About Canada

This weekend it is Family Day, here in Alberta.

So I thought I would show the neat poster from Cori Ross

We are Family

Let me know if you like it.

Family Day is observed in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan on the third Monday of February. It’s a holiday to celebrate the importance of families and family life to people and their communities. (Manitoba actually officially celebrates Louis Riel Day, but many people call it Family Day.)

          

I came across Pinterest recently and have become a bit addicted. Its a sort of social digital scrapbook, thats growing like crazy, if you haven’t heard of it.

It is simple in that images you like, across the web, you “pin” and others can like, comment or repin to their own interest boards. It’s quite compulsive!

Anyway I have become so taken with it that I have added a pin button to each product page. Feel free to pin your favourite products to your boards.

If you are on Pinterest, you can .

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On Christmas Day it is a tradition for a lot of local families to ski Norquay for an hour or two. (In the UK we would go to the pub, but this is more wholesome).

If if you know Norquay you will know the North American. At the top is a tea house, which reopened just this year. Some people think its crazy to attempt the North American at all. In 1966 Rudi must have had more than a few loose screws to hike up above the tea house to do a jump from the top, captured on film by Bruno Engler.

Do you like it?. All I can say is wow!, and have a good (and safe) Christmas.

          

One of favourite artists, Faith Harckham always produces lovely work. The latest is Mother Grizzly And Cub. I love the sense of power and movement that comes from fairly simple lines and rich earthy colours.

Do you like it?.

          

One of the neat things about working on the shop floor at our store About Canada is meeting the interesting artists that just wander in to see if we are interested in carrying their work.

One recent visitor was a photographer Patrick Price, from Cochrane Alberta. Patrick came in to show us his new book which is a beautiful ‘fly on the wall’ take on plains life, showing both work and the play.

My favourite photos from the book are:
The subtle couple.

The winter morning work

And the horse with a sense of humour.

There are so many more in the book that it was actually hard to choose.

Tell me which you like the best.

          

We have taken on a quirky line of ceramic from PMO Designs, which really are quite unusual.

With pastel colours and deliberately ‘dripped’ glaze these pisa leaning cups are a real conversation piece.


Tell me if you like these ‘drunken’ mugs.

          

The original works of Faith Harckham are always very popular in store, at About Canada. Faith is best known for her bears.

She has now released a limited edition giclee print on canvas titled Lean Wolf.

As ever, to me, she catches the essence of the creature with simple lines and bold colours. Let me know if you like it.

          

This weekend is Thanksgiving. For our non Canadian readers, Thanksgiving is on the second Monday in October and is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at the close of the harvest season.

Though the holiday is not as big a celebration in Canada as it is in the U.S., where Thanksgiving is the year\’s biggest holiday occasion. It is a popular time for Canadians to gather with family, it is also often a time for weekend getaways.

I thought it would be of interest, given the family element to the weekend, to show you 3 popular family themed presents.

Boris Kramer – Family Sculptures

Cori Ross – We are family poster

Nathalie Parenteau – Caribou Family Ltd Edition

Oh yes. For our Canadian readers, happy Thanksgiving !.

For those who are interested

Thanksgiving corresponds to the English and European Harvest festival, with churches decorated with cornucopias, pumpkins, corn, wheat sheaves, and other harvest bounty.

Many people use the three-day Thanksgiving weekend to visit family or friends who live far away, or to receive them in their own homes. Many people also prepare a special meal to eat at some point during the long weekend. Traditionally, this included roast turkey and seasonal produce, such as pumpkin, corn ears and pecan nuts.

The Thanksgiving weekend is also a popular time to take a short autumn vacation. This may be the last chance in a while for some people to use cottages or holiday homes before winter sets in. Other popular activities include: outdoor breaks to admire the spectacular colors of the Canadian autumn; hiking; and fishing. Fans of the teams in the Canadian Football League may spend part of the weekend watching the Thanksgiving Day Classic matches.

And its not just a European thing.

Canada\’s First Nations and Native Americans throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Cree and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America.

I hope you find this of interest. Let us know if you have any questions, click on the images to see more details.

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We have another new limited edition print from Denis Mayer Jr. I love his work.

This one is another Red Fox.

The original, which is still in print, was A Touch of Warmth

The new one is Sly Wonderer

I think his skill is amazing.

Do you have a favourite between these two?.