It’s that time of year again – the temperatures are going down, the Christmas lights are going up and folks are flocking to the shops to pick out that perfect gift for their loved one.
If you’re after something really special this year, why not visit a local craft fair, studio or market and pick up something from a local artist? You not only get something beautiful and unique, but you’re also supporting the local arts community and economy – a win all around!
We are fortunate in this province to have a countless number of amazing and hardworking artists who share their talents with us. Here, we’ve gathered together just a few. Have a look and see if there’s something that strikes your fancy, and support local this holiday season!
Susan Doyle Art
1) Island Vibes Natural Marble Coasters
Price: Set of 4 – $40 + tax
Set of 2 – $20 + tax
2) Island Vibes Print
Price: Prices vary based on size.
To Purchase: www.susandoyleart.com
About the Artist: Susan Doyle is a visual artist based in Bay Bulls. She has a number of artworks available and all can be viewed on her website: www.susandoyleart.com
Breakwater Books
1) Some Good by Jessica Mitton (cookbook)
Price: $19.95 (paperback)
A new kind of Newfoundland cookbook, Some Good is a fusion of healthy food and local traditions. These recipes include appetizers, main meals, sides, desserts, and condiments, all utilizing island ingredients with new twists on Newfoundland classics like fish cakes, Jiggs’ Dinner, seafood chowder, and many more. Every recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, and made without refined sugars. More than a collection of recipes, Some Good provides a whole new way of thinking about Newfoundland food. 2019 Taste Canada Award finalist, Health and Special Diet Cookbooks.
To Purchase: Buy on the Breakwater Books website (click here)
Buy on Amazon.ca (click here)
2) The Overcast’s Guide to Beers of Newfoundland
Price: $19.95 (hardcover)
Newfoundland has a long history of local brewing and in recent years has enjoyed a resurgence of that tradition, drawing locals and travellers alike to the distinctive tastes now available from island brew masters. Compiled by the writers and photographers of The Overcast, Newfoundland’s popular alternative newspaper, the Guide to Beers of Newfoundland is a full-colour introduction to the lagers, pilsners, ales, and stouts that can only be found here. Designed for locals, tourists, and aficionados, this is the definitive guide to beer on the rock.
To Purchase: Buy on the Breakwater Books website (click here)
Buy on Amazon.ca (click here)
3) Towards an Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge: Excerpts from Chapters 1 & 2 by Pam Hall (fine art/local history)
Price: $79.95
From boat-building to berries, from knitting socks to mending nets, Towards an Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge vividly presents the rich, place-based knowings and doings of more than one hundred knowledge-holders from rural Newfoundland. Renowned artist Pam Hall perfectly marries her singular artistic vision and her exhaustive community-based research in a stunning celebration and preservation of rural knowledge. These images and texts come together to reveal and revalue the local in a time when global monoculture seems overwhelming.
“…a stunning book honouring the people of rural Newfoundland and their wide-ranging expertise.” -Atlantic Books Today
To Purchase: Buy on the Breakwater Books website (click here)
Buy on Amazon.ca (click here)
About the Publisher: Since 1973, Breakwater Books has been Newfoundland’s premier publishing house, fostering the careers of new, established, and award-winning writers.
Pedlar Press
1) Faunics by Jack Davis
Price: $20
Nominated for the 2018 Alanna Bondar Memorial Book Prize for the Environmental Humanities and Creative Writing.
2) The Lady From Kent by Barbara Nichol, illustrated by Bill Pechet
Price: $24
A children’s book for adults too. Nominated for the 2019 Chocolate Lily Award.
To Purchase: www.pedlarpress.com
About the Publisher: Pedlar Press is an independent Canadian literary press devoted to the publication of innovative and progressive novels, poetry collections and artbooks by renowned, or less-known, or unknown and emerging Canadian writers and artists.
Atelier West Studios
1) Tea Towels
Price: $23 each + hst
Size: 18” x 29”. The towels are available with a variety of images hand printed. Please check either Facebook (click here) or Square (click here) for image availability. These towels are screened in a painterly manner and each towel has different colour placement and/or colouration. If you order two dozen towels you are eligible for wholesale pricing, which is $11.50 per towel + hst.
2) Placemats
Price: $60 for a set of 4
Size: 14” x 18”. Any of the images that are printed on tea towels can be printed on the placemats. Again, these are printed in a painterly manner and there may be slight differences in colour placement and tonal value from placemat to placemat. If you order six sets you are eligible for wholesale pricing at $30 for a set of four + hst.
3) Hot Pads
Price: All hot pads are available through the store at squareup.com and prices vary according to the size of the hot pad. Sorry, no wholesale available on this product.
To Purchase: Please visit either Facebook (click here) or Square (click here). If you are purchasing through Facebook, you must email atelier.west@nf.sympatico.ca for method of payment. The squareup.com store takes Visa and Mastercard.
About the Artist: Atelier West Studios is a fine art production studio located in Deer Lake, NL. We have been operating for 27 years. It is a production studio for printmaker and fibre artist Audrey Feltham, as well as a teaching venue for one-on-one instruction in printmaking and fibre art techniques.
Atelier West Studios produces a functional line of textile prints designed to brighten your home every day. We produce high quality, 100% cotton tea towels, placemats, and one of a kind functional hot pads. Our product is available through Square. You may purchase through the store or if you prefer a more personal contact, please email: atelier.west@nf.sympatico.ca.
All Atelier West functional textile prints are high-quality, 100% cotton printed with a professional quality textile ink that is non-toxic, permanent and designed to withstand wash and wear and stain removers. They can be machine washed, dried in the drier and then ironed on the reverse side.
Dominique Hurley
1) Art Prints in Your Choice of Size & Medium
Price: Starting at $60
Order your favourite Dominique Hurley painting and photography prints online to be crafted by the team at NL Canvas, 37 Elizabeth Ave. Prints can be ordered on paper, stretched canvas, acrylic, wood, or metal plaques. Lots to choose from. Order soon. Prices vary depending on size/medium.
To Purchase: Click here
2) Limited Edition Spirit Calling Cards (inspiration deck of 88 cards)
Price: $111+hst
Spirit Calling Cards are a tool for creative problem solving, tuning in for guidance, and conversation ice breakers. The deck comes with an instruction sheet describing eight ways these can be used alone or in groups.
Only 111 signed and numbered decks will ever be produced, part of a fundraiser for Dominique Hurley’s art studies and research projects. Only 18 left. These 88 3” x 5” cards feature 44 of her photographs and 44 of her paintings, each paired with a word. A quick way to use them is to shuffle the deck while thinking of a question, picking 3-5 cards and making a sentence out of them that feels good. The interpretation will depend on your intuition and situation.
To Purchase: Click here
About the Artist: Winner of a 2019 NL Arts & Letters Award, Dominique Hurley is an intuitive visionary artist, educator and certified naturopath who guides you to explore and express your True Self through inner guidance. Grounded in her love of beauty and the beauty of love, Dominique delivers insight and inspiration through her energy-infused art and Intuition Into Action Treasure Map: 5 Steps to a Happy Healthy Life. She’ll delight you through her creations, keynotes, practical interactive workshops, guided visioning meditations and more. If you’re looking to activate whole-brained success in your life, organization or community, hire Dominique to nourish your transformational journey. Her unique blend of expertise will animate your meetings, events, conferences, and conventions. Learn more at www.DominiqueHurley.com.
RCA Theatre Company
1) RCA Theatre Company’s 2019-20 Hall Pass
Price: $139
The RCA Theatre Company Hall Pass gets you six shows at the LSPU Hall plus six drinks for $139! That’s $100 in savings!
It includes:
- One ticket to each of the six productions/presentations in RCA Theatre Company’s 2019-20 Season: Seal Slippers: A Hall Family Panto, I Am A Genius Does Anyone Here Know Me?, Crippled, Birthday Balloon, The Dialysis Project, Her Closely.
- Six drink tickets. These can be used at any time during the season when the LSPU Hall bar is open.
To Purchase: The Hall Pass can be purchased at www.lspuhall.ca or by calling the LSPU Hall Box Office at (709) 753-4531 ext 200.
About the Company: RCA is proud to be the theatre company that cultivates, enriches and promotes a unique perspective of the culture of our province. When audiences buy a ticket for a show at the Hall, they are supporting essential, live performance in their community, as well as important programs and resources for the artists who create them.
Art Bonavista Productions Inc.
1) NL Postcard Series
Price: Ltd. Edition
10 Xsmall @ $13 each; approximately 5 3/4” x 3 1/2”
25 Med. @ $15 each; approximately 5 3/4” x 4 1/2”
No tax
Plus postage (depends on amount ordered).
Using clapboard (or as some call it, “shakes”) collected from abandoned houses on the Bonavista Peninsula, Ruth Weller-Malchow makes tiny art. This “NL Postcard Series” are little pieces of scenery/history/heritage and evoke memories from years gone past.
To Purchase: Interested customers can email directly for inquiries and to purchase: ruthwellermalchow@gmail.com
About the Artist: Over the past years, Ruth Weller-Malchow has taken part in a number of group exhibitions. She is regularly found at various craft markets, is a member of VANL-CARFAC, Eastern Edge Gallery, and is a marketing member of the Craft Council of Newfoundland & Labrador.
Instagram: @munichmapleleaf
EtsyShop: DicksonPress.etsy.com
Jan Peterknecht Designs
1) Sterling Silver Boat Pendant, with Chain
Price: $250
2) Sterling Silver Wave Pendant with Opal Set in 18K Gold, with Crocheted Silver Chain
Price: $725
3) Sterling Silver Beach Pendant with Two Freshwater Pearls, with Chain
Price: $425
To Purchase: These items can be purchased directly through Jan Peterknecht Designs, 709-682-6882, janpeterknecht@gmail.com, www.janpeterknechtdesigns.com, Facebook: www.facebook.com/janpeterknechtdesigns, Instagram: www.instagram.com/janpeterknecht
About the Artist: Whether it’s the curve of a hand-built boat or the glint of winter sun on a frozen pond, master goldsmith Jan Peterknecht’s jewellery embodies Newfoundland’s particular beauty. Inspired by the island’s natural wonders and traditions, Jan combines old-world craftsmanship with modern sensibilities to create striking gold and silver jewellery.
A native of Burg, Northern Germany, Jan arrived in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2007. Before moving to the island and establishing Jan Peterknecht Designs, he had spent over 20 years creating fine handcrafted jewellery for a wide-ranging clientele.
Jan’s work can be found at the Craft Council Gallery and Shop and The Bee’s Knees in St. John’s, Tree Line Fine Art and Craft in Bonavista and The Glass Station in Rocky Harbour, NL.
