If you live near the Columbia Basin or you are travelling to British Columbia, and you will be there for August 10 and 11, you really need to check out the 70 artists that are in the 11th annual culture tour. Studios are open daily from 10-5, and there are maps, brochures, and postcards at the galleries, craft shops, information bureaus, and studios of the artists. I have written about many of these creative people before, but it is time to wake everyone up again to get out and see what is new. For specific information, you can find maps, information on each of the artists, event activities at http://www.cbculturetour.com. It is all free to charge. Take a road trip and support the local artists in the Columbia Basin of British Columbia.
Standing in Gunda Stewart’s studio in Canyon, I looked down and saw a postcard and started laughing. Good thing Gunda was out grinding a lid or she would have thought I had lost my mind. The problem was I couldn’t stop. Gunda gave me a smile, and I showed her what was causing all of the chaos: a photo of a sheep under a hairdryer with those bristle rollers, red high heels with her utters spilling over the edge of the chair. Gunda was quick to point out that that particular artist had managed to get an image of three different works on the three different types of publicity. Within an hour, we were standing in Andrea Rovey’s studio in Creston, and that is where I came face to face with GlamChops!
Andrea has this seditious sense of humour. She made a sculpture in celebration of the Pink pussyhats, women marching against Trump in 2017. It was her way of dealing with this outrageous situation. Scattered about are award-winning sculptures, chicks dancing on cars, rabbits, beavers with the brightest red lipstick. I should have paid more attention because this was a fantastic studio with one heck of an incredible artist. Andrea studied at Red Deer College with Trudy Golley and also went to Penland- but the humour is all her. Notice: Glam Chops is reading a book on ‘Teets’. Underneath each of these is something that relates to women. Stop in and check out her work….there is much more on offer.
The Kootenays are so green this year and hopefully with the rain maybe it will be a wildfire free year. Gunda fired her wood kiln, and her shelves are ready for the tour. She loads everything up and takes it to Cameron Stewart’s studio up in Passmore. You can catch her at the market in Creston on the weekends or in her studio when the ‘open’ sign is up. The wood-fired functional ware of her, Cameron, Pamela Nagley-Stevenson, and Robin Dupont is exceptional and unique to each maker. Check out their studios on the tour. I hear the last wood firing for Nagley-Stevenson had quite surprising results.
If you are not going to be in British Columbia, then check out what is happening with your local artisans and artists. In Manitoba, the Winnipeg Folk Festival will have its annual handmade village and around all of the provinces are weekend markets where you can buy local. And if you want to become more ecological, then consider something well made that will make a person happy for a long time that was created by someone local.