Will be here all weekend! What a lovely poster!
THANKS FOLKS!
I'm back in the studio after having taken a bit of time to rest up after Halifax Crafter's Winter Market last weekend, and the Dartmouth Makers Market the previous. With a personality that tends to drift around the cusp of introvert/extrovert, I often emerge from shows with what feels like a bit of a vulnerability hangover. But now I'm rested & taking a moment to share some gratitude for all of the hardworking organizers, volunteers, talented makers and supportive local community that make these shows so amazing. Y'all come together beautifully to help sustain a vibrant crop of local artists & makers, so big thanks!!✨
HALIFAX CRAFTERS WINTER MARKET 2017
Next up is the Halifax Crafters Winter Market, coming up this weekend, Dec 1, 2 & 3. This market is always a fantastic one and it will be the last show that I will be doing this season, so please do come track me down for a high five.
DARTMOUTH MAKERS COMING UP!
This is going to be a great show in Dartmouth---my first of 2 upcoming shows/sales this season. There will be delicious food and lots of beautiful things and lovely people, guaranteed.
2017 HOLIDAY SEASON SHOWS
COMING UP! I'll be at two upcoming holiday time shows over the next month, so please do come round and check out the action.
Here's where I'll be:
1. The Dartmouth Makers Winter Market, Parish Hall, 61 Dundas Street, Dartmoutn, MS. Friday, Nov 24th, 5pm-9pm & Saturday Nov 25th, 10am-5pm.
2. The Halifax Crafters Winter Market, Olympic Community Center, 2304 Hunter Street, Halifax NS, Dec 1st 5-9pm, Dec 2nd 10am-5pm & Dec 3rd 10am-5pm.
Both of these shows are always friendly, free, and full of lovely things. Please do come to say Hi!
FOj Origins // Coming Out Through Metal
During the recent run of applications for holiday shows/sales, a show application asked if applicants would like to share any information about themselves, their work, and/or their process that links their work integrally to their experiences/identities in the world. It was heartening to see this question on the application (props to Halifax Crafter's Society) and pointed to the organization's purposeful attempts to make space for and welcome artists across spectrums of race/class/gender identity/sexual orientation/ability/age, etc.
It prompted me to work on articulating how Fervour’s Own got started and how this creative work has fit into and supported me, in numerous ways, over the last handful of years. I'm sharing it as part of a continued practice of learning to shy away less and lean in (be out) more:
In 2010, I'd had my jewellery-making tools packed away for several years while focusing on other facets of my art practice. I dug them out again after facing frustrations and stress around being a new parent and not being able to make ends meet via the inconsistent income I was managing through grant applications, local contract work in the arts & youth work. During this time I was also grappling with deepening personal explorations of gender and queerness. Turning to this work [making Fervour's Own Jewellery] became both a means by which I was able to support my family, and a creative medium through which I was realizing and rooting into my identity as a non-binary person. Essentially, I came out through this work and as such it stands as a commitment to creative expression and a celebration of multiplicity and the complexity of personhood & identity. My hope is that this resonates through the work am putting out into the world, and that folks might find empowerment in the act of adorning themselves with a piece that reflects some of their glorious intricacies.
"...to be an artist is to create a home for yourself in your work regardless of how many times your identity has been split...." -Jess X Snow
The following article "This is What Gender-Nonbinary People Look Like" by Meredith Talusan shares some personal explanations of what being non-binary can mean and look like for some folks.
Reflecting on Values in Work & Dismantling White Supremacy
I have sat with questions of if, how, and when our personal values and politics fit into the work we do/make/put out into the world, and I am feeling more and more resolved that they should and must be interwoven. This seems abundantly clear in reflecting on recent events in Chartlottesville, VA and the ongoing (and lethal for so many) conditions of systemic racism and white supremacy in our society and culture. In considering my implications as a white person in these times, I am committed to constantly examining my role(s) and learning how to have my work reflects my values. I will not separate my work/biz from my values. This means, in part, using what public forums I have access to, to speak up against racism and white supremacy instead of remaining silent. This is a small, one-person operation with a relatively small reach (and only sporadically active across social media platforms) but white supremacy is real and silence will not dismantle it.
Our society was established and continues to operate around structures of inequity and deeply entrenched systemic racism. It is certainly a privilege to run my own creative business and I am aware of how white privilege plays a considerable role in this. Confronting white supremacy will require us to move beyond encouraging respect and 'diversity'. It will require white folks recognizing how the world is structured primarily for our benefit and success, and mobilizing to challenge and change this ourselves via what means we can. This will mean releasing power and access.
I stand behind the idea of supporting businesses owned and run by women, femmes & queer/trans folks and I strongly encourage seeking out BIPOC (Black, Indeigenous & People of Color) owned businesses before all.
Moving forward, 5% of all Fervour's Own online sales will go towards supporting BLM and Indigenous water/land protectors.
To be clear, this is not about seeking praise, so let's not go there. I am merely offering this up as a statement of commitment and as an example of one small way I am attempting to move more towards aligning this stream of my work with my values. It is an evolving process. We need to be in constant conversation and reflection with ourselves and other white folks about how we can do better and show up for the work needs to be done EVERYDAY to contribute to dismantling white supremacy.
With love and rage and dreams of a better future for all.
Image from @jwanz on Instagram
HOLD FAST FESTIVAL OF COMTEMPORARY ARTS, ST. JOHN'S NFLD AUG 10-13
I had the opportunity to travel to St. John's, NFLD in mid-August to participate in the HOLD FAST Contemprary Arts Festival organized by the Eastern Edge Gallery with collaborators Michael D. McCormack & Zak Millerada (At the Reception). We were presenting our intermedia project ENSEMBLE (not jewellery related) with a collection of other artists from Canada/US and their work. Natalie Field and Emily Pittman from the The Gathered Gallery were there to cover the action and have a great overview of the festival and some interviews with some of the artists and organizers up on their blog. We had a fantastic trip and we were blown away by the hardworking and committed community of artists and organizers and volunteers on the ground there. Looking forward to making it back to St. John's again someday.
SUMMER JUGGLING
Summer in the studio has been hot and chaotic. Intermittent, really, with juggling kids out of school for the summer, sporadic childcare, some travels to NFLD to present a collaborative intermedia art project that's been in the works since the new year, family visits, a side hustle, and some community/collective organizing. Balls in the air. Then there's always the sweet and constant pull of the ocean beaches and fresh water lakes with many a sun-warmed rock and the fresh wilderness air...nice to hear their call and take them up on an invite on occasion.
Studio production in the summer time generally revolves around filling orders for shops while working through the custom/wedding ring orders that come along with the season. I've had the pleasure of working on a lovely crop of rings for some sweet lovers this year. I must say, it's pretty special to be able to contribute a little something just for the lovers-in-action, while in the midst of their ceremony prep---which seems to be a mixed bag most of the time. Receiving their own special bits and pieces seems to be a pretty exciting part of the unfolding.
Below is a list of some lovely seasonal shops to which I send jewellery during the summer months. They are all so fantastic and absolutely worth checking out if you have the chance over the summer/early fall:
SALTY ROSE'S & THE PERRIWINKLE, Ingonish, Cape Breton, NS
THE POINT GENERAL, Blue Rocks, NS
POOR MICHAEL'S EMPORIUM, Onanole, MB
HALIFAX CRAFTERS SPRING MARKET MAY 6 & 7, 2017
Once again, the Halifax Crafters Market is around the corner. May 6 & 7, 10am-5pm at the Olympic Center at 2034 Hunter Street. Hope I get to see you there!
I always have new work with me at markets and shows, so be sure to drop in to see what's up. Here's some playful new earrings that are a celebration of the irregular.
TIE THE KNOT Pop up Shop! APRIL! DARTMOUTH, NS!
Make Merry Events is pulling together a month of weekly wedding pop-upsin April, and FOj is happy to be in the mix of gear and garb. If you happen to be planning a wedding or are imagining it someday, come drop in to get some ideas and peruse the thoughtfully curated collection of local products. The first 4 Sunday in April 10am-6pm at 46 Wentworth Street in Dartmouth.
Mid-Winter Inspiration
We are deep in it. Winter. However, with Imbolc having just passed, we are on the upswing with Spring looming in the distance. I am thankful for this, and all of the little morsels of inspiration that crop up in these slower, darker months. I recently came across the work of Polish photographer Marcin Nagraba and have been so taken with his work. Especially the series of photographs he has taken of his mother, in the luscious costumery of Agnieszka Osipa. Feast your senses:
AC Magazine touches on Halifax, NS
The February/March 2017 Issue of American Craft Magazine showed up in the mail a few weeks ago, and included a piece on Halifax, NS written by Philip Moscovich. It features a handful of talented local makers, spaces, and organizations---with some Fervour's Own Jewellery in the mix. Fancy that.
2016 IN-PERSON SHOW/SALE WRAP
This is the only picture I snapped of the action at Halifax Crafter's Winter Market over the weekend. It was fun and fantastic as ever. Sending out a big THANK YOU to all the organizers and volunteers who help make this magic happen. And some mega gratitude to all of you who come out and share your golden smiles & help support this work. Y'all are magic too!💐
Halifax Crafter's 2016 Winter Market, Halifax, NS.
This show was the last show that I will be at in-person over the 2016 Holiday season. If you missed the last two weekends' activities, or saw something at my table that you can't get our of your mind, feel free to check over the webshop, the FOj Etsy shop, our lovely stockists, or contact me directly with any inquiries.
XO
HALIFAX CRAFTERS WINTER MARKET DEC 2, 3 & 4!
HALIFAX CRAFTER'S is always such a great show, come by for a visit and some tasty food, good tunes, and lots of lovely handmade treasures:
DARTMOUTH MAKERS NOV 25 & 26 2016
This is where I'll be at this weekend:
HOLIDAY SEASON SHOWS!
It has been a full and whirlwindish summer and fall. Two full shifts of season have cycled through and I've been consumed in the studio with a wonderful slew of custom orders---Thanks folks! It is such a pleasure to put my hands, heart and energy to your special pieces. Especially those of you I've worked with to pull into being small but solid and visual representations your beautiful and resilient queer love. Hmmmm, it is such an honour.
I will be dropping photos of some of this work onto the website sometime soon.
COMING UP, I'll be doing two Holiday craft show this season:
1. The Dartmouth Makers, Nov 25 & 26 2016
2. The Halifax Crafters Winter Market, Dec 2,3 & 4, 2016
Both of these shows are always friendly, free, and full of lovely things. Please do come to say Hi.
How about that rad poster by Sarah Burwash. Come drop in this weekend, it's always a good time. xo
2016 SPRING SHOWS! COME VISIT!
I'll be out and about at these two fantastic shows over the next couple of weeks:
HALIFAX CRAFTERS SPRING HAS SPRUNG MARKET
APRIL 30TH & MAY 1ST :: 10AM-5PM :: OLYMPIC CENTER 2304 HUNTER STREET HALIFAX, NS
DARTMOUTH MAKERS SPRING POP-UP MARKET
SAT. MAY 7 2016 :: 10AM-6PM :: THE PARISH HALL, CHRIST CHURCH 61 DUNDAS ST. DARTMOUTH, NS