Len Menard writes; “I spent a good part of my working career in the floor covering industry, both selling and installing.  I retired in 2003 on disability due to back problems, and my wife and I moved fromSurreywhere we had lived for 30 years, to the peaceful sea side City of Powell River.  This city maintains much of its original small town flavor and is a haven for hundreds of very talented artists and musicians”.

MAPLE BURL & TURQUOISE BOWL

“My wood all comes from local sources such as urban foresters and local land owners who have to remove trees.  Like every other turner I’ve ever met, I have a great reverence for wood, and feel a duty to reveal the best in each piece I turn.  Often this requires a lot of extra time and effort to include natural defects that create the distinct one of kind look of the piece.  I also spend a great deal of time on my sanding and finishing to ensure that each piece gets the finish that will best compliment the grain and colour of the piece.

MESQUITE & TURQUOISE BOWL

I use Tung oil to finish the great majority of my work.  I put on anywhere from 3 to 5 coats of oils with drying and sanding between each coat.  This method requires at lot of time however I like the deep sealing and hard wearing, lustrous finish that this method provides.  The final finish is a coat of museum conservator’s wax which prevents fingerprints from showing on the surface”.

YELLOW CEDAR BURL BOWL

“Turning not only brings me pleasure and fulfils the desire to create something beautiful; it is also a therapy for the winter blues.  I’m back to singing and playing guitar again since I moved here, and I go out to the farmer’s market to perform every Sunday, as well as doing most of the festivals that occur here every year”.

SPALTED BIRCH BOWL

You can see more of Len’s beautiful work at www.sidestreetstudio.com

GIVERNY BOWL - AMETHYST

2. KNOW WHO YOU ARE BUYING FOR! Spending just a few moments thinking about those who you are buying for allows you to plan for specific, tailor-made gifts. Such as a pottery baker for a keen cook or a glass vase for someone who loves flowers. Given a few days notice, local jewellery artists can custom make a piece for you.

COPPER RED OVAL CASSEROLE

3. SET A BUDGET! In these difficult economic times it is so very important to set yourself a budget and stick to it. Locally made gifts offer exceptional value for money.

Carnival Pearls

4. LOOK FOR LOCALLY MADE GIFTS. Locally made gifts are always appreciated and more thoughtful. The uniqueness and quality of local crafts is outstanding and they cost a lot less than you might think. One stop shopping at your local craft store saves you a great deal of time and stress.

REDWOOD (SEQUOIA) LARGE SALAD BOWL

5. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ECONOMY. By shopping locally you are supporting your local economy and helping to keep jobs in North America. The major department stores and shopping malls are full of produce imported from far off countries. Supporting your local artists & crafts people helps keep your $ at home.

STERLING SILVER, AGATE & AVENTURINE NECKLACE

6. TAKE CARE OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT. This is the only planet that we have and we need to take care of it. Your local arts & crafts people leave a small carbon footprint. They use local materials, advertise less and use less packaging – all to the benefit of our planet.

LADIES WOOL SLIPPERS

7. PERSONAL SERVICE. Look for stores that offer a personal service such as gift wrapping and shipping.

Christmas Gift Wrapping

8. LOCAL CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. Locally made decorations stand out as being unique and original. They also last a lot longer than the mass of cheap imports which you see thrown away after each holiday season. Buy cheap, buy twice is not clever in today’s tough economy.

COBALT GLASS DECORATION

Spirit Face Cottonwood Carving

Cottonwood trees, were believed to hold Tree Spirits in early times. This tree,the greatest tree of all in river valleys, was said to possess spiritual powers for early Natives. Blessings are bestowed on those who have Cottonwood Bark carving in their homes.

Little Folk House

Cottonwood trees ( Populos aegiros) grow all over North America in various forms. The thickest and best bark grows in North western BC in the Terrace area where the bark that Sharon uses comes from. It is harvested from standing dead trees full of fine detail and character. Each piece has to “speak” as to what it wants to be carved into. As soon as Sharon commits to a castle’s crenellated top or a shingle roof of a folk house or the eyes in a spirit face the rest is revealed, one design element at a time.

Sharon has been carving for 4 years and in that time have won 23 1st place and 5 Best of Show awards. Her very first entry was “Best of Show” and the ability demonstrated just keeps getting better as she carves daily.

Spirit Face Carving

Over the years, since being in a serious car accident, Sharon has done many forms of art to deal with a brain injury and chronic pain. Initially she suffered from zero depth perception so she did other art mediums. Amazingly doing art healed her beyond any expectation and now it has become her life. She started carving because of recurring injury that required 8-10 months off her feet so she challenged herself with carving fossils in Brazilian soapstone.

She hopes that you enjoy these whimsical, imaginative treasures and that they give you pleasure everytime you view them. Each piece is signed and photographed and a record kept of where they go in the world. So if you have one please contact me via Side Street Studio so that I can enter your name in my book. www.sidestreetstudio.com

Elf Cottage Carving

Finding the perfect wedding gift is often very difficult! You want to give the bride and groom the very best gift that you can, but there is often questions of “Will they really like this”? or “Is this to their taste”?

 By following our list of “9 Tips” you can be certain of finding a gift that the couple will love and appreciate for many years.

1. Identify with the Bride & Groom – While this seems obvious, it is the most common mistake made when purchasing a gift for the couple! It important to understand the couples’ likes and dislikes; their décor style and colour schemes. So why not ask them if there is something you are unsure of or if you have a suggestion; particularly if you do not know the couple well. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Meadow Glass Bowl

WESTERN MAPLE SALAD BOWL

2. The Wedding Registry – If there is one, then use this as the key guide, especially if the couple is collecting a specific range e.g. dinnerware. Often Registry Lists are meant as guides; so be confident and seek out original and personal gifts.

3. Look for locally made Alternatives – Too often much of what we see in our department stores and boutiques is mass produced work made in a far off factory overseas. Wherever possible look for gifts that are made in North America and not just some import whose reputation has been built on advertising.

Apple Casserole Dish

4. Focus on Uniqueness – Consider locally crafted work. Most of this is unique and, unlike items made in some anonymous factory, local crafts people make work that is individual and one-of-a-kind. This does not just apply to a magnificent vase or a glass bowl. Even with a humble coffee mug, each one has a very slight difference. When just one person or a husband & wife team makes an item the numbers are small. It’s great for the couple to have something that is genuinely unique.

5. Focus on Quality – Local artists always take personal pride in their hand made work. I have yet to meet an artist who was not passionate about their work. From potters to glass artists to textile makers – this is their life and they are justly proud of their art. If treated well much of this work can last a lifetime. How many things can you say that about today?

CHARLES VAN SANDWYK 'AFFAIRS OF THE HEART' BOOK

6. Find a source for true Personal Service – Given time most artists will custom -make work to your specification. A unique wedding gift that has been made just for the couple is something that they will remember and cherish.

7. Check out local Availability – Many items may be matched or repeated. Full ranges are available that can be added to or simply collected over time. Not just pottery but wood or even glass. This can be very useful for the couple as time and money allows them to add pieces to their collections. 

8. Help your local Economy – Shopping locally helps your local economy and by supporting local artists it keeps money in the community and ensures that these hard learned skills are alive for future generations.

Large Pie Dish

9. Support your local Community and Help the Environment – A locally handmade gift helps reflects the community and region in which it was created. It has greater relevance for the person who purchased it and to the wedding couple to whom the gift is given. Local arts & crafts produce a minimal carbon footprint – little transportation and excess packaging is involved.

Mocha Pottery Mug

Side Street Studio has been supporting local artists for over 26 years. More than 300 local artists from pottery, jewellery, textiles, glass art, wood turnings, aromatherapy, cards, books, and lots more. Shipping is world wide with FedEx and Canada Post. http://www.sidestreetstudio.com/catalog/

1.  Uniqueness – locally crafted work is unique. Unlike items made in a far off factory; local crafts people make work that is individual and one-of-a-kind. This does not just apply to a magnificent vase or a glass bowl. Even with a humble coffee mug, every one has a very slight difference. 

Humble Cat Mug - Very Rare!

 When just one person or a husband & wife team make an item the numbers are by the nature of the process – small. It’s great to have or give as a gift something that is genuinely unique.

WESTERN MAPLE SALAD BOWL

2.  Quality – artists always take a personal pride in their hand-made work. I have yet to meet an artist who was not passionate about their work. From potters to glass artists to textile makers – this is their life and they are justly proud of their work. If treated well much of this work can last a lifetime.  How many things can you say that about in our society today?

GIVERNY GLASS BOWL

3. Value for money – Contrary to what many people still believe, buying directly from the artist or their local retailer can most often cost less than buying some mass produced item from a department store. Reduced transportation costs, no middle men and low advertising helps to keep costs down.

4. Excellent after purchase service. The artists really do care about their work! Artists are available to repair, alter, clean or replace your purchase. They are interested to help if there is ever a problem. You never need to speak with some remote Customer Service line.

CARNIVAL PEARL NECKLACE, EARRINGS & BRACELET

5. Personal service – many artists will custom -make work to your specification. If you need a gift for a special occasion then very often, provided that you allow enough time, the artist will make to your requirements.

6.  Availability – Most ranges are always available so that you can add to your range or just collect individual pieces  over time.  Not just for pottery but jewellery or even glass.

COPPER RUBY VASE

7.  Help your local economy!  Shopping locally helps your local economy, by supporting local artists it keeps money in the community and  ensures that hard learned skills are alive for future generations.

BABY WOOL SLIPPERS

8.  Help the environment! Local arts & crafts produce a minimal carbon footprint – little transportation is involved. Conservation is important to all of us. Much of what local artists use is recycled – including what little packaging is ever used!

9. Fun and Learning. It really can be a fun shopping experience – you get to meet the artist and find out about their skills, how they make their work, the huge time and effort that goes into a single piece. 

CHARLES VAN SANDWYK ANIMAL WISDOM BOOK

10.  Support you local Community. A locally handmade gift reflects the community and region in which it was created. It has greater relevance for the person who purchased it or the person to whom the gift is given.

APPLE DESIGN CASSEROLE

 Side Street Studio has been supporting local artists for over 26 years. More than 300 local artists from pottery, jewellery, textiles, glass art, wood turnings, aromatherpy, cards, books, and lots more. Shipping is world wide with FedEx and Canada Post. www.sidestreetstudio.com

BRONZE JAPANESE STYLE NEOLITHIC JAR

SANDPIPER CARVING

 Long Billed Curlews are David’s favourite bird, having grown up with them in his native Ireland. You will find many different Curlew styles in his appropriately named ‘The Curlew Workshop.’ Some are of his own design while others are in the tradition of the early carvers who made Curlew decoys.

In fact, David relies on the styles of the early traditions and much research goes into the making of each of his decoys so that they replicate the originals as closely as possible.

SANDPIPER CARVING

 In days gone by, shorebirds migrating up the Atlantic seaboard from Central & South America were hunted for food and feathers. As the demand increased, populations of the birds that were once so bountiful it was said that they “darkened the sky,” decreased alarmingly, and certain species became extinct.

SANDPIPER CARVING

Fortunately the passage of the Migratory Bird Act of 1918 ended commercial hunting of shorebirds. The act also ended decoy production for hunting purposes. Those few remaining decoys are classified as North America Folk Art and are highly prized.

SANDERLING CARVING

It was shortly before the cessation of the hunting of shorebirds, that the mantel bird came into existence. Hunters would order decoys and include some for their mantelpiece. Thus the two-legged mantel bird was created specifically for this non-hunting purpose and is an integral part of the lore of the shorebird decoy.

RED KNOT CARVING

Hand carving shorebird decoys gives David great satisfaction as the image emerges form the wood. These decoys are highly imaginative works of art and represent a by-gone era. These birds would make superb and intellegent gifts for birdwatches and woodturners alike!

You can find more of David Parks superb carvings at www.sidestreetstudio.com

LONG BILLED CURLEW CHICK CARVING

WASPS NEST PAPER & PEARL EARRINGS

“It’s all about the natural world for me. Without it, my soul would shrivel up and die, or at best, atrophy.

We need to respect and treat our great and wonderful planet with kindness.

It’s the only one we’ve got.  Every little thing, big or small; creature; being; organism; is amazing and breathtaking in it’s design and an integral part of the whole.

CEDAR BARK PAPER & JASPER EARRINGS

I want to share and convey those feelings of excitement and humbleness for the beauty and complexity of the natural world, enlightening and educating if I can.

CEDAR BARK PAPER & COPPER BEAD EARRINGS

I tend to choose subject matter for my pen and inks that are not “popular”, focusing on bats, vultures, snakes, insects etc with the occasional foray into birds of prey and orcas.

WASP NEST PAPER & FLOWER JADE EARRINGS

 My jewellery reflects treasures of the natural world and their history, combined with sterling silver and gemstones, or at other times borrows influences from the tribes of Africa and Asia, from people who still live connected to the land and its rhythms.

Art should provoke thought. I hope that my work will inspire some to take another look at aspects of species inhabiting our world, open their mind a little more to the importance of all creatures, not just the handsome ones, thereby, hopefully softening our impact.

I combine sterling silver and semi-precious gemstones with my “beads” made from handmade cedar bark paper or abandoned wasp nest paper”.

CEDAR BARK, TURQUOISE & LICHEN EARRINGS

CEDAR BARK PAPER & PEARL EARRINGS

“For the paper-making process, strips of bark removed from fallen or windblown cedar (Thuja plicata) are torn into narrow lengths and then cut into postage-stamp sized pieces before being soaked in water overnight or longer.  It’s then cooked in the water gently (on top of the woodstove) with a small amount of soda ash for half a day to break down the fiber, rinsed thoroughly, and zapped in a blender to become a rich dark brown paper pulp for casting or sheet making. 

CEDAR BARK PAPER, SODALITE & LICHEN EARRINGS

 Sheets of dried cedar bark paper are cut into strips and rolled into beads, or cut to size to cover cardboard blanks, glued into place and left to dry, and then covered in a protective layer of matte varnish. Or the pulp is pressed into round discs, dried and trimmed, and covered in a light varnish. 

Some of the ‘beads’ have pressed lichen, dried hydrangea petals, or parts of maple leaves and ferns decorating them.  A sterling silver bail is attached and the ‘bead’ is ready for it’s marriage to stone and silver”.

 “Yellow Jacket nests (vespiary) are found abandoned in the winter after the colony has died off and the surviving queen hidden herself away to overwinter underground or somewhere sheltered until spring. The nest is made from wood of various species of shrubs and trees chewed into a pulp by the Yellow Jackets, and then transformed into an elegant brindled paper structure that can take on a typically urn-shaped form as large as a football or bigger.

CEDAR BARK, CARNELIAN & HYDRANGEA PETAL EARRINGS

 Some are in shades of grays, ivory, granite, and silvered cedar, or shot through with waves of russet, taupe and tan, a few with softened amber and sepia tones. They are a work of art in themselves. The nest is very brittle and fragile so pieces are cut to size for the cardboard blanks that they cover, wetted carefully with glue and folded over into place and left to dry.

WASP NEST PAPER & TURQUOISE CLIP-ON EARRINGS

 A few layers are used to complete the process, drying between each layer otherwise the paper disintegrates with the slightest touch. Once all the layers are on and dried, the wasp paper blank is coated in a protective layer of matte varnish, the sterling Silver bail attached and it’s ready to be combined with silver and stone”.

Gitte Bruun lived for over 22 years on an island with no roads nor electricity (accessible only by boat) off the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Read more about Gitte and her beautiful work at http://www.sidestreetstudio.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=80452

CEDAR BARK PAPER & HYDRANGEA PETAL EARRINGS

Oil your wooden bowl or utensil on a regular basis. We recommend doing it on a monthly basis.

Ideally we recommend mineral oil. Food grade mineral oil is tasteless and odorless. It does not get sticky and does not become rancid with time. This is available from most local supermarkets & hardware stores. However, many of our artists recommend using Walnut oil or Olive oil as an alternative – both of these are excellent.

Rub on generous amounts of the oil (warmed just to room temperature) and allow to soak in. Repeat the process about 6-8 hours later, and repeatedly if necessary, until the oil is no longer being absorbed. Then wipe off any excess that remains on the surface.

Wash your wooden utensils without worry after oiling. But…

Do not let wood utensils soak, and never wash them in a dishwasher!

Dry wooden boards and utensils thoroughly after washing. Wood dries faster than plastic, and is less likely to harbor bacteria on its surface.

Bowls that you regularly use for salads can just be wiped clean with a paper towel or J cloth. It will soak up any excess oils and be ready for your next salad.

Cutting boards should never be used interchangeably with meat (including poultry and fish) and other foods (like bread, salads, etc.), to avoid possible cross contamination from bacteria in uncooked meat products.

The USDA recommends that you wash wooden utensils (especially cutting boards and utensils used with uncooked meat products (including fish and poultry) with hot, soapy water, then rinse and dry. If you follow their instructions, first make sure the wood is well oiled before using it, and that the utensils have been at room temperature, not out in the cold. Follow with a generous oiling, since soap will remove much of the surface oil.

You can see many superb wooden bowls, platters & vases – all hand crafted in British Columbia at Side Street Studio’s web site – http://www.sidestreetstudio.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=4

In my workshop, sheltered in a wooded cedar grove, I pursues my passion of making beautiful, functional items from exotic hardwoods.  

I design  my pieces with the motto “Art That Works’.  A European background and love for elegant simplicity is evident in the clean, flowing, organic lines of this work.

Substantial time is spent locating the appropriate hardwoods, consistently searching through inventory on Vancouver Island and the lower B.C. Mainland for raw materials from suppliers supporting a sustainable forestry concept.

Each piece is handmade.  The work is extensively sanded to a fine smooth finish.  Then numberous coats of a hand rubbed, varnish type finish is applied, with sanding and buffing between each coat.

My work has been featured on the front cover of Western Living Magazine (August 2007), and is sold in juried shows and galleries in both Canada and the United States.

You can see more of Kees superb work at www.sidestreetstudio.com

Eight years ago I moved to Tofino and built my own house amongst the coastal cedars. There I found much more solace and inspiration, eventually meeting master carver Henry Nola.

Henry’s way of life had a profound affect on my personal direction”.The idea of carved feathers came from my many forays into the wilderness areas of B.C. — especially to the old growth forests. Time and again, while on these trips, feathers would present themselves to me.

The eagle feather became a symbol of wilderness and especially the old growth cedar forests; feeling the need to honor my connection to the feathers and trees I walked amongst, I carved one out of cedar. In so doing, I try to honor and respect the integrity and spirit of the cedar tree.

Eventually I have  became known as, “Feather George” for my finely carved eagle feathers I was known for. All my carvings, which include feathers and boxes, are made from reclaimed red and yellow cedar with inlay of abalone, scrimshaw and semi-precious stones. Hand-crafted feather bases are made from soapstone or antler.

You can see more of George’s superb work at www.sidestreetstudio.com