Wildish

Nova Scotia is beautiful, I must admit. I live near the Bedford highway which has a lovely view of the basin and distant hills. It would be even more lovely if there wasn’t this grimy highway, but I guess it could be considered beautiful in some contexts too. As a line, a human made mark connected to many others. Part of a network, a system.

When you are walking near the highway you are acutely aware of the danger of cars, the exhaust and the dust. The only place to walk near the waterfalls and cut rock is a side walk about a meter wide. This particular stretch of my route is a narrow path sandwiched between rushing cars and a guard rail crackling with rust. On the other side of the railing is the ditch and the surface of the rock.

Never the less it is still a place I like to visit, to see the trickling water paint the rock on its way back to the sea. There are also little plants and flowers growing in every nook and cranny, and even the occasional whimsical tossed object or piece of ephemera.

It does irritate me to see how much litter with ugly brand names build up in these between spaces, but even the slow decay of objects in a space can be fascinating: An old bike or shopping cart beneath a waterfall; A chair in the brambles facing the sunset.

With the spring rains, the water begins to flow, and life returns. Each spring shower causes the trickles to swell into gushing falls of rainwater, which blast and froth their way down into the ditch.

By the summer it is lush and verdant. The little bit of water helps nourish moss and wild flowers which grow over the litter in the ditch. The elephant ear crawls over the railing and crowds the walk way with its reaching leaves. (I’ll post photos as the summer comes to us.)

In the winter the trickle builds up to form grand waterfalls and stalagmite size icicles. A dusting of snow meets it’s opposite in the frozen black rock and it makes me feel like shouting “oh Beauty!” Here it is. I see it! As if to praise a fleeting moment in the presence of a goddess. A truth in interconnecting chaos and I and life bear witness with a burning heart.

I encourage you to go out and witness some beauty too, if you look you will find it in abundance.

“Still will I harvest beauty where it grows”

 

(Feel free to click through the photos- prints are also available if requested.)

Another crafter I love is Elinor Crosby the creative mind behind Uberwench. I bought this super soft merino from her at the Halifax Crafters “Spring Fling”. She dyes them in small batches with lots of love and intention. Her colours are just amazing! She also names each one; the green, violet and turquoise fleece in this image is called “Natucket Ave” and the bright yellow and brickish red is called “Tournesol”.

I highly recommend picking some up from her for your next special project. It felts beautifully. You can find her products through her Etsy shop and at the Loop in downtown Halifax.

She is also a fantastic dancer, she perform and teaches classes here in halifax. There is more information about her belly dance and tribal dance lessons here at her website.

 

First Fig

My Candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends–
It gives a lovely light!

-Edna St.Vincent Millay

I am a big fan of Edna St.Vincent Millay’s poetry and I just stumbled upon part of the story of her kitchen! Fascinating. I have bread baking in mine right now. This article made my imagination run wild with daydreams about Millay; her everyday life, her love of food and good times.

 

Now available at our Etsy Shop:

Thunderstorm Earrings

These earrings are made with striking zebra jasper beads which dangle from double linked brass chain. The stones are reminiscent of brush marks or lightning strikes. They are very chaotic and dramatic. The ear wires are also oxidized brass.

Free shipping within Canada and the US (regular mail through Canada Post).

 

This is craft fair treasure number two; a lovely fused glass plate made by Philip Doucette.

I asked him how he made this and he told me it was made with several different pieces of glass that were cut and fused together with high heat. It is heated the first time to fuse the glass, then it is heated again over a mould which the piece slumps into to create it’s form. The glass has to be treated gently and cooled slowly because at high temperatures the molecules tangle.

He also told me that this particular plate was inspired by the colours of the valley here in Nova Scotia. In case you are’nt familiar with the valley it is a lovely, fertile part of Nova Scotia with apple orchards, green farms, earth and mild weather. I can’t help but think of cascades of apple blossoms when I think of the valley. This plate looks like it’s captured a ray of valley sun shine.

(click through the thumbnails below for a better view.)

 

I got a lot of great hand crafted treasures at the craft fair and I thought it would be fun to share them with the world. The first is from Rustic Revolution Pottery and made by artist Lily Greer.

The outside is white with loopy cobalt flowers, which she created by scratching into it’s surface. They kind of remind me of stars as well. The glaze on the inside is a variegated blue and earthy shades, reminiscent of painterly surf. If you could gaze into it you would see a swirl at the very bottom, like a whirl pool or spinning galaxy. It even has a gentle spout for pouring.

Lily tells us on her website that her “studies in Zen and Pagan spiritual traditions has lead me to believe that the spirituality of everyday existence is of utmost importance. Through my work I try to bring a sense of calm, sacredness to every day objects.”

When I gaze in to this vessel it really feels like something special. This is the magical result of combining clay, time, and sensitive human imagination, intention and hands. I think it is truly lovely.

 

(PS: The flowers in this image are called Forsythia.)

We just finished up at the Halifax Crafters “Spring Fling” fair. It was so much fun. It’s always nice to see all the friendly crafters and the lovely things they make.  I brought home a few hand made treasures as well. I hope to share them with you once I take a few photos of them here in their new home.

We’ll be listing new items on Etsy this week, but you can get a sneak peek at some of our new books and jewellery by clicking through our photos from the show (below).