Superb Pottery from Vancouver Island
Darrel Hancock was born in Port Alberni and lived there for four years before moving to the mainland.
Darrel went on to graduate from the Vancouver School of Art, majoring in ceramics, and has been making functional pottery ever since.
He says “ All my pottery is Handmade Functional Stoneware thrown on a potter's wheel and fired in an electric kiln. It is dishwasher, microwave and oven safe. Art and Function come together to make pottery that is designed to be used every day”
“My mugs come in a variety of sizes and shapes and also a variety of colour combinations. I make all of my pottery in a number of glazes and I will continue to do so, this way my customers can add to their collection now and in the future.
Darrel said everyday he wakes up happy knowing he’s going to be throwing clay, and the act itself is very therapeutic. "If I'm feeling anxious or frustrated or whatever, I just sit down and throw 100 mugs and just that meditative repetitiveness of the action is a calming experience.”
He hopes people who purchase his pottery get from it what he puts into it. "I speak to a number of people who say they start off their morning with a cup of coffee in one of my mugs and they look forward to that every morning, and I think that's great, that's why I'm doing it,” he said.
You can see more of Darrel’s beautiful functional pottery at https://www.sidestreetstudio.com/collections/pottery/darrel-hancock
Bees Wax Works Candles
Q & A with Chandler Jill Smith
How long have you been making candles?
Professionally for four years now, after my apprenticeship. But I’ve been making things my whole life– my mother taught me to knit at four. The founder of the company spent hours teaching me the basics and fine tuning the skills need to make candles. Chandlery requires patience.
What’s the secret in the studio?
Candle making is all about having a good rhythm; when I started, I used a metronome, and my background is as a dancer. So it’s all process; do this, do this, keep organized, like a chef moving around a kitchen. Creative and kinetic. I’m happiest when I’m moving.
What were you doing before this?
I worked in daily management in the music industry on the corporate side, contracts and administration. I was a professional ballet dancer before we raised a family. I have done many things in my life and they all have brought me different ways of doing what I now love.
What’s the appeal of beeswax?
To be around the wax is so calming. I love the process. I like the solitude. I’m just dipping candles, listening to CBC, looking at the ocean outside my window. The scent of the wax invokes all this for me. But there’s a whole revival of hand-crafted objects, an aesthetic of having fewer, more mindful things in your home. Good wine, good cheese. It’s appreciative of authenticity and simple enjoyment. Beeswax is a part of that.
What’s next for you as a candlemaker?
We are collaborating with a ceramic artist to create original designs and make our own proprietary moulds. My partner Bruce has an art and music background, and aside from lifting the 45 pound blocks of wax, he is helping me in transition all of our catalogue to our own designs.
It’s an intimate thing, to work with this magic substance and make it a part of people’s lives, connect with them and get to meet them. I’ll be asked to create a birth candle, or a candle for someone’s memorial. Even for someone’s final hours, and my work is there, witnessing that. It’s an honour and very humbling.
I get to live and work in a beautiful environment on Salt Spring Island, where there’s a lot of support and understanding of what it’s like to leave a 9-5 for a creative career. The Saturday Market is creative, dynamic, instantly collaborative – I love the camaraderie. People come to my Vancouver shows and hug me and buy a candle because they’ve had one of my pieces before and it’s meant something to them, it was part of a moment for them. That’s lovely......
You can see more of Jill's beautiful candles at
TWO GEODE ABSTRACT GLASS HANGING
An absolutely beautiful glass hanging for a window. Perfect for a bright feature window where sunlight is in abundance. The design incorporates two lovely Agate Geodes into the glass. A geode is a round rock which contains a hollow cavity lined with crystals Total Size: 19" wide X 28.5" high and the frame is a 3 inch dark wood that may be painted.
Hand crafted by Heather James, Vancouver Island, BC. bit.ly/29vrXeZ
Eric Roberts Award Winning Tea Pots
The founding president of the SVIPG (South Vancouver Island Potters’ Guild) Eric Roberts is known for his selection of award winning teapots.
After a 10-year retirement from professional ceramics, he and wife June resumed creative pottery in 2012 in Victoria, B.C. and are enjoying a renaissance with exciting new glazes and styles.
The former 4-kiln studio is reduced to one electric kiln but the excitement of opening a kiln is still there especially the teapots (both practical and whimsical).
He can be found almost daily at his favourite location — behind his wheel in the beautiful city of Victoria on Vancouver Island.
You can find much more of Eric's beautiful and functional pottery at Side Street Studio, Oak Bay, Victoria, BC or on line at https://www.sidestreetstudio.com/
New From Robert Held Glass Artist
GIVERNY FOOTED GLOBE VASE
A brand new range from Robert Held's new studio in Parksville B.C. A truly magnificent vase with a lovely globe shape and round pedestal foot This range is named after Monet's property and garden in France.
The soft colours and stylised lily pads reflect the name perfectly. Made on Vancouver Island BC by Robert Held, one of Canada's foremost glass artists. Height~ 7 1/2 inches by width 7 1/2 inches.This would make a marvellous gift for anyone who appreciates fine glasswork art.
Signed by the artist.
Hand Crafted Wooden Salad Bowls
Our fabulous WOODEN SALAD BOWLS are all hand crafted in BC. Each piece is made using skills that have taken years to perfect.
All of our WOODEN SALAD BOWLS are locally handcrafted and makes a superb original Gift for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, housewarmings, retirement, corporate gifts, and romantic events or just for you.
See our Guide to Caring for Your Wooden Salad Bowl here...
Glass Spirit Feathers on Shaw TV
Loris Dawn writes:
"A Spirit Feather symbolizes a New Beginning, a Spiritual Evolution, Divinity, Inspiration, and Good Fortune.
Whether you choose the Spirit Feather that catches your attention and awakens you, or your loved one chooses one for you, it is a gift that will surely enlighten you. Your Spirit Feather will always remind YOU that YOU are loved.
From the moment I conceived the idea to create Spirit Feathers, I felt an overwhelming source of enthusiasm and positive energy.I knew I had discovered a form of creating attractive combinations of vibrant colours in a form that also brought a sensation of Spiritual energy to me.I LOVE designing the Feathers and embellishing them with natural beads and leather. I LOVE the response and reactions I have been feeling from all of my encounters who have chosen their Spirit Feathers.
My Spirit Feathers are created in limited editions." Writes Loris. See more at Side Street Studio
Watch the full interview here:
