TOQUE 2012

Western Front Annual Craft Sale + Fundraiser @ The Western Front 303 East 8th Avenue, Vancouver December 7, 2012: 6pm-10pm December 8, 2012: 11am-4pm

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THANK YOU to everyone who came by TOQUE this weekend, and to all of our generous vendors and dedicated volunteers.  Thanks for supporting your local artisans and for supporting the Western Front!

Photos from TOQUE 2012 can be found on our Facebook page.

Be sure to visit us at www.front.bc.ca for updates on our ongoing programming and events.  We'd love to see you back again.

Thanks again, 

Western Front

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TOQUE begins tomorrow!  Come out and support the Western Front and a great variety of local vendors, and be sure to visit the cocktail bar and sausage stand tomorrow night.  Plus come back on Saturday for baked treats and a kid's craft table (and more great shopping).

TOQUE will take place, as always, in the Western Front's legendary "Grand Luxe Hall".  It's looking especially grand these days.

See you tomorrow night!  

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Vancouver's only sausage stand...will be at TOQUE!

Join us on Friday for bratwurst sausages grilled on the back deck by E.L.I Catering.

Find out more about Eli at http://www.eateli.com/

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For this year's Toque at the Western Front, Tin Can Studio & the Association of Very Good Ideas presents: Champion Shop - offering hand-crafted champion worthy goods and awards. Visit them outside the Western Front inside our mobile project space, an 18ft silver trailer called Tin Can Studio, where they will be offering a custom award service, a scheduled program of participatory micro events, and impromptu awards ceremonies throughout the event. They'll also have a variety of accessories, prints, and lovely things for sale.

See you at TOQUE on Friday and Saturday!  

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Studio Bup joins TOQUE this year with a lovely assortment of handmade Christmas ornaments and gift boxes! Find out more about the design partnership of Christine Huynh and Ryan Boechler on their website here.

See you at TOQUE this Friday and Saturday!

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Vancouver-based artist Sylvain Sailly has designed this year's Western Front tea towel.  Inspired by the artist's memories of 90's TV commercials for cleaning products which illustrate simplistic close-up animations of fabric being 'magically cleaned' by soap particles, the design plays with the irony of a diagram of fabric printed on fabric.

You can view some of Sylvain Sailly's digital animation work on his website here.  He is also part of the artist collective WALLPAPERS.

Western Front tea towels will be available for purchase at TOQUE on December 7-8, 2012, and are also available for purchase online on the Western Front website.

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Publication Studio Vancouver returns to Toque this year!

Publication Studio publishes an innovative series of books produced on-demand and by hand in their studio. Founded by Keith Higgins and Kathy Slade in 2010, they are part of a network of Publication Studios in other cities including Portland, Berkeley, Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. They mainly publish books by artists, including books by Myfanwy MacLeod, Mina Totino, Dan Graham, Michael Turner, and others.  They also have reclaimed out-of-print and under-appreciated books and given them new life, in series like the Everyday Library, which includes books like Hutchins Hapgood's The Spirit of the Ghetto and Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor; and Apparitions, a series of volumes of literary tales of the fantastic which includes stories by Oscar Wilde, Sarah Coleridge, and E.T.A. Hoffmann. Publication Studio will be bringing these books, as well as a collection of distinctive notebooks and the popular "little bag of little books" to Toque again this year.

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Wendy Oakman - book binder, book restorer and book maker.

Check out her blog for more information, and be sure to find her at Toque this year!

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The talented Zoe Garred joins us this year at Toque 2012 with Fleet Objects. After receiving her degrees in industrial design from Emily Carr University and in painting from the University of Calgary, Zoe Garred started her Vancouver based design studio, Fleet Objects.

Fleet Objects focuses heavily on ceramic works. For Zoe, "the idea of turning earth into something beautiful and useful is amazing". Aside from ceramics, Zoe also uses other natural materials such as wood and leather. Zoe’s work is fully considered; her products and packaging use a minimum of materials, all of which are either re-usable, recyclable or biodegradable. Her inspiration comes mostly from the ocean; one can sense the oceanic allusions through fluid lines and soft colors of her designs. Even the name of her company, Fleet Objects, is based on an idea of a fleet of ships. 

With Fleet Objects, Zoe aims to create objects one can cherish and connect with on a deeper level. To do so, Zoe skillfully combines artistry and functionality;  albeit their usefulness, Zoe's objects remain abstract in form and application. By leaving the function of her pieces open to interpretation she invites the user to define the object's significance. 

Zoe has exhibited all over the world including at the IDS West, Designboom mart in ICFF NYC and 100% Design Tokyo, Designboom's “Handled with Care” in London. Fleet Objects has been featured in several publications such as House Beautiful, Elle Decor UK, House and Home and Western Living Magazine. She is currently a finalist for Western Living Magazine's Designer of the Year award.  

Be sure to check out her website, Facebook and Twitter. You can also look for her on affluent Vancouver blogs, such as Poppytalk and Scout Magazine. 

With an elegant, fresh, and minimal look, it is hard not to appreciate Zoe's ability to bring style to any space. Find her over at Toque 2012!

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Kids craft table on Saturday, courtesy of Collage Collage

As part of Toque on Saturday, December 8 between 11am and 4pm you can drop by with your kids for some arts and crafts, courtesy of Collage Collage.

Check out this behind-the-scenes feature on Collage Collage's masquerade party at https://www.lmnop.com.au/2012/11/masquerade-collage-collage/, with some great photos of Draw Me A Lion's kid-inspired cards and colouring books. 

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Fieldwork is the brainchild of eight eclectic designers living in Vancouver interested in making things and telling stories. Their backgrounds vary; some of them have spent their childhood as a cat, some work on another planet, some have tips on extending dish rack real estate, and some offer an insight on sloths. The design collective observes behaviour, asks questions, shares ideas, refines details, and shapes materials. The results are rather stunning; varying from Amanda Huynth's Knot, a fabric that works both as a laptop case and a scarf or Jeffrey Werner  and Joshua Doherty's lock light, which turns your lock into a bike light with solid and blinky settings. 

They are currently obsessing over language, culinary exploits, objects, ideas and human activity.

Fieldwork is sure to bring character and innovation to Toque 2012. Meanwhile, check out their website.

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TIN CAN is an 18ft 1972 Streamline trailer that has been lovingly converted into a multi-functional and fully mobile studio/gallery/event space. Their intention is for the project to become a platform for creative collaborations and public engagement. During its many incarnations, it will be a place where people can come together to build, make, show and share ideas with the intention of supporting creative culture and building community through the act of collaborative production, as well as through the creation of a physical space for gathering and dialogue.

The people at Tin Can Studios have this to say about their project: "Tin Can studio represents for us the notion of coming together to create something that addresses our common awareness of shrinking space for creative production in Vancouver. Through a mutual desire to create meaningful work that actually engages people, that functions as a hub for strengthening community bonds, that plants seeds in neighborhoods about making creativity and art accessible, we hope to empower others towards connecting, collaborating, and making interesting things happen. Our goal is to create a space that allows for unusual collaborations and shared experiences between those who identify as artists as well as those that do not, outside of traditional creative contexts and environments."

Tin Can Studio was built as a response to the loss of art spaces in Vancouver in the wake of the arts funding cuts in BC. We decided to try our hand at creating a space that housed our ideas of what a creative space could be; collaborative; inviting; connected to making and to showing; and mobile.

Come and check out Tin Can Studio at Toque this year, and go to their website for more information about what they do!

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For Fable Naturals, "life is about passion. If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing you shouldn’t be doing it."

Fable Naturals believes in creating products that you could feel good about putting on your skin. For these reasons, the company uses organic ingredients and shies away from any harsh chemicals. Following a sustainable business ethic, all of Fable Natural products are fair trade certified to give a complete story of the ingredients and the people who produce them.  

Their blog features news on Fable Naturals as well as tips on healthy skin products. Be sure to follow them on Twitter , like them on Facebook, and find them over at Toque 2012!

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Vancouver's Erin Templeton knows how accessories complete an outfit and is nice enough to share her vision through her namesake brand. Her designs use both new or re-purposed vintage leather. 

Erin's life-long fascination with vintage informs designs that defy trends and transcend eras. In her own words, "inspiration is everywhere, but mostly in vintage and old movies". The accessories, handmade with local products, have "minimal adornments and simple shapes, which paves the way for the wearer's personal style to show through rather than be overshadowed by them". It is her hope that each piece is able to be a life long friend, and able to mix freely with new and vintage pieces. 

When not working at home, "cutting things out while watching Murder She Wrote",  Templeton invites her customers drop by to peruse hand-picked vintage in the storefront, and talk and joke with her as she works on designs in the open production studio located in Chinatown.

Her accessories have been featured in several magazines, such as Elle Canada, Flare Magazine, Marie Claire, The Globe and Mail, and the Huffington Post. 

To get the latest news on Erin, check out her blog, her Facebook and her Twitter. Don't forget to look for her at Toque 2012!

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Bike Raffle! Now -> Dec 8

Become a Member by Dec 8 and WIN this Linus Dutchi bike courtesy of Whoa! Nellie. Draw takes place Saturday afternoon at Toque. Receive five raffle tickets with purchase of annual membership. Membership from $40 ($30 students) and available online or by phone [phone]. Single tickets available: $10/$5 current members.

Western Front depends on contributions from its members. Join our vibrant community and support the creation and presentation of contemporary art and new music in Vancouver. Become a member or give the gift of membership today!

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Simply Read Books offers beautifully illustrated children's books with topics ranging from classics like Pinocchio to newly published books, all with a contemporary style.

Simply Read Book's approach to illustrated children's books follows the finest publishing tradition and spirit with inspired content, extraordinary artwork, outstanding graphic design form, and quality production. They introduce contemporary books with a modern appeal and fresh outlook, and offer a careful selection of timeless stories that link the past with the present.

Check out Simply Read's website for more information, and don't forget to look for them at Toque 2012!

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Jennifer Fedorink joins us at Toque this year with a lovely collection of handmade ornaments using found and woven materials including wire, old guitar strings, copper and aluminum.  Having studied Crafts and Design at Sheridan College and Textile Arts at Capilano College, Jennifer Fedorink juxtaposes traditional weaving techniques with non-traditional materials to create a variety of unique objects that speak to the materiality of the everyday. Jennifer has participated in a variety of craft shows including the One Of A Kind Christmas Show in Toronto, and the Circle Craft Christmas Market in Vancouver. Check out her work at Toque 2012!