Whistler has no shortage of creative masterminds toiling away at their home studios, crafting a vast array of stunning treasures. What Whistler does have a shortage of, however, is places to sell those beautiful wares.
While the summertime Whistler Farmer's Market in the Upper Village is bustling each and every weekend and another organizer has been busy building another wintertime farmers market at the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre, there really isn't a regular venue where Sea to Sky artisans can sell their wares after Christmas, at least until the Farmer's Market kicks off again in the summer.
Linda Davies is just one of the many local artisans who has struggled to find a place to sell her wares - colourful and luminescent lampwork glass beads and jewellery - when the markets are shut down for the winter.
"So then there's this huge gap until June and there's nothing. Nothing for the artists," Davies reflected. "There's no opportunity for them to work, to sell their craft, to be inspired, to talk to people."
And talking to people, quite frankly, is what Davies is really good at (she was in media sales before she decided to pursue her passion for glass almost nine years ago.)
"I've always been fascinated by colour, the way light goes through glass, the way textures work together: its amazing!" she said, holding up new beads in progress.
"Moving to something like this just clicked! So now I make glass beads, and everyone I see from the media community that comes up here and finds me at the market, 'Linda, what are you doing up here?' 'Oh, I'm making glass beads.'" She paused, laughing.
That sales expertise has really helped with her success as an artistic entrepreneur.
"I love telling people about what I do, and as I said, at the market, people are just lined up wanting to find out how you make the product!" she explained.
"I find that the tourists really want to connect, not only with the 'locals' - I find that a slightly derogatory term - but they really want to connect with people that create, because everybody inside them, it doesn't matter what you do, you've got a creative force in there, and its either actually making something or its enjoying something somebody else made."
To help ensure that she and the rest of Whistler's artists get more face-time with residents and visitors and potential customers, Davies decided to try and revive the Made in Whistler market, which was held from 2006 to 2008, but shut down in the frenzy leading up to the Olympics.
"Every weekend, we'd put one or two or three artists into each of the hotels. They loved it! They absolutely loved it!" she recalled.
"Then, of course, the Olympics came banging along and there were no venues for artisans or craftspeople that didn't do installations or big stuff. Or at least most of us didn't find any; maybe we didn't look hard enough! And there didn't seem to be the opportunity to create any."
The Whistler Arts Council (WAC) was very receptive to the idea, though they weren't able to offer funding or staffing to support it. So Davies stepped up and offered to organize the market as a volunteer.
The Westin welcomed the market in with open arms, and for the past four weekends, the Made in Whistler market has been slowly but surely gathering steam with a cross-section of artisans from throughout the Sea to Sky corridor signing up to take part.
"Our first weekend, we started off with three jewellery people - we called ourselves The Three Jewelletiers," Davies said with a smile, "and the next week, we grew to six, the next week we were ten, this week we're 12 and next weekend we're going to be 15."
Last weekend, vendors included Everyday Pearls by Borgi, Caroline Miller Designs, Beat Creatures, Kermode Bear Carvings, Effie Baker Designs, Tess Klein Jewellery, tarot readings, Soaptree Studios, Twig Prints, and Christy's Good Breads. And the traffic seems to be growing as fast as the number of artisans.
"For example, Christy Hour, who makes Christy's Good Bread, sold out last week! Sold out."
Of course, it's been a bit of a struggle to get the word out to residents and all tourists, not just Westin guests, because all their costs for things like signage and publicity are coming directly from table fees. But Davies is hopeful that with the momentum they've built, more hotels will step up to host local artists, creating an artistic "circle tour" and "revenue-builder" for the Village.
"If this thing turns out to be viable, what I would like to see is back to the basic format of 2006, where we have artists in a number of different hotels," she said.
"There are a lot of people here that don't ski, don't snowboard, and you know what? They don't have anything to do!"
"This would give them a great opportunity to do not only the hotel walks, but the galleries, as well."
"I really hope that a lot more hotels will step up to the plate and not be afraid that its going to take away from their retailers, but realize that it stimulates (sales.)"
Davies is also quick to point out that they aren't trying to create competition with other similar markets or events, so they'll be running Made in Whistler only during the period when it's quiet (January to June), and will continue to promote the surrounding shops and galleries, as well.
"The more exposure to art and the more exposure to culture and the more opportunity people have to talk about art directly with the artists, the more excitement is generated. And maybe they won't buy Pearls By Borgi and maybe they won't buy beads by me, but maybe they'll go into the galleries!"
