Art for arts sake, with a side of style and function thrown in for good measure, can sum up more than a few artistsā work in Squamish. The town is home to countless visual artists whose creations beautify their surroundings in a way that is, at times, quite indispensable.
Ceramicist Emily Tolmie, has been throwing clay for decades; her work is a staple among Squamish artists at markets such as Refresh and in popular tourist destinations such as the Squamish Adventure Centre and Nootka Naturals at Squamish Town Hub.
Tolmieās signature mugs, often with the illustrations of bicycles and other recreation or nature motifs are often stamped with the townās name and make a perfect souvenir for those passing through. They are also a point of pride for locals who are validated by what weāve always known: Squamish is a hip place to be.
āI want to be here. This is the best place for me and my family to be. And I want to be making,ā said Tolmie, who also substitute teaches a couple days a week at local elementary schools.
āIt starts from me wanting to be in the place. When Craig and I came from Vancouver, we werenāt even sure what we were coming to ā this wasnāt, at the time, a place to come and āmake.ā But now, I canāt imagine being anywhere else.ā
Tolmie, a mother of two (Mary is 10, and Violet is 7), is a graduate of the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, in Vancouver. She moved to Squamish with her composer husband Craig Ducommun 13 years ago, and now spends hours upon hours in her home studio every week wedging, throwing, firing, and glazing her delightful designs onto pieces that can be used for special occasions and every day. Beyond her signature coffee mugs, she also makes gorgeous tumblers, travel mugs, pitchers, and even rubber-sealed jugs that can serve as growlers.
āI like the idea of living in a smaller town and doing something like functional ceramics. Itās about the maker passing along this thing to you, and you use this thing that I make. It becomes part of your family, your house, your dinner table ā thereās a local flair to it. Itās community,ā said Tolmie, who teaches ceramics in her studio.
āThis is a really good place for local handmade stuff. People just know you ā the town is small enough ā they just call when they need something.ā
Lan Yao paints highly detailed works ā about three to six a year including commissions ā in fits and spurts. Sheās a full-time artist who also enjoys the Squamish recreation lifestyle, in particular, climbing. You can see the influence of landscapes in her art, which are rich colour washes that give the eye an endless number of vignettes to explore. There are both hidden and overt images co-existing within her massive paintings, pieces that range upwards of 6o inches by 48 inches.
Yao uses acrylic and polymer ink, sometimes diluting either medium with a bit of water to do a wash over the surface, giving her a jumping off point.
āOften Iāll just pour some water down, or pour some diluted paint directly onto the canvas. Then Iāll just play with that shape to get another shape, layer the washes,ā she said, explaining that this early process can take a few days to a week. āFrom those shapes that emerge, I can get started.ā
āI donāt really paint in a traditional way where youāre standing at an easel and painting, I kind of move around the piece a lot,ā said Yao, who began her training in Chinese watercolour at age four when the family still lived in China. āI try to approach the canvas or wood panel like itās a page from my sketchbook, that way itās not as intimidating ā to stare at this massive empty space and think āWhat am I going to do?āā
After graduating as a printmaker with a fine arts degree from Emily Carr, Yao put down her paintbrush and took odd jobs before becoming a 3D modeler for an animation studio. It wasnāt until she moved to Squamish seven years later, that she picked up her brushes and put paint to canvas again.
āI hadnāt painted for about seven years, but everything about living here truly inspired me,ā she said. āThe sky, the forest, whatās going on with the weather that day. If Iām going for a hike or a run, and itās just rained and the light hits the trail a certain wayā¦ thereās just times that I look at something and I think āoh, I have to paint thatā But not exactly that image per se ā itās more the colour, the smell of the air.ā
You can see that Yao is a printmaker when you look at her paintings. Her process is relatively evident in all its layers, and exceptionally unique. The style and expansiveness of her work lend itself to suit āI canāt remember whose idea it was [to turn Yaoās paintings into fabric], Iām pretty sure it was Valās idea. I always wanted to make fabrics and wallpaper design, thereās such an art to it.ā
Dressmaking runs in the family for Nagy, but due to geography, the seamstress is self-taught.
āMy grandmother taught my cousins to sew, but I didnāt live close enough. I started out as a punk kid taking apart my clothes and sewing them back together ā I didnāt know what I was doing. Iād get hand-me-downs, shop at Value Village and Iād want to make it my own somehow,ā she said, laughing. āFinally, after years of not knowing what I was doing, I took a sewing class in high-school.ā
After acing that, Nagy went on to get her diploma at Helen Lefeaux School ā a strict fashion design school in Vancouver where she learned, among other skills, pattern-building techniques.
Very much into the creative side of dressmaking, Nagy has a hard time qualifying her style, but her esthetic harkens to a time gone by. Whether itās the 1930s in Hollywood or the 1960s in South Africa, you can see hints of different eras in all her pieces, from the cut or drape of the fabric to the notions she uses. The quality of construction is consistently top-notch. Many of her creations are one-of-a-kind, which has a romantic appeal ā unless the dress you have your eye on doesnāt come in your size.
āBecause Iāve been working with vintage fabrics for so long, it can be a bit restrictive. Usually, I only have enough fabric to make one or two dresses in the same fabric. Thatās one thing I like about using the vintage fabric is you arenāt creating a new demand, and typically the quality is higher, and thatās what appeals to me. I want to be able to create the same kind of quality and uniqueness in a modern fabric ā it can be a bit difficult sometimes,ā she said, adding she is keen to offer a full range of size options.
This struggle is exactly what has led her to make her own prints.
āIām working toward creating my own prints as sustainably and local as possible. For example when I had Lanās fabric printed it came from Austin Texas. I want to bring that closer to home, but I wonāt compromise quality.ā
Nagy admits some of her favourite things to make āare the really, really time-consuming.ā
āI obsess over my grandmotherās traditional Hungarian embroidery, and my other grandmother is an artist as well. Her art ā contrasting, punchy, different, and out there ā really gets me going,ā she said, gesturing to the black and white images hanging on her studio wall.
āBasically Iāve been trying to channel my grandmas lately.ā
Nagy says her inspirations āare sort of all over the placeā at the moment.
āThereās something new every day, thatās what keeps it interesting. But Iām really trying to nail down a handful of designs that I really love, that are easy to wear and easy to clean. Once I can settle on exactly what those are, I really want to make full-size runs of things.
āI love making one of a kind things, but thereās something to be said for having something in peopleās sizes which is why Iām moving more toward the printmaking.
Lanās paintings donāt stick around that long, so we have to make sure we get a high-resolution image of it before it goes. But Iāve also been talking to a few other artists and there are so many things Iād like to try ā including my own paintings and designs.
For now, it looks like thereās no shortage of collaboration opportunities. Yao said she is on board to do more work together.
Ā āIf she wants to make more, Iād love to.ā
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