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:
How to Care for Your Wood
A 9 Point Guide to Essential Wood Care
1. Oil your wooden bowl or utensil on a regular basis. We recommend doing it on a monthly basis.
2. Ideally, we recommend mineral oil. Food grade mineral oil is tasteless and odourless. It does not get sticky and does not become rancid with time. This is available from most local supermarkets & hardware stores. However, many of our artists recommend using Walnut oil or Olive oil as an alternative – both of these are excellent.
3. Rub on generous amounts of the oil (warmed just to room temperature) and allow to soak in. Repeat the process about 6-8 hours later, and repeatedly if necessary, until the oil is no longer being absorbed. Then wipe off any excess that remains on the surface.
4. Wash your wooden utensils without worry after oiling. But...
5. Do not let wood utensils soak, and never wash them in a dishwasher!
6. Dry wooden boards and utensils thoroughly after washing. Wood dries faster than plastic and is less likely to harbour bacteria on its surface.
7. Bowls that you regularly use for salads can just be wiped clean with a paper towel or J cloth. It will soak up any excess oils and be ready for your next salad.
8. Cutting boards should never be used interchangeably with meat (including poultry and fish) and other foods (like bread, salads, etc.), to avoid possible cross contamination from bacteria in uncooked meat products.
9. The USDA recommends that you wash wooden utensils (especially cutting boards and utensils used with uncooked meat products (including fish and poultry) with hot, soapy water, then rinse and dry. If you follow their instructions, first make sure the wood is well oiled before using it, and that the utensils have been at room temperature, not out in the cold. Follow with a generous oiling, since soap will remove much of the surface oil.
You can see many superb wooden bowls, platters & vases – all hand crafted in British Columbia at Side Street Studio’s web site https://www.sidestreetstudio.com/collections/wood
