EVOLUTION OF THE CRAFT INDUSTRY
Got Craft showcases ‘dramatic’ shift in quality, reach of makers
Makers are selling online, in stores; they’re making real, quality tangible goods that are supporting their way of life.
When Andrea and Robert Tucker, owners of London Fields Shoppe on East Hastings, first launched Got Craft in 2007, they had 20 vendors and 500 attendees. Robert says the craft show, which runs Saturday and Sunday at East Vancouver’s Maritime Labour Centre, now includes over 80 vendors and attracts a crowd of over 5,000, and reflects the way the craft industry has changed over the past 10 years.
“Over the last decade, the quality, and what people are making, has changed dramatically,” he says, also pointing to the impact of technology and social media. Many craft vendors who previously were hobby crafters or made things alongside their regular day jobs have turned their crafts into functioning small businesses.
“People are making a life of it,” he says. “Makers are selling online, in stores; they ’re making real, quality tangible goods that are supporting their way of life. Technology has helped people reach more stores, more suppliers, more customers.”
Got Craft vendors are selected through a juried process, Robert says.
“We look at what they are making, the quality of the products, workmanship, the process they go through, their images, and we sit down with a group of people, and create a first round of acceptance, and then go back and rebalance (to make sure different categories are fairly represented).”
What they’re seeing in products for the home, he says, is the continued popularity of ceramics, along with the return of macrame in plant hangers and wall art, graphic art for the walls, and candles, which people can’t seem to get enough of.
“There has been a change in the last two to three years towards very well packaged, nicely scented candles,” he says.
The craft makers he sees doing well seem to have a good handle on how to visually present their products in images and on social media, along with doing their research on who is producing similar products, looking at what they charge and where they’re selling, and then taking part in as many craft shows as possible.
“Some of the larger shows in Canada do have clauses about not being in multiple places,” he says. “But we have no restrictions, so you’ll find many of our vendors at Make it Vancouver, you’ll find them doing Circle Craft at Christmas. We encourage crossover. It’s healthy.”
Ceramicist Gabrielle Burke, of g ceramic & co, is known for her clean, edgy ceramics, producing everything from vases to tableware and lighting for the likes of IDS West’s Dinner by Design installations, for whom she made a chandelier from driftwood collected from Kits Beach. A regular at Got Craft, she will be returning as a vendor this weekend.
“I’ve been doing this show for probably eight or nine years now, it’s my favourite,” she says. “I always look forward to it, spring and Christmas. All my friends are there, the show is really well curated, it’s all amazing artisans, and I’m really excited to see the new faces, and see all the people returning.”
Burke will be showing her latest work, a blue and white line called pə’sifik (Pacific) at Got Craft this weekend.
“I’m half Portuguese,” she says. “I feel like blue and white is kind of in my blood. The pə’sifik line is inspired by my heritage, but also the West Coast, and just really a contemporary spin on the classic blue and white.”
A somewhat newcomer to the craft scene, and Got Craft show, is macrame artist Armileen Naypes of Avondale Road, whose macrame plant hangers will be available at the show.
“I initially started macrame because I was doing a lot of gardening, and I wanted to put plants up in my home where they wouldn’t be knocked over by my dogs,” she says. “I stick to the natural cotton rope, because it’s the most esthetically pleasing for me, and I think it’s the most versatile too.”