Halifax Crafters Yuletide Cheer



Every year the Halifax Crafters host one of the best craft shows in Nova Scotia! 

                    

The Halifax Crafters are a group of several dozen artists who enjoy making things by hand and who have a unique vision to share. Volunteers have been putting on seasonal handmade markets since 2005 as part of Halifax Crafters' mandate to encourage new artists and local artmaking. Shows are juried every time creating a unique place for established artists and university instructors to gather with emerging artists and students to show inspiring new projects.               halifaxcrafters.blogspot.com                                                 

With over 70 artists and artisans participating, the annual holiday showcase features a variety of unique and one of a kind products made right here in Nova Scotia! From linens to soap, clothing to pottery, prints to stuffed animals, jewellery to cupcakes - there really is something for everyone! 

Myself and many of the artists here at Flying Cloud are all very proud to call ourselves members of this wonderful collective of crafty creators.

This season's show was truly the best to date!

Thank you to everyone who came out and helped to make this truly a spectacular event! Until the next show, here is a variety of products by some of the Flying Cloud Boutique artists who took part in this year's Halifax Crafters Society Yuletide Cheer Winter Market.

Enjoy!



Ornaments by An Oddity or Two

Ornaments by An Oddity or Two

Designer Rita Van Tassel checks out
photographs by John McCarthy 

Lion by Woodland Wool

Scarves by Poison Pear

Tartan belts by Veronica MacIsaac

Pendants by Angie Arsenault which we hope
to have here when we reopen in the spring!

I'm just in LOVE with Angie's fox ring!

Rita Van Tassel's banner flags!

Rita's Gem & Big Bang ornaments
for all us geeks & nerds out there!

Faux feathers anyone?

Rita's latest look which we will
have in stock next spring!

Feather fascinators by Pretty Things Merch

Another new product  arriving this
spring, hooked brooches by Posies

Anna Stowe's latest cards!

Leather journals by Steadybrook Saddelry

Lunenburg themed pillows by Fox Acre Row

New designs by Bread and Butter Pottery!

Pendant by Ophelia

Another exciting newcomer in the spring,
graphic T-shirts by Quarrelsome Yeti

Recycled wood earrings by Robert Scott



Holiday bags by Big Day!



Prints and cards by Jane Rovers

The artist I'm probably most excited about 
joining us next spring is Blythe Church!

Blythe and her felted cameras were what
inspired me to start felting, so I'm just
over the moon that we will be carrying
her line of recycled wool baby clothes
 and toys  Sewn by Blythe - yay!!! 

For more photos from the Halifax Crafters Show check out our album on Facebook

The snow has finally arrived in Nova Scotia!

I got up & out early this morning to finish dressing
the bows - let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Soon enough we will have our ice rink back!



Snow Angel?



Mister Fluff now has the best kitty fort in town!

In the Spotlight: Jaki Durocher



Back Shift - a portrait of Jaki's father

I first met Jaki Durocher a few years ago through the Hants County Arts Council; I quickly recognized that Jaki was an active member of the local arts community and knew she would be a great ally and advisor when it came to starting my own arts based business.

As one of the founding members of the Hants County Arts Council and Director of the Utata Arts Centre, Jaki has played an important part in nurturing the local arts community here in Hants County.

Known mostly for her portraiture and landscape paintings, Jaki is a bit of a Jack of all trades.

Her work, which has been sold nationally and internationally, reflects her love of the things important to her: nature, the Nova Scotian landscape and as a proud grandmother of 10, her family.

In this day and age when life is getting faster, busier and more complex, it is the simpler things in life that keep us grounded and lend perspective on what really matters. My work is about connections. These associations impel a spiritual effigy.         Jaki Durocher

This past year saw Jaki opening Windsor’s first Art School, Inspire! Here Jaki and her husband Philippe teach a variety of workshops ranging from painting and drawing to cement and clay sculpture.

Jaki is always experimenting and growing as an artist, never afraid to accept a challenge! Here at Flying Cloud we are proud to showcase a selection of her art prints as well as her beautiful nature inspired ceramic bowls.

Currently we are showcasing Jaki’s Wave and Whales ceramic bowl series in our online shop; perhaps the perfect complement to a hearty Nova Scotian fish chowder!

For more information on Jaki and the workshops available at Inspire Art School please visit www.jakidurocheer.com or if you'd like to experience Jaki's work first hand come and visit us here at the shop!

In the Spotlight: Mary Garoutte of Swallow & Twig

When I first decided I wanted to open my own shop selling Nova Scotian handmade products I came up with a wish list of artists I wanted to approach – at the top of my list of must have products was a line of hand-painted  jewellery by Mary Garoutte.

I had first discovered Mary’s whimsical line Swallow and Twig while Christmas shopping last year. Her miniature paintings on recycled silver spoons were right up my free-cycle loving alley! With delicate images inspired by nature and Victorian life, Mary creates wearable art that any fashionable lady would be proud to wear.




Mary is an artist-painter-turned-jeweler, who graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. It was while studying there, that hard work, challenge, and creative media were instilled into her.

Mary’s post-graduation years have been spent painting through freelance and commission work, and it was only in recent years that she decided to incorporate her painting background and skills into hand-painted jewelry. Mary says this new direction into jewelry has stretched and challenged her in ways that have improved her overall painting practice as a whole, and she enjoys the wearable art component to her hand-painted jewelry, as she believes fine art should be a part of the everyday.

Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin

Many influences have shaped the aesthetic of Mary’s work, which range from vintage printed and illustrated imagery in children's books, such as Beatrix Potter, tales from the Brothers Grimm and nursery rhymes. She also loves the bold and powerful forms of early to mid 20th Century design.

Art Nouveau and Art Deco are to her the most impressionable design forms from that time period, and are probably the most evident in her jewelry designs. She is also inspired by the light-hearted and playful art forms of kitsch and folk art, and she loves to contrast with more dark and sinister influences such as the wonderful illustrations of Edward Gorey.

While investigating the background of miniature work, Mary became very fond of art and graphics from the Victorian era, as miniature work played a great role in art-making, souvenirs and other minutia from that time period. Another popular past-time for the Victorians was the art of Shadow-boxing. Christopher Cornell 's work is a lovely example of this and a source of inspiration. Like him, Mary shares a love of birds, a predominate subject in her work.

Currently we have a selection of Mary’s earrings, rings and belt buckles in stock in the shop. If you are trying to come up with a little special something for you loved one this season, then I invite you to check out our online shop and get your hands on your own miniature masterpiece!

A Look Back to the Festival of Art

On October 1st & 2nd Flying Cloud Boutique hit the road to attend the 5th Annual Festival of Art, hosted by the Hants County Arts Council at the Vaughan Shand Centre in Windsor, Nova Scotia.

Revealing for the first time our folky "mini cloud" kiosk, we were able to show off a small selection of items from the shop while also providing free artist demonstration for visitors who came out to view the showcase of 20 Hants County Arts Council members.

Instructor at Inspire Art School, Jaki Durocher created a sculpture from clay while Tacha Reed demonstrated needle felting techniques.

For more information and pictures from the event please visit the Hants County Art Council's Member's Gallery Blog: http://hcacmembersgallery.blogspot.com/

Believe

Thank you stranger for the sweet little poem you threw away on our lawn... thankfully I can't help but read lost notes when I see them on the ground. This was a pleasant surprise, normally I find grocery lists and crumpled failed tests. This little rhyming message of hope and faith was a perfect summary of how I try to live my life.

Apparently "Believe" is a very popular piece by poet Emily Matthews, so I can't give credit to my anonymous litterbug for it's creation, but still it was a nice cherry on the top of a very awesome day! A day that was spent in meetings with vibrant folks like painter Kelly Mitchelmore and April Griffin from the new Vaughn Shand Wellness Centre, as we prepare to celebrate our local arts community with this year's Festival of Art. An easy flowing day spent following my dreams and listening to my intuition, letting it lead me to where I am meant to go.

Bryan sometimes walks around singing a little tune and ever ever since I first had my "Flying Cloud" dream (which I promise I will share with you all one day) it has become my motto. When ever things start to stray from my "plan" I repeat these words and remind myself that this is my path and that "everything works if you let it, if you let it all work out!"