Art in Bloom takes over ShopWAG

Meg Does Pottery

Meghan Greenlay of Meg Does Pottery is a ceramicist from Winnipeg who began experimenting with the medium while taking classes at WAG Studio over eight years ago. Her work is full of character – from ceramic gold cats to gorgeous handmade plates adorned with bows, Meg finds inspiration through her travels, art, and in elevating everyday objects.

Meg is also an interpreter at this year’s Art in Bloom event. She will be recreating an artwork from the permanent collection and loves the sentiment of flowers and art and their ability to make people pause and take in their beauty.

“My new collection, Jardin de Printemps, is inspired by my recent trip to France. There’s a lot of new things this year including a new palette, new animals, and more sculptural works. I was very inspired by Monet’s Garden; it’s fitting to share these pieces during Art in Bloom.”

Kami Goertz

Kami Goertz began experimenting with textiles and needle-felting while on maternity leave 15 years ago and her work has expanded from there. Drawn to textiles and patterns, Kami began collecting pieces she could turn into characters and soon there were a whole host of soft sculpture friends.

I started making some flower characters, directly inspired by Art in Bloom and the shapes and colours of spring.

Hello Darling

Miriam Delos Santos has been operating as Hello Darling for about eight years. She started making flower crowns for her daughter, which blossomed into other baby items, and then into floral headbands and crowns for brides. Lately, she’s been focusing on colour-blocked fashion garments, but has made a return to florals, noting that flowers represent hopefulness and beauty.

“I make art, and I make things very intuitively, every piece is different and made intentionally. This spring line is my return to florals, I needed a sense of hope. To me, making flower petals is meditative and I infuse that energy into the pieces I make.”

Simone’s Rose

Michelle Maynard comes from the world of fashion and saw first-hand how detrimental the industry can be to people and the environment. So, when she decided to start Simone’s Rose, she knew she wanted her business to be more sustainable and not contribute to mass pollution of dyes, garbage, and waste. She does this by choosing fabrics that are natural, organic, and ethically produced, using vintage or dead stock items and not over-producing or only making made-to-order items.

[For Art in Bloom], I brought in some special fabrics – beautiful, organic cotton double gauze.

“The artist who makes the fabric also creates stunning floral paintings and transfers them onto the fabric. I knew it was a perfect match with lots of pretty blooms, florals, and other special pieces.”

dconstruct

Lisa and Sean Reico began making jewellery from recycled architectural materials about 17 years ago, by accident. They were in the midst of building their home and had some leftover concrete material, which lead to Sean making a concrete necklace for his wife, Lisa. The necklace received lots of compliments, and from there, the hobby grew. Lisa and Sean made more types of jewellery and started attending markets and doing shows, sourcing recycled materials such as resin, acrylic, and Betula, eventually selling their works in shops around Winnipeg and opening their flagship dconstruct store at The Forks.

“We’ll be bringing a lot of florals, keeping in theme with Art in Bloom. We have a new rosette collection that was just released, and there’ll be pieces from our four other flower-inspired collections, it’ll be really beautiful!”

Masagana Flower Farm & Studio

Lourdes Still is the heart behind Masagana Flower Farm & Studio, which is an experiential seasonal flower farm and natural dye studio in Southeast Manitoba. The woman-led, Filipina-owned small business is all about growing joy and creating magic through flowers that can be used as natural dye sources. They grow seasonal blooms and dye plants that they also use to create hand-dyed textiles.

I’ll be offering Tinta: a dye-your-own-wearable-art-experience.

“This kit has everything you need to create your own hand-dyed scarf and spark curiosity about what we can do on an individual level to try and think and act more locally – where we’re sourcing our flowers from, how we interact with the flowers that we grow – it opens up ideas that flowers can be used in multiple ways.”

Tricia Brock

Tricia Brock grew up surrounded by art and textiles. At a young age, her grandmother taught her to sew, which shifted the way she used materials and fabrics and sparked an interest in design. After seeking education and mentorship opportunities, Tricia felt she was ready to make her own path as an artist. Working with weaving and soft sculpture, she finds inspiration in the creation process and continuously evolves her practice.

I was working with plants to dye yarn and growing plants in my own garden; the colours are incredible, so blending the plants, colours, and art all together was a really fun process.

“I was also inspired by the 2022 Art in Bloom event; I love learning about plants and flowers and how nature mixes with the urban environment, and how they transpose together.

These weavings on paper are new for me but I’m really enjoying the process, I’m working on 5×7 and 8×8 papers, but I’ll also be bringing broaches inspired by my grandmother’s enamel pins from the 1960s.”

Prismacandles

Lynsey Sable, the maker behind Prismacandles, has been creating beeswax works of art for 15 years. She began adding colour to the candles two years ago, from plant-derived dyes that she gets from her neighbor, Masagana Flowers. Lynsey believes that candles make beautiful art, as you burn it down, it gives off light and transforms from art into a functional item.

I’m inspired by colours and nature, particularly flowers – I think floral arrangements and candles are 3D artforms and complement each other so well, they’re a match made in heaven.

“I’m obsessed with making candles that are super realistic to other things, whether that’s an ice cream cone, asparagus, or flowers – it’s challenging and fun.”

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