I was compelled to start writing this blog again today when I realised that yesterday marked 3 years since I left my hospital job in Edmonton to stay home on our acreage and raise our little girl. This also enabled us to fulfil our dream of starting a small metal art studio business – Innovative Artisans Fine Pewter is 3 years old!
A year in one blog post! Where do I start?
Soapstone: Our soapstone experiments went well, we made pewter tokens starting with a Pictish Horse and a Pictish Bison. Yep, a bison. Although the ancient Picts of North East Scotland probably never saw a bison, this is my take on what they would have carved in standing stones, should they ever have met one! We also made a jousting token for Brooks Medieval Faire but we had to give up our spot there as Al had to work. We didn’t get this year either sadly. Our Christmas sock and a scarf ring were other pieces we carved and cast in soapstone which we then sold at our shows.
Shows: Make It Edmonton moved to Northlands at Christmas 2015 and was great We will be there again this year in November! We haven’t been at as many shows this year but a new one we went to was in Lacombe in April. It was fun, friendly and in a very nice venue. We hope to take part next year too. An upcoming show we have is the Metal Art Show and Sale at the Reynolds Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. It’s one of our favourites as it was our first ever show three years ago, is so friendly and is in the wonderful setting of the Reynolds museum. Our tables are set up amongst the exhibits! Come visit the show and museum on 17th and 18th September.
Galleries and stores: Our pewter has been in the Bluerock Gallery in Black Diamond, AB since August last year. This lovely gallery is a real destination gallery – our drive is so beautiful, from our place down the Cowboy Trail to their area, south west of Calgary. Since Spring this year, our pewter has been in the Stony Plain Muticultural Centre Makers’ Market, another lovely gallery called Gossamer Treasures in Wabamun, AB and Tix on the Square in Sir Winston Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton.
And where has our pewtering taken us this year? Well, we have been working with sheet pewter, making bookmarks, artisan buttons, hair clips and pendants, as well as casting with molten pewter. We opened an Etsy shop. We’ve just heard we will have our first solo exhibition in July next year and soon we will have some pieces in the Art Gallery of Alberta. But I’ll leave all that for future posts .
~Louise. ~~ in sunny Alberta