The Members of the Valley Artisans’ Coop acknowledge that we exist on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people and honour their long history here.
We recognize that we all have a role to play in decolonizing, healing, and reconciliation and we value art as an expression of our common humanity.
Andon-style
Table Lamps
In his career as an architectural designer, Colin has been deeply influenced by a family legacy of home and boat builders, and cabinet makers.
He has a profound appreciation of how space, and objects within a space, affect ho people live in their homes.
His lamp series for private homes draws inspiration from Japanese "Andon" style lamps, blending exotic and domestic hardwoods with Japanese washi paper.
The designs emphasize architectural simplicity, clean lines, and the natural beauty of materials, aiming to provide both functional lighting and a sense of warmth, comfort, and intimacy in the home.
Woodwork
An avid bushman, Eugene would happily live in a tent if he could take his woodworking tools with him. Instead, he compromises, and lives rurally, with the bush trails just a short hike away. Working with wood is a natural extension of his love of the outdoors, and searching out the raw material for his pieces is part of his creative process.
Inventive and resourceful, Eugene loves to incorporate the unusual into his work, so that every piece has something unexpected: lush Brazilian mahogany inlaid with slag, striped green sumac with rusty oak, black steel against pale birch. His most recent work is with reclaimed materials, the laminated wood of old pianos and the metalwork inside, or the pitted steel and bent wire of abandoned machinery.
Woodwork
I have lived in Deep River my entire life. I never really wanted to move anywhere else. Activities in the outdoors are very important to me and the access to crown land nearby makes it very attractive to remain in the area.
Approximately 20 years ago I started becoming interested in wood working but I wanted a hobby that did not involve having to purchase large machinery as I did not have the room. I started out using a Dremel tool and carving wood clocks and figures, but I wanted more so I ended up purchasing a small scroll saw and experimenting with scroll saw work. I enjoyed the experience so much that I gave my original scroll saw away and purchased a top quality model which I have used and enjoyed for many hundreds of hours
I now have filing cabinets full of designs for jewellery boxes, ornaments and practically anything else that can be made from wood, it was getting to the point that I had made so many items that I no longer had any room to store them. It was suggested to me to join the Valley Artisans so other people could enjoy what I put many, many hours into making.
So I did join the Valley Artisans and I do hope that others enjoy what I make!