Fair November comes back to U of G Campus

The 48th Fair November with more that 80 artisans from all over Canada was back in person after hosting virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic

AADYA KAPOOR

The University of Guelph has been hosting Fair November for 48 years. It is a fair where Canadian artists show and sell their intricately crafted art, from mesmerizing pottery to breathtaking handcrafted jewelry to the delicious delicacies made by the recipes that have been passed down generations and have been perfected by talented artisans.

We had the opportunity to talk to and interact with some amazing artists and businesses who shared stories about their journeys with us and how their businesses came into being.

Ever heard of someone who can capture the most beautiful of landscape views inside a glass? Julia Spittel, a Glassmaker from Aurora can do it. Professionally she is a jeweler, but she is an artist who can capture the sunset inside the glass pendant of a necklace.

Her Jewelry has the power to talk to you and according to her, the glass chooses the owner and compliments their features in the best way possible. The brand, ‘Landscape Glass’ offers a variety of jewelry made by Spittel, like earrings, brooches and necklaces.

Most of the glass that she uses for her jewelry is made by herself. She also likes to make, what she calls ‘flowerpot glass’, in which she essentially puts glass in a flowerpot and puts it in a saucer and heats it in a potter’s kiln until the glass drips into the saucer and gives the most beautiful designs that she uses as the base for constructing her jewelry. She told us that her inspiration comes entirely from nature and landscapes.

Everyone's pottery is fired twice, but

Bunny's pottery is fired thrice. Bunny Safari, a University of Guelph Alumna, has been making unique pots with vintage and new, detailed maps of Guelph etched on them. For the newbies in Guelph, she has made beautiful mugs with a complete map of the city etched on them with her very own hands. She even does film photography and sometimes puts her film imagery on her pottery too. The support from the community keeps her inspired to keep throwing and creating these beautiful mugs with history etched on them.

From Sauble Beach, Yvonne Davis and her two sisters own and operate the Bruce County Nut and Fudge. All of their products are handmade, including their roasted nuts, handmade fudge and a variety of gourmet caramel Belgian chocolate apples.. The recipes have been passed down generations in their family and the three sisters took it upon themselves to make a brand out of these amazing recipes.

Paul Mawyin was at the fair with his wife's amazing cookie and tart boxes and a story to share. Carla's Cookie Boxes is an online bakery which sells handmade, artisanal butter tarts made by Carla herself.

The first time Carla ever made butter tarts was when her son asked if she could buy him some and she researched about them and gave it a go. And now, here they are, at the University of Guelph Fair November, offering ten different flavours of delicious butter tarts and bringing smiles to people's faces.

This is just a peek into Fair November, where more than 80 artists have displayed their remarkable and unique arts and crafts styles from handcrafted pens made out of wood by Kora-Bora creations to the botanicals crafted by the Wild Muskoka botanicals, all the way from Muskoka.

While this is just a small fraction of the incredible artists that Fair November had to offer, the Fair amassed great success. Many shopped locally and supported small businesses and that is exactly what Fair November is all about.

ICONS BY FLATICON

From handcrafted jewelry, to delicious butter tarts there was something for everyone at Fair November. CREDIT: FLORA TELHAM

“An immense pleasure to read ... The love of invertebrates and the complexity of human behaviour are beautifully married in this imaginative thriller ... The invertebrates are truly fantastic. The murders are clever and gruesome ... A riveting novel that is difficult to put down ... I thoroughly enjoyed it” Marvin Gunderman - Entomology Instructor at McMaster University’s Department of Biology (retd)

Murder Bugs: A Love Story is a mystery novel set in southern Ontario, featuring two U of Guelph entomology professors helping local police hunt a serial killer who uses insects as weapons. Published by Fire Ant Press. Mark Coakley also wrote the critically-acclaimed true-crime classics Hidden Harvest and Tip and Trade (ECW Press).