26th annual Our Best to You Handmade Market returns to Regina Nov. 9-11 at the International Trade Centre in Evraz Place
The Our Best to You Handmade Market makes its return to Regina for the 26th year, taking place at the International Trade Centre in Evraz Place Nov. 9-11. A longtime annual festive shopping tradition, fans of Our Best to You not only know it as an unparalleled marketplace of quality Canadian handmade goods, but also as a unique interactive experience — artists, artisans and designers travel from all corners of Canada to participate, offering visitors the chance to meet them in person and hear the stories behind their creations.
Signatures Shows, Canada’s handmade market leader and longtime producer of Our Best to You, considers this show one of the most successful and well-attended of its 20 annual events, and certainly the largest of its kind in Saskatchewan. The popularity of Our Best to You can be attributed to many factors — the quality and originality of the works on display, the unique personalities of the participating exhibitors — but on a larger scale, the show thrives based on an evergrowing phenomenon known as the handmade movement.
Consumers, now more than ever, are shopping consciously: small-batch is superseding mass-produced, handcrafted holds more credence than machine-made, and terms such as “artisan”, “craft” and “farm-to-table” are increasingly prevalent in retail industries. It appears as though shoppers have gained an affinity for the personal, the tactile, the handmade. Six notable artisans and designers who will participate in the 2018 Our Best to You Handmade Market offer their thoughts on the handmade movement and what it means to them.
“The handmade movement represents giving artists a shot,” says Kaytlyne Dewald, an Edmonton-based pop culture artist and owner of Kay Pop Art Studios. “All of a sudden, not everyone has to work a nineto-five job. People can create, and be passionate, and put things out there. You can buy things and talk to the person who made it and have that connection.”
Jessica Freeman, the jewelry designer behind Vancouverbased Naked Sage Jewellery, is particularly captivated by how inspiring her peers can be: “When I experience these artistic communities, these groups of people who are doing what they love, who are creating with their hands, who are going from raw materials and creating these amazing pieces — it’s just that little reminder that there are movements that are positive,” says Freeman.
Megan Jones, a metalsmith from Calgary and owner of Mackenzie Jones Designs, does not take the handmade movement for granted. In her short time as a full-time artisan, she has been wowed by the compassionate and helpful nature of the Canadian artisan community. “There’s this wealth of knowledge to pull upon,” says Jones. “I’ve made so many friends along this journey, and the pride and workmanship that we can all share — it doesn’t matter if our fields are completely different. You can swap stories even if you’re not making similar products, and it’s been really cool to be a part of that.”
For Amy Newsom, a jeweller hailing from Qualicum Beach, B.C., the handmade movement is critical for the advancement of the arts in Canada, stating: “I think the Canadian handmade (movement) helps us keep the arts alive. Without an institution like Signatures Shows, I think there would be a lot less artisans because we wouldn’t be able to go out and make a living.”
Leonie Vatter, fashion designer and owner of Maple & Oak Designs in Quebec City, sees the handmade movement as something that’s impactful for multiple generations. “It points to a future with less waste. If you buy local, you reduce that; lots of the handmade items are made eco-conscious,” says Vatter. “That’s something that’s really important for the future, but at the same time, actually making something by hand takes us back into the past.”
Husband-and-wife team Jenn Wanless-craig and Terry Craig are glass-blowers based in Tory Hill, Ont., a small town in the Ottawa Valley with a humble population of 3,000 residents. To them, the handmade movement represents a callback to community, something that’s especially important in their hometown. “I think we lose the ability to understand what humans can actually do and what we can make,” says Wanless-craig. “Trades are passed on. That’s really important — to know your farmer, to know your glassblower, and know that people are in your area that make things, that grow things, that do things.”
I think the Canadian handmade (movement) helps us keep the arts alive.
– AMY NEWSOM