Montreal SMAQ craft show: Mohair La Pinède

 

For the third year, I’ve been helping some people I know at the Salon des métiers d’arts of Montreal. Also known as the SMAQ arts and craft show.

Francine and Alain Sauvé, from Mohair La Pinède, have been Angora Goat breeder for more than 30 years now, and their passion for their animals  is truly contagious.

Angora goats grows a fiber mostly known to us as mohair. It is very warm and soft, which explains it’s use in warm garments such as socks and winter hats and scarves.

Not only do they use it for their famous socks, but they also use it to knit beautiful handmade items. Francine knits some and also hire knitters of their area to help her out.

Every item is knitted by hand with different fibers mix. From mohair to angora (rabbit) and even silk or bamboo.

What amazes me is that they’ve been doing craft shows for such a long time. They were there in the 70’s, when it all started, and went on with their projects even when it wasn’t as hip. Their passion for their goats and the knitting craft kept them going.

I really enjoy helping them out during the holiday season at this huge craft show. It’s so much fun to speak with the attendees and make them believe I actually own this huge flock of Angora goats. 😉 (Just kidding!)

If you’d like to have an idea of the SMAQ’s atmosphere, here are many good pictures from it’s website. 

It’s open until December 22nd at Place Bonaventure, in Montreal. And the entrance is free!

Montreal: Cupcake camp!

Yay! We’re having a Cupcake Camp in Montreal!

If you don’t know what it is, Cupcake Camp is a fundraising event that brings cupcakes lovers together for a great cause. This year, they’re organizing  it for Kids Help phone (Jeunesse J’écoute).
For a suggested donation of 10$, you’ll get 3 cupcakes and a coffee!

When: This Sunday, November 22nd 2009 2-5 PM
Where: Bitoque Restaurant
3706, Notre-Dame West, Montréal (Québec) H4C1P7
Metro Lionel-Groulx

If you’re interested in making cupcakes for the event, you have untill this Friday, November 20th, to register your cupcakes.

Mmm… cupcakes!

Montreal Expozine 2009

Picture of Expozine 2006 from Meantux via Flickr.

At this year’s Montreal Expozine, I was really amazed at the quality of work. There was over about 300 vendors from all over the country (Some even came as far as from Europe) and there was a great mix of people from different art backgrounds. (Think indie art scene, mangas, animation, science-fiction novels… there were all there!)

Montreal is a multicultural city and, even though we get along quite well, we don’t always”mix” often. So it was fun to hear french and english all around and people switching over from one language to another. I think the next step would be to bring along people from different cultures as well, other than the francophone and anglophone communities.

Here’s some of the catch I made this year. 🙂

I love Microcosm publishing and I’m always happy to see their table after each year. They always have some interesting and different titles out. I got theses two books which I remembered seing on their website and wanted to get for awhile. Screenprinting and zine making, what’s not to like about this?

Oh, and I think their Best Friends Forever program is awesome. For 15-25$ per month, you get their new titles and you also support them. I think Montreal indie publishers should offer something like this to their loyal readers.

I also discovered a selection of short stories magazine named Biscuit Chinois (Chinese/Fortune cookie).
I’ve seen it around in local bookstores but never took the time to take a closer look at it. (Shame on me!) The print and design quality of this book is very good for an indie publishing. The writters who get published are chosen anonymously so you only get la crème de la crème chosen for each issue.

The idea behind the Biscuit Chinois name is that, at the end of each page, you have funny/weird sentences written. You could take all of them out (there’s a dotted line so you can rip them from the page) and make your own fortune cookies with them. Yum.

Of course, I got a lot of more things, but I’ll save them for later. 😉

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I have such respect for the people behind the Expozine. It must be so time-consumming, yet they still do it after each year. Thank you so much for organizing this event as, after all, it is one of the only event in Montreal where small and indie artists can meet up and show their work.

Blog vs Craft fair

Okay, so after 3 months of blogging, I realized via DudeCraft that there is a well-known USA mid-west craft fair named Art vs Craft, as well. Doh!

Of course, you discover theses kinds of things always -after- you’ve opened your blog and set everything up. :-p

So if you’re looking for the craft fair, head over here. It’s on November 28th, in Milwaukee,  and looks awesome!

In the meantime, I’ll keep my blog like it is and make it clear that we don’t have any direct affiliation. Other than the fact that we both love crafts. 🙂

Dr. Sketchy Montreal 2nd anniversary

On this sunny saturday, I went to Dr. Sketchy Montreal to draw the very inspiring Amber Ray.
She was in Montreal since the city is having it’s first Burlesque festival.
I should also mention that she is one of Dr. Sketchy’s founder favorite model. And we could see why, she had the most glittery costume I have ever seen!
(I’m sure the crafty chica would have loved her! 😉 )

If you do not know what Dr. Sketchy is, and are an avid drawer, you certainly are missing something.

To make it simple, it is a life-drawing event with, instead of having nude models, you get to draw sexy burlesques and costumed models.
There are contests, you can get a drink and it is in a very relaxed athmosphere.

I used to run the Montreal branch from 2007-2008. But as I was getting more busy, I decided to give it to someone who would love it as much as I did. And that’s when Georgiana told me she’d be interested in running the branch.

Since then, Georgiana (along with her partner Salim)  have done an amazing job  running the branch and, on this saturday, they celebrated Dr. Sketchy’s Montreal 2nd anniversary. Yay!

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If you’re interested in going to a Dr. Sketchy, take a look to see if they’re in your city as they have over 90 branches all around the world.

And don’t forget to bring your sketchpad! 😉

Drawing workshops in Montreal

Camille Lavoie is organizing  FREE drawing workshops starting this September, 9th, 2009 untill October, 29th.

She wants you to get inspired by Quebec author,Gabrielle Roy‘s world known novel, The tin flute. (Bonheur d’occasion in original french.)
She will conduct drawing workshop in the Place St-Henri district, where the novel has taken place. You will get to draw the surroundings and get inspired by this part of Montreal’s history.

At the end of the workshops, you will be able to take place in an art show at the Centre Georges-Vanier’s cultural gallery.

Oh, and did I mention, all of this for FREE?

For more information, check out Les Glaneurs‘s website or contact the Centre Georges-Vanier at 514-931-2248 or email centrecgvanier AT gmail DOT com.

MAM Expo

The MAM (Métiers d’arts métissés) is currently having an expo at the Galerie Espace (4844, St-Laurent) in St-Laurent starting thjs August 6 to 11.

I just got an email in my inbox about their expo. It’s all about textile arts, ceramics and jewelry, all the kind of métiers d’art that I love. I may drop by this week to see what they’re doing. 🙂