If you’re like me, you probably like most of your shopping to support the local economy. I’m not just talking about avoiding mass-produced trinkets made in other countries though.
When I think of holiday gifts, I think arts and crafts. St. Albert is a community of artists and there are a good number of local stores from which their wares can be purchased. Unique and interesting goods made by people whose faces you might recognize when you pass them on the street? Count me in.
W.A.R.E.S. Gift Shop – St. Albert Place
This store is a permanent highlight in the People’s Place and for good reason. It’s located in the Visual Arts wing, just past the Cultural Services office and just before the studio doors. This is one of the city’s best-kept secrets even though it’s Grand Central Station for local arts and crafts.The St. Albert Place Visual Arts Council (SAPVAC) operates this little storefront that is totally filled with so many decorative and functional works that it’s difficult to even summarize it. I guess its unabridged name says it all: Works of Art Representational of Every Studio.
“You have to be a guild member working in the studios in order to sell in the shop,” said quilter and W.A.R.E.S. representative Sharon Walker.
That means floral arts, paintings, paper arts, pottery and quilts. The only exception, Walker added, was that there are also some of Donna Hillier’s stained glass creations for sale. She is one of the original artists who has had works at W.A.R.E.S. ever since Day 1. The store also has a fine selection of quilted, pottery and paper Christmas decorations for the season.
Some of my favourites are the handmade books made by members of the Paper Arts Guild while Walker has taken to the beautiful painted cards offered by Painters Guild member Marylou Olsen.
“You can frame them actually. They’re so beautiful,” she said.
Its regular hours are noon to 3:30 p.m. from Thursday through Saturday until Saturday, Dec. 22. Because this is the busy shopping season, it has extended hours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the last indoor market, taking place on Saturday, Dec. 15.
Indoor Market – St. Albert Place
While you’re in St. Albert Place on Saturday, you should check out that last indoor market put on by the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce. It has more than 70 vendors and, according to organizers, there will be a lot of arts and crafts, clothing and home décor, along with a huge variety of other products including fresh produce, bread, baking, and preserves, plus a great selection of other unique items for you and your loved ones.The last indoor market runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15.
Visual Arts Studio Association – 25 Sir Winston Churchill Ave.
Painters aplenty, that’s VASA in a nutshell. The artist-run centre located in the Hemingway Centre doesn’t just have two gallery spaces. It has 19 active arts studios where 23 resident visual artists are hard at work on their creations in a variety of mediums, including paintings, sculptures, jewelry, mosaics and wood carvings. They aren’t just for display either. They make their living selling these works of art.It’s open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. but it will be closed from Saturday, Dec. 22, to Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019, back open for business on Jan. 3.
Art Gallery of St. Albert – temporary location at #100, 6D Perron St.
The gallery has a glorious gift shop filled with treasures by local artists and artisans, including the current artist of the month Bang Bang Bijoux and many others.It, along with five other downtown businesses, will stay open late for shoppers who can’t get to them during the daylight hours. These businesses also include The Bookstore on Perron, Wildflower Boutique, Cloud Nine Pajamas, Modern Eyes Gallery & Gift, and Cerulean Boutique. They will all be open until 8 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 19 and 20. Some of these shops will also have special holiday sales and promotions, plus complimentary warm seasonal refreshments to help keep spirits bright.
Modern Eyes Gallery & Gift – 5 Perron St.
Modern Eyes has been a fixture on the Perron District shopping scene for more than 15 years, with its quality handmade and artisan products including original artwork, art glass pieces, pottery, journals, silk and cashmere scarves and shawls, and more.It also has artisan jewelry with BulletProof Jewelry made by St. Albert’s Carter Buchanan and original silver jewelry made by Alrún, a small, independent brand based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Its husband-and-wife team of Jón Bjarni Baldursson and Melanie Adams actually live in St. Albert at the moment, making their wares just as local and extra special in its own way.
“It’s kind of like we have one foot on either side of the Atlantic in a way,” said Adams, a native St. Albertan. “We make our own Icelandic bindrunes and use the symbols as invocations in our homeware.”
Bindrunes are an ancient Scandinavian form of symbolic writing used widely in the second and third centuries. The company’s website (at www.alrun.is) says that Alrún products use one of the two Icelandic Runic alphabets known as Younger Futhark carrying on the pagan tradition of carving the symbols into wood, stone or metal, and sometimes bone. Alrún Nordic Jewelry, however, uses only high quality silver and gold. These runes were thought to grant the wearer great powers sent from Odin, the mightiest of Scandinavian pagan gods.
“The idea behind this is that the ancient Norse used to make bindrunes, and each letter of the alphabet had a representative rune. They would overlap the runes to make a magical symbol that could be something to do with calling up a magical spell, putting a love spell on someone, anything that was meant to encourage your dreams or the realization of your goals.”
Instead of making replicas, they have their own modern versions. Their jewelry line includes pendants of crystal, silver, gold, and steel, plus earrings and bracelets with Icelandic symbols for such concepts as creation, energy, grace, hope, love and luck. Alrún also makes woollen blankets, which is something that people from both Iceland and St. Albert probably appreciate equally during the winter.
Don’t forget that Modern Eyes is one of the stores open till 8 p.m. next Wednesday and Thursday, too. Alrún is also available at its store located at Sundaborg 1, 104 in Reykjavík. It's considered local goods there, too.
