I have a love of nature in particular the trees and hills, skies and the feeling they convey to me. I have been called an original druid, by some.
My love of history and change in society is a focus for my art. I enjoy interpreting and as such am more an abstract or impressionist painter.
My hope and dream is to share some of the trails i have travelled with you.
Otter Pottery and Marlene’s Krafty Korner will be open for the annual Christmas in Markerville festivities for 2023! Both businesses are located just west of the Church on Johnson Avenue.
The first weekend in November is set aside each year for Markerville’s Cookie Walk and Christmas Market. Beginning Friday, November 3rd you can build your own goodie bag of homemade treats! Christmas Vendors, including Big Blue Barn Designs, will be set up in Fensala Hall and the Creamery with handmade items for sale including spices, jewelry, woodworks, and more for all three days, November 3, 4 & 5, 2023. Lunch will be available at the Fensala Hall.
A Christmas Display will be set up at the Markerville Lutheran Church.
36372 Range Road 15 (4 minutes S.E. of Markerville)
Marie Sveinson, a lifelong artist inspired by her mother, turned her passion into the Creamery Gallery in 1985, where she showcased her work.
Her art is influenced by her Icelandic heritage and the historic charm of Markerville. She enjoys painting Animals, Historic Buildings, and Landscapes. Marie’s studio, Grass Roots Art Studio, is available for viewings by appointment.
She finds inspiration in capturing cherished memories through her paintings, reviving forgotten moments in people’s lives.
Grass Roots Art | Google Maps Link
In the Fensala Hall
Wood turning has been Robert E. Braun’s passion for the past twenty years. Born and raised in a Northern Ontario lumber town, he developed his love of wood early in life. And, inspired by a craftsman he met in Greece who was turning his olive wood vases out of a store front studio, he was intrigued by the whole process of turning.
He prefers to turn while the wood is wet or “green” to allow it to distort and find its own shape. In addition, Robert has made over 90 of his own cutting knives. As the wood turns on the lathe, the grain patterns emerge and the adventure begins. It piques his interest to see what lies within.
Each piece he turns is chosen for its creative potential, making use of such features as burls, spalt, and bark inclusions. This ensures a unique creative result. One of his greatest pleasures is searching for exotic wood on his travels.
Bowls, vases, wall platters, and urns are examples of his work. Carving caricatures is another one of his passions.
abbraun55@gmail.com | bobsworld53@gmail.com
Contact Us | The Artists | About Us
Thank you to all the participating artisans, and everyone who stopped by to take in our 4th Annual Art Show and Sale on July long weekend!
There are many folks that help out behind the scenes and contribute to the success of the event. From overflow parking access (thanks Jim, Al & d’Arcy, Carly, Fensala Hall!); to the food and facilities available at Historic Markerville Creamery (thanks Brooke, Pam and the gang!); to venue space access (thanks Ed & Marlene, Al & d’Arcy, Ron, SGSIS!).
Thanks to all the friends that followed along on Facebook and shared our posts to help get the word out.
When I was putting out our sandwich board signs for the event I was grateful for last year’s donations from Paintwerx Studios, Vokestone Crowns, and Drew & Michelle Hauge that made them possible!
Thanks to John for help with displays, Olivia Jasmin for sharing her photos from the event with us, and @charlotteskogenmusic for dropping in to play and sing for a while before heading over to the Creamery stage!
Thanks to the artists for helping each other out during set up and take down. Sometimes you just need an extra set of hands to tie that cord or balance a rack.
And finally, I want to mention an unexpected but most welcome contribution by neighbour Al. When the wind arrived on day two, he had a couple of lovely pieces of leftover marble slab that worked perfectly to thwart the escape attempts by a rack of dyed silk scarves!
Jean Elliott is a glass artist, residing in Didsbury, Alberta.
She has many years making, crafting and experimenting in assorted media … favourite items are made from glass in her home studio: Mosaics, soldered and fused.
Featured items for this market are cloth market bags, something for children and adults; fused glass pocket hearts and stir sticks.
Glass Art by Jean | 403-335-4722
jmelliott@shaw.ca
Amanda Frost is a self-taught artist originally from England. “I have seen many places in the world but am proud to call Canada home.”
She got into art at a young age, and found that her father’s work as draftsman led her to use math in art, hence the pointillism and architectural drawings for which she is best known. She is also well known for her love of animals.
“My mission is to have fun trying to do justice to the beauty that surrounds us.” – A.F.
What started out as a hobby has turned into a second career for Bill.
Bill started out building planters, and then someone asked him to build a garbage can container. Since then he has built over 100 of them which can be seen scattered throughout Delburne and various towns in the surrounding areas.
Over the years Bill has come up with many different ideas including picnic tables, sandboxes, Adirondack chairs, dog houses, pet dishes, benches, and many more items. Bill does all the building and Pat does all the staining and finishing of the products. Pat also has gotten into Diamond Art which she does as a hobby, and now has framed and matted many of them by making her own frames, and selling them along with Bill’s products.
Bill’s Woodworking | Delburne, AB
403-318-5876 | billswoodworking@live.com
For the first week of November 2022, Christmas vendors will be set up in Fensala Hall and the Creamery with a wonderful variety of handmade items to choose from. The annual Cookie Walk is part of the Historic Markerville event, which also includes a Christmas display set up at the Church and lunch available at the Creamery Parlour Café!
Marlene’s Krafty Korner will be open all three days, plus Otter Pottery will have Artist on the Avenue participants on display in the Gallery and Studio at 74 Johnson Avenue … including Big Blue Barn Designs, Annette Gray, Glass Art by Jean, Judy Hauge Tile Art, and more.
Enjoy all the festivities that Christmas in Markerville has to offer, and then stop in at the local businesses along Johnson Avenue for even more Christmas buying choices!
The final concert of the season for Thursday’s Supper and Song event was an enjoyable presentation: The history of Markerville in stories and songs. See the original post on Historic Markerville’s Facebook page.
Larry took the stage at the Creamery courtyard on August 25, 2022. He shared quirky and fun versions of some well-known songs with his own lyrical twist, prefacing them with quick introductions to the local history behind them. And for his last song of the night he invited the audience to join in and help sing a version of “This Land is Our Land” with a tip of the hat to Alberta in the lyrics!
Thank you to Historic Markerville for putting this on, and to Chantal Riviere for organizing all of the performers for Supper and Song this year. She found an amazing variety of musical talent to grace the Creamery stage for eight shows! The Thursday free concerts are over for now, but they’ll return next year in July.
In the meantime, here’s a reminder that the Fensala Hall Concert Series will be starting on September 17, 2022 with the Marcus Trummer Band. Information and tickets are available at the Historic Markerville website. Season tickets can also be purchased for all five concerts in 2022/2023 by calling 403-728-3795.
Please enjoy some videos from Larry’s performance on August 25.
Some fine-tuning to the new pathway along the side of the Medicine River near the Historic Markerville Creamery! Al and John completed work on the stairs by installing a hand railing, and Byron and Dave worked on smoothing out some of the bumps and dips along the path.
Here’s a previous post about River Walk!
Sunday, August 21, 2022 featured the return of Cream Day to Historic Markerville after a 2-year hiatus thanks to the pandemic! Along with the usual activities of BBQ and events for kids, the streets were lined with cars and trucks on display for the Show ‘n Shine, and some of the Artists on the Avenue vendors set up their tents in the Creamery courtyard for an art show and sale.
Other activities included live music with Roberta Fetch and Mary Ann Message; cream car rides for the kids; face painting; ice cream making, butter making, and cream separating demonstrations; balloon toys table; and the Cook Family Scholarship presentation. The last event of the afternoon was a Pie Eating contest broken down into three age categories.
Stephan Stephansson was known as “the poet of the Rocky Mountains.” Immigrating to North America in 1873, he and his family eventually relocated to the Markerville district of Alberta in 1889. He was a hard-working farmer and community leader who provided for his wife and eight children, and still found the time to write over 2300 pages of poetry and more than 1700 pages of letters, essays, articles, and short stories.
Stephansson House Provincial Historic Site is a wonderful afternoon adventure that everyone can enjoy. A path from the Interpretive Center leads you through a park-like setting to his home, restored to a snapshot of 1927, including original furnishings.
During the visit I not only received an informative tour from interpreter Emma Belich, but also was greeted by none other than the infamous Jólakötturinn. Also known to the locals as “Kirby”.
The historic site is located at 2230 Twp Rd 371, Red Deer County, Alberta (get directions), with paved roads all the way to the site’s entrance. I hope you enjoy the photos, but this is just a fraction of what you can experience by dropping in for your own visit.
Kirby would love to see you at Stephansson House. He takes his greeting duties seriously!
The August 18, 2022 Supper and Song was another splendid evening of outdoor musical entertainment at the Markerville Creamery courtyard. Al Gamble welcomed Allen Christie and Riley Tubbs to the stage and the duo took it from there; giving the audience a brilliant blend of original songs and old favourites! Visit the Historic Markerville Facebook page for the original post.
Following are more photos from the evening and video of some original tunes and covers.
