Monday 7 October 2013

Canadian Adventure: Granville Island

Another place we visited in Vancouver was the amazing Granville Island. It used to be an industrial estate. However, after the decline of the area, it was redeveloped in the 1970s to become a centre for the arts and independent shops. There is an amazing covered food market there, and lots of designers and makers. There is even an art and design university there, with an excellent art supply shop attached!

We went there as a group one evening and had supper at the Granville Island Hotel, but most of the shops were closed at the time, so I decided to revisit the following morning. It's arty and foodie heaven. Here are a few pictures to show you what it was like:

Here's Dad eying up the woodcarving workshop.



The food market was a labyrinth of deliciousness so it's impossible to show it all in one picture, but here is a selection of the fresh produce available. Such a shame we couldn't take loads away with us!




Kate Barazzoul makes beautiful jewellery under the name 'Quench Designs'. I fell in love with everything on her gorgeously presented stall and could have bought it all! Dad ordered one of her pieces which Kate very kindly delivered to the hotel for us on our final day in Vancouver. In fact, it's featured on her facebook page!



Granville Island Hotel, where we ate our dinner.



Here is the band playing just as the sun was beginning to set.



When I came back the following morning, I sampled a delicious vegetable curry for lunch. I was sitting at one of the diner style tables and got chatting to the girl next to me. She was really nice and was on her way to Seattle as part of her travels.




In one of the shops, called Dragonspace (amazing name!), I discovered a Canadian illustrator I'd not heard of before called Charles Van Sandwyk. I don't think he has his own website, but that is a link to examples of his work and a little bit about him. There was a beautiful display of his handmade books in the shop. I fell in love with them, and decided I had to get one. If you know me well, you will know it's no surprise that I went for the Christmas one! The style of his work reminds me of a mixture of my two favourites- Beatrix Potter and Arthur Rackham.


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