OK Peeps,
Last Chance to register for my Subway Sign class this Saturday at Trade Roots. Come join us and check out all the cool new things in the store! All the details here.
Some of our participants are using street names from foreign countries they have visited, and some are using a meaningful mix of street names from Vancouver and Victoria! Some are making baby and anniversary gifts using the dates, names and special places – what a great keepsake! What are you going to make?? Contact me or register here…I’ll accept late name submissions cause I’m nice like that:)
Speaking of Vintage Art…Look what is being stuck in a tube and shipped to me right now! It’s officially time to get a little less serious around these parts…It’s giant (as it should be) and I’m slightly worried about it and slightly crazy in love with it at the same time.
If you want some help making the place you live a place you love contact me, I can help!
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Join me and the gang at Trade Roots on Herald Street downtown on Saturday May 25th 5-8pm for our Subway Sign Workshop.
This is a pic of one that I hung gallery style…I love the local flare – Next week I’ll post pics of a couple signs I made for two kids rooms. Really fun!
This workshop is a little different from the last…
- 1st Select your street names – (approx 6) Choose your favourite local spots, your favourite vacation destinations, all the streets where you have lived? It is endless. Send me your choices before May 15th;
- 2nd I’ll show you the technique and you set the text and paint it…don’t worry I’ll bring everything you need;
- It’s up to you…it can be cute, pretty, rough or industrial…and I’ll be there to walk you through the steps so you go home with a one of a kind sign that you love!
- Sign Up Here
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My love for Canadian First Nations and Inuit art goes on … and on Monday night an auction of the most significant Inuit graphics prints ever, The Cape Dorset Collection, goes on the block. The whole set is close to 80 prints and it is estimated at around 400 000k or more. Let me tell you why…
Inuit history and culture has always been preserved and transmitted through an oral tradition and songs. In the summer of 1956, the Department Indian Affairs sent art supplies and building materials for a craft centre to Cape Dorset. Before long, a small group of Inuit artists began to experiment with print techniques, learning from one another by trial and error. Three years of experimentation in linocut, stonecut and stencil culminated in the inaugural 1959 collection. Remarkable in their elegance and outstanding quality, the prints are a testimony to the artists’ individual styles and technical skill already apparent at this early stage. Their immediate success led to the formation of the community-owned West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, incorporated in 1959. source
They are stunning in their simplicity and are famous the world over. In the 1950′s when the first prints were made, they sold for around $30 each and today…well we will see. Did you know that in Canada artists do not receive re-sale royalties for their art which is re-sold? Private sellers and galleries profit in sales such as this.
You can learn more about the Cape Dorset art co-operative here. Do you collect any First Nations art?
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Lately I’ve been seeing some fantastic shops on Etsy that are located right here in Victoria, BC. So, I figured I would dedicate a few posts in the next week or so to showing you some of my favourite local Etsy shops and maybe you’ll see something you like too?! My first favourite is called 1001 Treasures.
The graphic artist behind these lovely posters and cards is Sabine who is originally from Germany and now lives right here on Vancouver Island. She has been selling on Etsy since 2008 (wow!) and her selection of antique style prints is stunning. If you’ve ever watched Sarah Richardson and Tommy sift through botanicals and wanted some for yourself…this is the shop for you! Pics are the Links to her store
I love these antique coral and sea life prints…
And how about the botanicals…
And, don’t go thinking that these are only for stuffy old traditional applications. Here’s a great contemporary example from Tobi Fairley which shows how antique prints look fantastic in a casual eclectic interior.
Tobi Fairley – Pic is the link
If you want some help making the place you live a place you love, contact me…I can help!
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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So here’s a shop list for those of you #yyj mid century loving decoristas who want to create this Em Henderson look locally for…ehem…ALLOT less. See below for the thrifty shop list (cause that’s how I roll) and a single shot of the inspiration pic again cause it’s just that cool..
Shop List
- Blue Couch – Full House Modern
- Gold Cocktail Table – West Elm
- Colourful Assortment of pillows – Etsy
- A La Plage, A La Piscine collection by – The House of Gray
- Antique Brass Bar Cart – Crate and Barrel
- Flying Pig – Urban Barn
- MCM Leather chair – Used Victoria
- MCM Dining chairs – Used Victoria
- Blue Lamp – Target (or a can of spray paint)
- Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree – Garden Centre
- Leather Pouff – The Cross
- Light Fixture - CB2
- Ben Ourain Rug – West Elm - or see my DIY tutorial here
Inspiration: Emily Henderson’s recent LA Project.
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I am working on a gallery installation in my downstairs living room and so naturally I went looking for cool Buffalo art…as I do. (Buffalo has been my totem forever – it signifies abundance in my life) I was literally stopped in my tracks by a photo of a Bison the other day…it has totally captivated me. (Thanks Amber!) Strange that I am sending away all the way to England to get a print…but I have to have it. Look at his eyes! The Photographer CAI PRIESTLY is a Welsh wildlife photog living in Banff… amazing…check out his site Tooth and Claw Photography here. I’m also really in love with the polar bear and wolf…too much of a good thing…maybe. I’m still deciding. Do you have any animal fixations? Any animal art? how do you display it?
Oh Canada!! Stunning. Almost makes me miss Alberta…almost…Drop by his site…or like him on facebook…I did!
If you want some help making the place you live a place you love…Contact Me! I can help.
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Every day me ‘n the dog hop in the car and go pick up the mister from work. He works in the vicinity of a huge recycling plant that crushes cars and other stuff….every couple weeks an empty barge shows up and over a period of two short days these guys on bulldozers Tetris these old cars and trucks onto the boat for a trip to god knows where. I love to park here and wait where I can watch this process unfold week after week. I’m astounded at how many vehicles are always being loaded up, I mean we ARE on an island…how many cars can there be? Until I figure out the answers to these burning questions I thought I’d share a couple snaps I took a few weeks ago…
I’m totally inspired by a client of mine who takes great local urban/editorial pictures and see’s inspiration everywhere she goes…so I thought I’d try to play photographer for a day until she lets me feature her work on the blog for you all to enjoy.
What do you think? Cool. Weird? Cray Cray? I’m kind of loving the idea of framing one of my pics in a white mat/white frame combo.
Crisp vs Crushed, Clean vs Dirty, New vs Recycled.
If you want some help making the place you live a place you love, Contact me…I can help!
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This week I was searching on Used Victoria for ALLOT of different things for clients. But the one item I keep coming back to is for little old me. I am so drawn to this painting. I wonder if the Mister will give it the thumbs up? I do have a birthday coming up:)
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My two worlds collided recently when one of my clients inquired about historical photos and whether we could find some for her place. (you may or may not know that I am both a professional historical researcher AND interior decorator extraordinaire)
I said “Uhhh YEAH!” So, I have been spending a little more time in the 19th C than usual lately trying to find just the right shots…more on that in the new year when the client’s installation happens. In the meantime I’m considering several great shots of the legislature and the Empress and some street shots too, I can’t reproduce them here on the blog due to copyright restrictions… but If you want some too…and let’s face it I’m sure you do! You can start here, or contact me. Of course I’ll help you…I’m nice like that:)
In the spirit of the holidays I loved this one of Spencer’s Department Store ca 1929 on Government St. It closed in the 1980′s. Photo Courtesy of VPL special collections Accession 17174 Date 1929; Photographer: Unknown.
I also loved this old shot from ca 1922 of the Hudson’s Bay Building on Douglas St. Which is now home to the stylish Hudson Lofts. Photo courtesy of VPL Special Collections Accession 11257 Date 1922; Photographer Frank Leonard.
Now, of course Victoria has a LONG history and is one of the oldest cities in Canada, but truth is the pics of Vic in the 1860′s just aren’t that pretty and I’m looking for candid and lively photos of the city…so if any of my history nerd friends are reading this and scrunched up their noses at the thought of 1929 being “historical” I’ve explained myself. 
Have a Great Week!
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If you were one of the lucky peeps who joined us down at the Trade Roots Store in October to make Subway Signs…it was soooo nice to meet you! I had a blast and since my sample signs got hi-jacked by the store (just kidding – I let them have’em) I had to make another one. This time I used a stretched canvas frame instead of the MDF just to give it a try…and I got it cheap at Winners on Clearance (like I do:)
And yes, I have started my holiday decorating…I had to. More on decorating with Industrial style for the holidays soon…
I painted the fugly clearance canvas in an off white flat paint and let it dry. I then printed the letters in the Roadway font on Sticker paper from the office supply store. Cut out the letters individually and did some minor measuring to ensure straight line placement and good spacing. Once everything was stuck down I used flat black spray paint and I like the small amount of bleed under some of the letters. My favourite part actually! In the workshop I had people use a flat black latex and a roller…this works too. I just wanted to try the spray as well.
The ideas for this style of sign are endless, but I have to give credit to The Simple Kind of Life Blog for the tutorial of how she made an awesome version of her own that inspired me. Thanks Jessica!
If you’re interested in making a sign like this. (Or in a Christmas style/theme) Contact me soon and we’ll get ‘ er done.
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