my bath and body products among friends and family, and selling my wares at Salt Spring Island\’s renowned Saturday Market. My continued focus on healing has grown into the AROMA CRYSTAL line of all-natural body care products that are available today.

I formulate my creations using natural plant elements and the energy spectrums of colour, light and sound. Quartz crystals are well known for their ability to transmit, transmute, and store energies. These crystals serve to amplify, focus and enrich the oils’ potential to re-mind and re-pattern our own subtle energetic bodies, and I uses them to infuse essential oils with subtle frequencies that help shift energy patterns in body, mind and spirit. I believe that the most powerful (and gentle) medicines work on the subtle vibrational level, raising the frequency of the energetic patterns that guide our bodies, minds and spirits.

“All things affect all things,” “From the healer’s hands to the crystals cast into these mixtures; from the ebb and flow of the moon to the loving intent with which these essences are created. Ultimately, all things have a vibrational frequency, and it is my intent to infuse these frequencies into my products to help heal the many emotional and physical ailments that plague our bodies and our planet.”
Aroma Crystal products have become well known and well respected across Canada and the United States. Although the products are now manufactured in Vancouver, BC under strict guidelines and in compliance with GMP and Health Canada regulations, I continue to put love into every batch and imprint it with specific vibrations.
I live with my family on Salt Spring Island where my products were originally hand made. If you are visiting Salt Spring on a Saturday you may even see me at my market stand! I consider my little piece of British Columbia to be “Heaven on Earth”, and after the many years of travelling, gathering knowledge and learning my craft, I says, “you need to study, but you also need to get up and dance.”

Aroma Crystal Vibrational Therapy is Jane’s Dance.

You can find Aroma Crystal Therpy products at www.sidestreetstudio.com

 ’Seeds of Victoria’ (Since 1991) are grown and harvested from the gardens at The Garden Path Centre in Victoria on Vancouver Island. (Certified organic IOPA 1406).

Carolyn Herriot offers a lovely selection of heritage and old-fashioned flowers, all of which you can save seeds from, or you can allow some to go to seed in your garden, for floral displays and cut flowers for years to come. http://earthfuture.com/gardenpath.

 “Carolyn Herriot’s book, ‘A Year on the Garden Path’ is a gardener’s best friend.  It’s a chronological guide of when to’s and how to’s, providing good organic and hard-to-find formulas for both feeding and pest control.  I like the reminders on when to start various food crops, perennials, annuals and herbs.  There is also very good information on small fruits, fruit trees and flowering and ornamental shrubs”.  

“Carolyn’s book is a keeper – but not too far away because we will all need it as a constant reference and companion.” Brian Minter, Minter Gardens

Carolyn’s seeds and book are found at Side Street Studios two locations in Victoria and the book may be purchased on-line at www.sidestreetstudio.com