YAM magazine January/February 2017

ISSUE 47 | JAN/FEB 2017

yammagazine.com

VICTORIA’S LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

Inside an architect’s dream dwelling

DESIGN ISSUE 4 DESIGN MINDS YOU NEED TO KNOW | FASHION + DANCE FUSION WEDDING TRENDS | BRING SPA APPEAL TO YOUR BATHROOM SAY GOODBYE TO EXHAUSTION | FOOD + DRINK

A Daimler Brand A Daimler Brand

The picture of pure power, refined.

The C-Class Coupe leaps to the head of its class in virtually every dimension, from thoughtful innovation to advanced safety to breathtaking style. Seductive design fused with true athletic performance. Its long, sleek shape stands out, powered by a turbocharged engine that delivers a heart-pounding 273 lb-ft of torque. And its lowered sport suspension helps you handle whatever the road throws at you. Every element is executed with the eye of an artist and the soul of a driver. Discover the thrill at Three Point Motors.

Get inspired at Three Point Motors.

Total price: $50,910*

Š 2016 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. 2017 Mercedes-Benz AMG C 43 Coupe shown above for illustration purposes only, contains features that are not standard on all models. *Total price for 2017 Mercedes-Benz C 300 4MATIC Coupe includes MSRP of $48,100, Freight and PDI ($2,295), DOC of $395, environmental levies of $100 and EHF tires of $20. Registration, insurance, Admin ($495), PPSA up to $48.45 and taxes extra. Please see Three Point Motors for complete details. DL 9818 #30817.

Three Point Motors

A Division of the GAIN Dealer Group

2546 Government Street | 250-385-6737 | threepointmotors.ca

Now also accepting Union Pay Cards.

Get social! Join us online. facebook.com/ThreePointMotors twitter.com/3_Point_Motors

BE AUTIF U L R AD IA NT CON FIDENT

THERMIVA • INJECTABLES

ULTHERA • LASERS • BODY SCULPTING

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IF YOU HAVE A PASSION WE’VE GOT A CLASS FOR IT. Declan Dinnadge

Bachelor of Business Administration student

SALES AND MARKETING MANAGER, VRX ADVANCED SIMULATORS

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W G NO LIN L SE

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EVERY HOME IS AN UPGRADE Every home in our community comes with premium finishings & features at no extra charge.

That means what you see is what you get — from the chic kitchens with stainless steel appliances to the fenced yard complete with landscaping and in-ground irrigation, Eaglehurst Homes has thought out every detail so you don’t have to — and that’s just the beginning! Open the door to the possibilities without having to compromise.

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40

DESIGN MINDS For our Design Issue, YAM talks to the creative forces pushing the form and function of the West Coast esthetic.

Interior designer Kyla Bidgood

BY ATHENA McKENZIE

28 50 56

CONTENTS

30

AN INVITING SANCTUARY Inspiring ideas to turn an ordinary bathroom into a stylish retreat.

BY ATHENA MCKENZIE

Special Wedding Feature

YAM helps simplify your big day with inspiring wedding fashions for her and for him, modern wedding etiquette advice and an official to-do checklist to keep your bridal party organized.

GOODBYE EXHAUSTION, HELLO EXHILARATION

THE ARCHITECT AT HOME

Are you suffering from exhaustion you just can’t shake? You’re not alone. YAM explores the reasons — and the remedies.

Inside this spectacular Nanaimo dwelling, architect David Poiron has turned minimal space into a highreaching, light-filled celebration of modern design.

BY ALEX VAN TOL

BY DANIELLE POPE

in the heart of the

d.g.bremner & co.

22

Get Canada’s leading banks to compete for your mortgage.

Jodie Kristian can help you get the best possible mortgage rate. It’s what she does best. Give her a call to find out how easy a professional mortgage broker can make your mortgage negotiations.

250-885-5738 jodie@modernmortgagegroup.ca www.jodiesmortgages.ca

28 IN EVERY ISSUE

10 EDITOR’S NOTE 15 YAM CONFIDENTIAL

Gorgeous handbag giveaway, a sneak peek at Dance Days and a New Year’s resolution inspired by Luba

17 HERE & NOW

Natural textures, Bees + Bones, top design trends and a visit to The Umbrellatorium & Canery

22 FOOD & DRINK

A modern take on the Robbie Burns dinner, complete with artisan haggis

By Cinda Chavich

28 GREAT SPACE DLC - Modern Mortgage Group 207-3531 Uptown Blvd.

Victoria, BC V8Z 0B9

8

YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

Inspiration for transforming your bathroom into a sanctuary

By Athena McKenzie

62 30 HOME & DESIGN

Inside the spectacular Nanaimo dwelling of architect David Poiron

By Danielle Pope

62 STYLE WATCH The Winter Dance

By Janine Metcalfe

68 SCENE

A Belfry production explores life in a polygamous community, YAM visits Upper Fort and we present our picks for Culture x3

By David Lennam & Melissa Gignac

73 BOOKMARKS

Great reads for the holiday season

By Carolyn Camilleri

74 DO TELL

A Proust-style interview with artist and “squirrealist” Carollyne Yardley

© CAMBRIA 2016

US Pat Pending | 9,289,923

NEVER COMPROMISE

Yes, you can have it all with stunning beauty, exceptional durability, and wipe-and-go convenience in every Cambria® countertop. Find more than 130 elegant designs, including new Princetown™ from our Coastal Collection,™ for your kitchen or bath at James River Kitchens.

508 Herald Street, Victoria, BC 778-265-0700

EDITOR’S NOTE

IT’S MAKEOVER TIME!

I

f you’re anything like me, you love makeovers — and what better time for one than the New Year! Here at YAM, we started early with a makeover of our own, and in this issue you’ll see some exciting changes we hope you’ll love as much as we do.

Like all makeovers, YAM’s is designed to sync with our evolving vision for how we want to be in the world. I know I’ve gone through several makeovers, both physically and mentally, since I walked into YAM back in 2011 with my pixie cut and chunky shoes. Thanks to my work here, I’ve met some of this region’s most inspiring people and deeply experienced aspects of life on the coast in a way I never dreamed possible.

I’ve watched Victoria become a more confident city that embraces and celebrates our distinct blend of earthiness Kerry Slavens, Editor-in-Chief and elegance. When I mentioned this to a friend, he said he didn’t see much change, but he quickly changed his mind when I read him this quote: “It’s funny how nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is Like all makeovers, different.”

“Thank God we’re not all wearing Birkenstocks YAM’s is designed anymore,” he said, noting that even though we still have to sync with our that casual feel of a coastal city, we’ve thankfully also become far more fashion forward thanks to visionary evolving vision for retailers and the inspiration of people like our fashion how we want to be editor Janine Metcalfe, who knows that coastal style is no longer an oxymoron. in the world.

This is Canada’s geographic and creative edge, after all — and Victoria has woken up to the power of that.

You can see the difference in our coastal-influenced design and architecture. You can taste it in the unique terroir of our culinary offerings. You can experience it in our fashion scene with its sophisticated but salty vibe. You can feel it in our arts and culture.

Our new vision for YAM is designed to capture all of that in a way that honours where we live and our many readers and clients who support a magazine produced by a 100 per cent local, completely independent publishing company. That independence continues to give us a great deal of editorial and creative freedom, something very rare in today’s media landscape. So we’re going to use that freedom to the max to be a magazine that truly reflects and inspires our city and region.

We hope you’ll like the changes you see in YAM. Our goal is not to alter the magazine beyond recognition, because we continually hear from so many readers and clients how much YAM means to them.

But we do want to more fully capture the unique way the people who live here create and interpret West Coast culture. We want to tell more of those stories and to speak directly to Victorians who want to deepen the meaning and quality of their lives.

The real beauty is always on the inside, after all.

Email me at kslavens@pageonepublishing.ca

facebook.com /YAMmagazine

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

twitter.com /YAMmagazine

@ yam_magazine

~ Exploring Mount Maxwell on Salt Spring Island. ~ Inspired furnishings and personalized options with complimentary design services from our talented interior designers.

2655 Douglas St

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Victoria BC

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250.386.7632

|

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Andrew Maxwell Andrew Maxwell

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$1,448,000 $1,448,000 4029 Rainbow Hill Ln., Victoria 4029 Rainbow Hill Ln., Victoria This contemporary townhouse boasts stun ning panoramic views.

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$1,295,000 $1,295,000 1631 Hampshire Rd., Oak Bay Hampshire Rd., Oak Bay Lovingly1631 restored 1912, 4 bedroom / 3 bathroom

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Sophia Briggs 250.418.5569 Sophia Briggs 250.418.5569

Brad Maclaren Brad Maclaren

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404 - 1450$475,000 Beach Dr., Victoria - 1450 Beach Dr.,isVictoria Family404 home on large lot that sub-dividable.

Main level hason 3 large bedrooms and 1 full bath.

Family home lot that is sub-dividable.

Lower has 2 large bedrooms, half bath and Main level has 3 bedrooms and 1 full bath. could updated an In-Law-Suite.

Lowerbe has 2 large to bedrooms, half bath and could updated to an In-Law-Suite.

Brucebe Sheldon 250.380.3933 Bruce Sheldon 250.380.3933

$225,000 403 - 3255 Glasgow Ave., Victoria 403 - 3255 Glasgow Ave., Victoria close to shopping, schools and bus routes.

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Dean Boorman Dean Boorman

VANCOUVER 604.632.3300 VANCOUVER 604.632.3300

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CALGARY 403.254.5315 CALGARY 403.254.5315

Glynis MacLeod Glynis MacLeod

VENICE VENICE

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TORONTO 416.960.9995 TORONTO 416.960.9995

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985 Portage, Saanich 985 Portage, Saanich

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$1,765,000 255 Government St, Victoria 255 Government St, Victoria One of Victoria’s most unique and discussed One of Victoria’s most unique and discussed been transformed into a classic. Entertain in grand style in the gourmet kitchen. been transformed into a classic.

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$1,150,000 $1,150,000 1587 Monterey Avenue, Oak Bay 1587character MontereyinAvenue, Bay Charming Oak BayOak Village.

This gracious 1938 home boasts it all; Charming character in Oak Bay Village.

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$1,690,000 4980 Echo Dr., Victoria 4980 Dr., Victoria Stunning 10 acreEcho Prospect Lake waterfront with 300 10 feetacre of shoreline.

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This exquisite home overlooks the 18th tee on the Jack Nicklaus designed Golf Course This exquisite home overlooks the 18th tee on the Jack Nicklaus designed Golf Course provides a bright, elegant and airy feel. provides a bright, elegant and airy feel.

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$1,099,000 $1,099,000 985 Portage, Saanich 985 Portage, Large central, south facingSaanich waterfront acre age, 10central, minutes fromfacing downtown.

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VICTORIA’S LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

PUBLISHERS Lise Gyorkos, Georgina Camilleri EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kerry Slavens

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Jeffrey Bosdet

PRODUCTION MANAGER Jennifer Kühtz

EDITORIAL DESIGNER Janice Hildybrant DEPUTY EDITOR Athena McKenzie MARKETING & EVENTS Erin Virtanen PROOFREADER Vivian Sinclair CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER Jo-Ann Loro CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Carolyn Camilleri, Cinda Chavich, Melissa Gignac, David Lennam, Lana Lounsbury, Danielle Pope, Alex Van Tol CONTRIBUTING FASHION EDITOR Janine Metcalfe

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Jeffrey Bosdet, Simon DesRochers, Kurt Knock, Joshua Lawrence, Jo-Ann Loro, Lance Sullivan

CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES Masterfile p.56; Stocksy p.51; ThinkStock p.27, 71 ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Vicki Clark, Lory Couroux, Sharon Davies, Cynthia Hanischuk

GENERAL INQUIRIES info@yammagazine.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR letters@yammagazine.com TO SUBSCRIBE TO YAM subscriptions@yammagazine.com ADVERTISING INQUIRIES sales@yammagazine.com ONLINE yammagazine.com FACEBOOK YAM magazine – Victoria TWITTER twitter.com/YAMmagazine INSTAGRAM @yam_magazine

COVER Double High House, the slender Nanaimo home designed by architect David Poiron of Checkwitch Poiron Architects

Photo by Lance Sullivan

Published by PAGE ONE PUBLISHING 580 Ardersier Road, Victoria, BC V8Z 1C7 T 250-595-7243 info@pageonepublishing.ca pageonepublishing.ca

Printed in Canada by Transcontinental Printing.

Ideas and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of Page One Publishing Inc. or its affiliates; no official endorsement should be inferred. The publisher does not assume any responsibility for the contents of any advertisement and any and all representations or warranties made in such advertising are those of the advertiser and not the publisher. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, in all or part, in any form — printed or electronic — without the express permission of the publisher. The publisher cannot be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs.

Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement #41295544 ADVERTISE IN YAM MAGAZINE YAM is Victoria’s lifestyle magazine, connecting readers to the distinctive lifestyle and authentic luxury of the West Coast. For advertising info, please call us at 250-5957243 or email sales@yammagazine.com.

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

YAM CONFIDENTIAL

Managing the world’s most important investments...

ENTER YAM’S

DIVINE DESIGN GIVEAWAY!

Contact us to learn more about our fun and informative workshops for women.

Matt & Nat’s strikingly designed bags embody the brand’s simple motto: Live beautifully. Their unique collection uses signature vegan leathers and ecofriendly materials such as recycled nylon, cork and rubber.

Enter by February 16 to win their Sheenan bag — a stylishly structured “doctor handbag” that can be worn crossbody with a removable strap — from She She Bags & Shoes (value $145).

W I S D O M + W E A LT H

Visit yammagazine.com for contest details and to enter. Good luck!

INTO THE GROOVE

D

HUGO GLENDINNING

ance Victoria’s Dance Days is back for its eighth amazing season, running January 20 through 29.

YAM is a proud sponsor of this all-access celebration of dance, which features free classes around the city, instudio shows, talks and discussions, parties and cuttingedge contemporary performances.

Dance Victoria also presents BalletBoyz in Life, a double bill of bold new works. Performed by an all-male cast of 10 dancers against a stunning, original musical score, Life is an elegant and powerful performance, which takes a provocative look at life and death.

January 21 and 22, Royal Theatre // Visit dancevictoria.ca.

ANNETTE QUAN

Calling Cards

B

ack when she was five, writer and YAM contributor Danielle Pope was running around with a hairbrush microphone interviewing her family at the dining room table.

“I love storytelling and believe everyone has a tale that can change the lives of others,” she says. With her business, The Story Midwife, Pope looks to help people tell their stories. For her monthly writing group Women and Words, through the yoUnlimited community organization, Pope needed writing prompts to give participants a chance to dive into their creativity.

Wanting the prompts to be “personal, evocative, tangible and able to channel that sense of ‘innermost knowing,’” she created the Write Now cards. “I’ve been amazed by how they’ve resonated with the creative community,” she says. “Not just with writers, but with painters, sculptors, even yogis and architects.”

To purchase, go to younlimited.com/shop.

VIOLA VAN DE RUYT

Viola Van de Ruyt FCSI, CIM, CPCA • INVESTMENT ADVISOR

250-657-2220 www.violavanderuyt.ca viola.vanderuyt@nbc.ca

Annette Quan FMA, FCSI • INVESTMENT ADVISOR

250-657-2222 annette.quan@nbc.ca

National Bank Financial is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of National Bank of Canada. The National Bank of Canada is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (NA: TSX).

YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

15

JO-ANN LORO

#smallsteps

SOPHIA BRIGGS & NANCY STRATTON Every home is a masterpiece

Sitting at a desk all day isn’t great for our health — or creativity. So the team at YAM is taking inspiration from Luba, our favourite French Bull Dog, and making it our resolution to take more mini breaks to get outside for walks on our neighbourhood trail, the Galloping Goose. It’s one of our small steps for a healthier 2017.

PHOTOS: SIMON DESROCHERS

YAM OUT & ABOUT Sold for $1,058,000 1293 Rockhampton Close, Victoria

Sold for $645,000 1155 Marchant, Brentwood Bay

SOPHIA

Sold for $259,000 101 - 2527 Quadra, Victoria

– 250.418.5569 NANCY – 250.418.5569

strattonandbriggs.com LOCAL EXPERTISE, GLOBAL CONNECTIONS Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, Independently Owned and Operated. E.&O.E.: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective Purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Not intended to solicit properties already under agreement.

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

From the top: Silk Road Tea founder Daniela Cubelic (l), Page One Publishing President and Visions Gala Chair Lise Gyorkos (c) and The Bay Centre’s General Manager Darlene Hollstein (r), at the Visions gala; the YAM team at the Holiday Beauty Gala at The Bay Mayfair; YAM Editor-in-Chief Kerry Slavens (l) and Lugaro Jewellers Co-owner Clara Agopian (r) at the store’s spectacular red-carpet grand opening on Government Street.

facebook.com /YAMmagazine twitter.com /YAMmagazine @ yam_magazine

HERE &NOW

THE HALO EFFECT

Vancouver lighting designer Matthew McCormick originally designed his Halo series of softly glowing pendants for an Italian Prosecco company, taking inspiration from goldfoil-wrapped bottles and effervescent bubbles. With this modular system, pendants can be suspended in a variety of compositions as elegant hanging art pieces. Machined and hand finished, they are available in brass, copper, nickel and 24-karat gold.

YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

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HERE &NOW 1

NATURAL TEXTURE The new natural is relaxed high style based in soft organic weaves and mixed unrefined materials. Using a neutral palette, it offers a timeless simplicity and elegance.

3

2

6

4

5

1 Not only does Victoria-based textile artist Lucy Poskitt sell her sumptous pieces, she offers weaving workshops so you can learn to create your own (lucyposkitt.com, custom piece, pricing upon request) // 2 Piper Black of Moss & Stone turns her handmade clay beads into beautiful minimal modern accessories (instagram.com/mossandstone, $28/strand) // 3 The M. Patmos cashmere jumpsuit is the ultimate indulgence, cozy yet dressed up (Club Monaco, $625) // 4 These suede Gabor ankle boots have an added stylish textural element (Head Over Heels, $219) // 5 Victoria-based ceramicist Amanda Paddock leaves geometric shapes of exposed clay in her elegant and functional glazed mugs, vases and bowls (amandamarieceramics.com, $38) 6 Bernhardt’s Palma bench features a woven abaca seat (Luxe Victoria, $885)

ELEMENTAL STYLE The intention behind Victoriabased designer Brooke De Armond’s sustainable clothing line, BEES + BONES, is right there in its name.

“Bees are nature’s little wonders,” De Armond says.

“Pollinating everything, giving

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

us food and flowers and thus rich colours and textures and natural fibres.

“Bones are the sturdy yet delicate things that make up all of us. They provide structure and shape and a subtle sex appeal.”

With De Armond’s upcoming line, expect more of what’s made her handmade garments so popular — covetable everyday essentials with simple lines, distinctive modern cuts and gorgeous fabrics.

design insider

By Lana Lounsbury

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED IN 2017

1

There’s a strong eco-sensibility this year with a surge in interest in organics and nature-inspired shapes and a love affair with the elements of tiny-space living.

OH, THE ORGANICS

2

From fabrics to furniture to wallpaper, organic is a trend that keeps re-inventing itself. Rattan, cane and abaca add interesting textures to chairs and as cocktail-table and cabinet accents — a nice balance to the marble and metallic surfaces of earlier years. Wallpaper is also part of this movement. For one of my clients, I’ve just finished this beautiful "Fade" hand-painted hemp paper mural from Philip Jeffries. It embodies the spirit of the organic movement trend with its thick, reworked texture and soft colouring.

THE NEW “METAL”

Brass and gold will remain popular, but do look for white plaster to become the new “metal” in 2017 in high-end lighting fixtures like the St. Tropez artisan chandelier by Mr. Brown of London, inspired by the sculptural artistry of Brancusi.

Look also for resin furnishings and home accessories.

3

COLOUR THERAPY In choosing Greenery as their 2017 colour of the year, the experts at the Pantone Colour Institute look to communicate with colour what is taking place in global culture.

“Greenery provides us with the hope we collectively yearn for amid a complex social and political landscape, and symbolizes the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Institute.

This fresh and zesty yellowgreen shade evokes the first days of spring, when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. As “nature’s neutral,” this versatile tone works across seasons and pairs well with neutrals, brights, deeper shades, pastels and even metallics.

TINY INFLUENCES

I’m not the only one fascinated by the tiny-house trend.

Spurred by high housing prices and a desire to reject the bourgeois and live simply, tiny living has inspired beautiful multi-purpose pieces that marry form and function through simplicity of materials. These ideas work well, whether you’re fighting clutter in a large space or trying to live well in a small space. My favourites include Argentinian architect/designer Natalia Geci's Lynko system of customizable metal frames and wooden hinges that create innumerable configurations, from hangers to office dividers.

Lana Lounsbury of Lana Lounsbury Interiors is a Registered Interior Designer who passionately believes interior design is an essential, transformative tool to reinvent oneself throughout life.

Butter London nail polish (The Bay, $19); Forzieri gloves (ca.forzieri.com, $144); Regency Tournus chest of drawers (Moisonnier, Vancouver, $11,345)

YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

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HERE &NOW JEWELRY OF MINDFULNESS

By Danielle Pope

What if your jewelry could bring you peace? Rachel Hurst, founder of Shanti Collective, believes it can.

Hurst is receiving international kudos for her mala jewelry — necklaces and bracelets made with sacred rudraksha seeds from Nepal, including some with locally sourced, semi-precious gemstones.

Shanti is Sanskrit for “peace.”

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YAM MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2016

FOR WEATHER OR WHIMSY

PHOTOS: SIMON DESROCHERS

“A mala is something you can take everywhere, and it’s a reminder to stay in the present moment,” Hurst says. “For some people, this is just beautiful jewelry; for others, this is an intentional practice of mindfulness.

It’s a way to stay connected.”

Hurst started her Victoria-based company two years ago after travelling through Indonesia and meeting a Nepalese family who created these necklaces by hand. The family taught her how to make them, and when Hurst asked if she could take this practice home and special-order rudraksha seeds directly from them, they were thrilled.

Through Shanti Collective, Hurst aims to bring a little “peace” to everyone drawn to these malas.

“When we link intention to what we’re wearing,” she says, “it creates an opportunity to be purposefully aware of how we live our lives.

YAM visits The Umbrellatorium & Canery

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ithin moments of entering The Umbrellatorium & Canery, don’t be surprised to find yourself thinking of Monet’s frothy painted parasols, Marilyn Monroe’s red polka-dot umbrella in those famous beach photos or Gene Kelly spinning his classic black umbrella while dancing down the street in Singing in the Rain.

That’s because this little shop at #4 FanTan Alley provides far more than functional protection against rain and sun — it’s also a gateway to the imagination.

Proprietors Lyra Riley and Veronica Sasges stock their

boutique with more than 300 umbrellas and parasols in just about any style and colour you can imagine (and even some you can’t).

There are lacy parosols, exotic pagodas and asymmetrical Senz umbrellas that withstand wind force (some attach to bicycles). There are LED umbrellas with light-up stems, and C-handle inverted ones that collapse outward so you don’t end up soaked when you close your brolly. There are artsy MoMA umbrellas, and Fultons, the official brand of the Royal family.

Riley and Sasges waste no

time encouraging patrons to put aside superstitions. “We tell people, ‘Open any umbrella that catches your eye and try it out.

See if it’s you!”

True to its name, the boutique also carries canes.

From locally handcrafted to antique and novelty (some even have hidden flasks), these aren’t your institutional canes. Both canes and umbrellas can be customized on premises.

The boutique is part of a new era for Fantan Alley, where fashion-forward meets traditional, and you’ll find the best of both worlds at The Umbrellatorium & Canery.

Simplicity is Beautiful

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

In a culture with a Type A personality, the urge to simplify is compelling. “We’re all working harder and longer as the world around us becomes more difficult to navigate ... ,” says David Adelman who, along with his partner Jody Adelman, recently launched Type A Home Solutions (Type-A.life), their store-within-a store located at Parc Modern at Uptown Centre.

Focused on home, office and travel organization pieces and accessories, Type A celebrates intelligent design, so everything from charging stations to stepping stools is made to work well and look stylish. This simprovelify approach, says Adelman, “helps us to get through the day with limited obstacles ....” And that, he adds, lets us focus on the things in life that matter most.

sneak peek SATTVA for the Senses As anyone who has visited Sapphire Day Spa knows, Heidi Sherwood’s name is synonymous with superior spa experiences.

In early February, Sherwood introduces a new concept in spas to Victoria with the launch of SATTVA. SATTVA, which means purity in Sanskrit, is a spa and a sensory experience designed to cleanse the senses through massage, skincare, aqua massage, therapeutic baths and a Waterknot Sensory Journey that incorporates steam, ice and nourishing mud.

Sherwood says SATTVA is far more than a soothing physical experience — its deeper purpose is unwrapping layers within ourselves to awaken and deepen self-awareness. All of this takes place in SATTVA’s three-storey, 6,000 sq. ft. sanctuary of the senses at 1411 Government Street. From the light-infused Kate Spade décor to the purifying scent of palo santo to the serene beauty of the exclusive Lapis Lounge, SATTVA promises to be an awakening.

Beauty Spot Fans of Elate Cosmetics and their “clean make-up” can now spend more time with this favourite local beauty brand. The company will launch a public studio space this January, when it moves into its new headquarters in Bastion Square. From hosting workshops on mastering the dramatic smoky eye to taking your make-up from day to night, the studio promises to be a social hub.

“What I wanted to create with the studio space is a place where we can hold a lot of really fun workshops and bring more awareness of clean beauty to the community,” says Elate founder Melodie Reynolds. “There will also be three open studio days a week where you can pop in and get your make-up done or have a glass of bubbly while you try on lipstick.”

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

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FOOD&DRINK

BURNS, BRAWN & BEER YAM’s food expert goes in search of the perfect recipe for a contemporary take on the Robbie Burns Dinner.

By Cinda Chavich

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

Kitted out in a vest, kilt and belt from Freedom Kilts, chef Liam Quinn of The Salt & Pepper Fox cuts into a classic haggis made by chef Cory Pelan of The Whole Beast.

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

IF

you’re having trouble seeing the sexy side of another Burns Day dinner, consider this: the annual mid-winter dinner held every January 25 to celebrate a dead Scottish poet and his ode to a classic sausage in a sheep’s stomach is actually rather “of the moment.” Especially when you have your local artisan butcher creating the classic haggis with the best local lamb and turning its precious offal into a zero-waste feast (not to mention a few Outlander-esque men in kilts to set the scene).

Serve this Scottish national dish alongside a fluffy pile of tatties and neeps (mashed potato and rutabagas), with cold smoked B.C. salmon and oatcakes to start, a flight of fine single malts or a series of local Twa Dogs craft beer, each named for a classic Burns verse, and it makes for a stylish, Island-style celebration with just enough tradition to keep it real.

IN PURSUIT OF THE POET Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759, and died a short 37 years later, making him a romantic figure who has been celebrated ever since. Known as “the people’s poet,” Burns was born into poverty and led a rather wild and dramatic life, his writing often pointing out social injustices with biting satire and wit.

Burns must have been quite the food lover too, for he often references Scottish fare in his work, calling Scotland the “Land o’ Cakes” (oatcakes), devoting a whole song to crowdie (porridge) and immortalizing the aforementioned haggis, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, as the “chieftain o’ the puddin’-race.” He also penned the classic “Auld Lang Syne.”

You might need a Celtic dictionary to read Burns’ tale “The Twa Dogs” (Luath and Caesar, a common collie and perhaps a Newfoundland, in conversation about life, society and class), but the story makes a good conversation starter, especially while sipping a beer of the same name from Victoria Caledonian Brewery & Distillery. With its own single malts aging in the barrel for future release, a couple of stunning copper stills imported from Speyside and a whisky-tasting room, this brewery and distillery is a great place to get the Burns mood flowing.

Or simply head to The Whole Beast Artisan Salumeria in Oak Bay. There, Cory Pelan regularly turns the lungs, hearts and other offal (left over after breaking down lamb from Metchosin’s Parry Bay Sheep Farm) into a very high-quality and tasty haggis.

HOW TO HAVE YOUR HAGGIS I actually like haggis, not only because it channels my late Scottish grandmother, but also because it’s become a symbol of Scottish cuisine for local chefs embracing their traditional roots.

On a recent tour of Edinburgh and environs, I ate haggis for breakfast with eggs and tried haggis samosas, mini haggis “bonbons,” haggis in puff pastry and even tasty vegetarian haggis. My haggis came in crisp fried patties, crumbled over mash and stacked in a tower, bathed in whisky

use, but good haggis is like any and leek sauce.

This year, Robert other artisan charcuterie. At The There’s a popular line of readyBurns Day, a.k.a.

Whole Beast, Pelan uses a classic to-heat-and-eat haggis in Scottish Robbie Burns Day haggis recipe, combining the pluck supermarkets from MacSween, a or Burns Night, (lung, heart and liver) with lots of company that makes traditional is Wednesday, January 25. onions, toasted pinhead oats, beef haggis, beef and haggis burgers, suet and spices. wild boar haggis, even a haggis “We started with (chef) Fergus with grouse, pheasant and duck.

Henderson’s recipe and tweaked it a bit,” says They also sell “one-minute haggis,” sliced in a Pelan, who collects the lamb offal to make plastic packet to microwave for lunch. haggis when whole animals are butchered inThough much maligned, haggis is simply a house. sausage, made as many traditional sausages are “Sometimes we’ll grind up the kidneys or as a way to use up the remains after an animal is poach off the tongues and grind them. The butchered for meat. It all depends who’s making heart is important for the dense, meaty texture, the haggis and what kind of ingredients they

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

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the liver adds a nice rich flavour, and the lung BURNS SUPPER 101 ensures the mixture doesn’t get too dense.”

It’s all stuffed into a beef bung (natural THE FOOD casing), then poached before freezing.

Oatcakes with smoked salmon / / Cock-a-leekie (chicken and leek) or Scotch broth soup “It’s fully cooked, but it still needs to be The haggis, of course, or a vegetarian haggis for the not-brave-hearts (recipe on page 25) cooked a lot more before your serve it,” Tatties and neeps (a mash of rutabagas and potatoes) // Bread pudding with whisky sauce explains Pelan. “We vacuum-pack the haggis (recipe on page 26) or Tipsy Laird (a creamy whisky-laced trifle) so you can poach it sous vide (in 170˚F water) for two to three hours to finish it.”

THE DRINK You can also steam haggis or wrap it in foil A wee dram (or three) of your finest single malt is de rigueur to toast the bard. Ask your and bake. friends to each bring a bottle of their favourite Scotch for a bit of a tasting. (Tell them they can When cooked, the texture is crumbly but take home the remains, as good whisky is pricey.) soft, the oats and ground meat somewhat like You might also consider pouring the new line of Twa Dogs craft beers from Victoria a shepherd’s pie filling. It’s scooped out of the Caledonian Brewery & Distillery — Drouthy Neibor IPA, Mistress of my Soul Saison, Keekin’ casing to serve and should arrive piping hot, Glass Pilsner, Holy Willie’s Robust Porter and Jolly Beggar’s Pale Ale, all celebrate a Burns with onion gravy, turnips and potatoes. poem, and you can read an excerpt next to the tasting notes online.

While a whisky toast is traditional, you won’t need hard liquor to disguise the flavour of a well-made haggis. You might just end up THE DRAMA yearning for the next Robbie Burns dinner Crack out the plaid napkins and the kilts (although the latter was banned from wearing in and a chance to indulge in this seasonal treat.

Burns’ time, he championed the cultural rights of all Scots, kilt-wearing included).

“Now I get it,” says Pelan, who supplies A piper may be a bit much inside the house, but a little bagpipe prelude haggis to annual (downloaded from the Internet) makes a nice entrée to the main course and events like the Robbie “Address to a Haggis.” Then keep the party lively with some Celtic tunes — “SELKIRK GRACE” — Burns celebrations at from Cape Breton’s Natalie MacMaster or Toronto’s Enter the Haggis.

If reading the lengthy Burns “Address to a Craigdarroch Castle.

Look for someone in your dining party with an actor’s flourish or Scottish Haggis” is too much work, just start with “It’s super rich, but it’s brogue to recite Burns’ poem, or at least the simple “Selkirk Grace,” but the short and sweet “Selkirk Grace”: super delicious — it’s just first have your guests stand and clap slowly as the cook ferries the great Some hae meat and canna eat perfect the way it is.”

“Chieftain o’ the puddin’-race” to the table, held aloft on a silver tray.

And some wad eat that want it; Address the haggis, slash it open with a chef’s knife (or a dagger, if you For local listings of Robbie But we hae meat, and we can eat have one) and serve with more whisky or Scottish ale and a lashing of Burns Day dinners, visit Sae let the Lord be thankit onion gravy. Sláinte! yammagazine.com.

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VEGETARIAN HAGGIS I created this recipe after tasting a vegetarian haggis in a restaurant in Edinburgh. Like the popular MacSween products found in supermarkets across Scotland, it’s a kind of vegetarian loaf made with beans, shredded vegetables, chopped nuts and the requisite steel-cut (pinhead) oats. The caramelized onion gravy (see yammagazine.com) I made to serve alongside was good on the veg haggis — and the real haggis too.

• 1 tbsp butter • 2/3 cup steel-cut oats • 2/3 cup rolled oats • 2/3 cup chopped nuts (mix of almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, etc.)

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the oats and nuts and toast together for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until they start to brown.

Dump into a bowl and set aside.

• 2 tbsp butter • 1 tbsp olive oil • 1 large onion, finely chopped • 2 medium carrots, shredded • 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced • 8 mushrooms, chopped • 650-750 ml vegetable or chicken stock (or water), divided • 1/3 cup red lentils • 1/2 cup kidney or romano beans (canned/cooked), mashed • 1 tbsp soy sauce • 1/2 tsp dried thyme • 1/2 tsp dried savory • 1/4 tsp celery salt • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper • 1/2 tsp black pepper • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice In the sauté pan, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion until softened and starting to colour. Add the carrots, garlic and mushrooms and sauté 5 minutes longer. Stir in the lentils and 1 cup (250 ml) of the stock. Bring to a boil.

Mix another 250 ml of stock with the mashed beans and soy sauce, and add to the pan. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in the toasted oats and nuts and seasonings, bring to a boil, then return the lid to the pan and simmer on low for 15 minutes.

Add another 100 to 200 ml of broth or water as necessary. This mixture should be moist but not soupy.

Stir in the lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning. It may need salt, depending on what kind of broth you’ve used. Turn into a buttered loaf pan and bake at 375°F for 30 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes and turnips.

Serves 6.

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

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BOOZY BREAD PUDDING WITH WHISKY SAUCE More whisky? Why not — it’s the Celtic way, and nothing lifts an old-fashioned bread pudding into gourmet territory like this creamy caramel-coloured whisky sauce.

It’s a good trick to haul out anytime you need to take a dessert up a notch. Recipe from The Guy Can’t Cook by Cinda Chavich.

PUDDING: • 6 cups day-old white bread (brioche or challah makes a richer pudding, but an Italian loaf or baguette works too) • 1 cup raisins • 1/2 cup whisky • 2 cups whole milk

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• 1/4 cup Scotch (or rye) whisky Preheat the oven to 350°F. For the pudding, cut the bread into 3/4-inch cubes and place in a large bowl.

Combine the raisins and 1/2 cup of whisky in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Set aside to cool and soak for 30 minutes.

In another bowl, use a whisk to combine the milk, cream, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. Pour over the bread and stir to combine. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes to allow the bread to soak up the custard before stirring in the raisins and whisky.

Pour the bread mixture into a buttered, 10-cup baking dish and bake for 1 hour or until puffed and golden.

While the pudding is baking, make the sauce. In a small saucepan, boil the sweetened condensed milk with the cream over medium heat until it turns a caramel colour; this will take about 15 minutes. Stir it regularly to make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove from the heat and slowly stir in the whisky. Keep warm until ready to use.

When the pudding is baked and firm, remove from oven and cool slightly. Cut into squares and serve warm, drizzled with whisky sauce.

Serves 8 to 10.

For Cinda’s recipes for onion gravy and oakcakes with smoked salmon, visit yammagazine.com.

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

THING

Golf

PLACE

Rebecca Teskey

Bão

Turmeric

The butcher-shop business has traditionally been a man’s world, but luckily, that hasn’t stopped Victoria’s Rebecca Teskey from taking on the task of sourcing, cutting and selling local, sustainable meat — first as co-owner of The Village Butcher and now with her own Farm + Field Butcher downtown.

Teskey has set up shop in the new Fort Common District, servicing Fol Epi’s Agrius restaurant and a handful of other local chefs.

Ask for your own steaks cut to order, find unusual bits like caul fat or sweet breads, and get meats that are seasoned and ready to cook. Look for local lard from pastured pigs, specialty ramen broths and stocks and even Teskey’s own rubs and house steak sauce.

“I was originally a chef, and that background gives me lots of ideas when I’m breaking down an animal,” she says.

Teskey wants customers to understand what goes into raising the ethical meats. “This kind of shop is important for people interested in where their food is coming from and how the food they buy affects not only their own health but the health of the environment and the food system too.”

Smart, savvy and unshakable in her ideals — watch and learn, guys.

With Chinese New Year on the horizon, my thoughts turn to dumplings, from xiaolongbao, top-knottwisted soup dumplings bursting with juicy broth, to steamy, pretty siu mai stuffed with minced pork and crabmeat.

But this year there’s a new bao on my mind and a great little spot on the edge of Victoria’s Chinatown by the same name.

Turmeric, a spice that imparts a vibrant yellow colour to everything from ballpark mustard to curries, is the new trendy functional food.

Long popular in Chinese and Indian Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric is now being touted as a healthy cure-all. Its active ingredient, curcumin, is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substance that may reduce deposits of the type of plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease, lower cholesterol and help patients with arthritis.

I recently happened upon a jar of Naledo Truly Turmeric, “wild crafted whole root turmeric paste.” On further investigation, I uncovered a fascinating story behind this paste. It’s a product made in Belize

by Vancouver’s Umeeda Switlo and her daughter Nareena Switlo, both former CUSO workers.

Umeeda discovered the wild turmeric growing in the farmers’ cacao forest in Belize while working on a youth employment project there. This old varietal has two to three times as much curcumin as today’s cultivated plants.

“It’s the only raw turmeric root paste on the market,” Nareena says of the family’s triple bottom line product.

“This year there’s a new bao on my mind.”

At Bão, they specialize in ramen noodles and the spongy bao buns, those steamy little pancakes first popularized by chefs like Momofuku’s David Chang in New York.

At Bão in Victoria, these fluffy flatbreads, with roots in Korean and Taiwanese cuisine, are served like little tacos, folded around all manner of exotic Asian fillings, from barbecued pork with grilled pineapple to Tonkatsu fried chicken with gingery cabbage salad.

There’s even a dessert bao, filled with creamy condensed milk, banana and Nutella.

Owners Arthur Webb and his wife, Kylie ArnotWebb, opened Bão, their new Asian eatery, in the old Noodlebox location, a company for whom Arthur worked as executive chef for more than 10 years.

2017

PHOTO BY SIMON DESROCHERS

PERSON

Volkswagen

YAM’s food columnist Cinda Chavich explores our region to discover the latest palate-pleasing offerings, culinary talent and eatery openings.

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tastes + trends

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AN INVITING SANCTUARY

By Athena McKenzie

F

orget the utilitarian bathroom. Victoria’s Kelly Moir of KM Interior Designs — who designed this stunning space for a new home in the Uplands — says the bathroom now rivals the kitchen in design and esthetic presence. To achieve one’s own luxury bathroom, Moir recommends allotting generous floor space with in-floor heating to add a sensory element, as well as using natural, easy-to-maintain finishes and combining natural light and striking lighting fixtures.

“While a picture-perfect private setting is ideal for a bathroom window, chandeliers are also used to add a stress-reducing ambience,” Moir says.

To create that ultimate spa-like atmosphere, use plush, luxurious towels — with warming racks, of course. Baskets add a textural element and are a stylish option for extra storage. Indulge in rejuvenating bath and skincare products, add a few candles, and you’ve created the perfect retreat in your own home.

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GET THE LOOK 1 Euro Ceramic Tile Muretto mosaic tile (eurotile.ca, starts at $17/tile) 2 Abyss super pile bath towels (Muffet & Louisa, $120 each) 3 Constellation chandelier (Illuminations Victoria, $3,441) 4 Jade planter (Poppies Floral Art, $30 each) 5 The Perfect Bath by Barbara Sallick (where books are sold, $75) 6 Cloverdale kitchen and bath paint in Cobblestone (Cloverdale Paint, $62/gallon) 7 Kontour Camber heated towel rack (Flush Bathroom Essentials, starts at $450) 8 Kodo Collection green tea mask, eucalyptus body polish and mineral bath soak (for prices and local retailers, visit kodocollection.com) 9 Euro Ceramic Tile woodgrain marble series (eurotile.ca, $40/sf) 10 Aquabrass Caicos freestanding bath (Victoria Speciality Hardware, $4,795) 11 Modern weave handled baskets (westelm.ca, starting at $127) 12 Aura ceramic aroma diffuser (Escents, $90) 13 Kohler Purist floor-mount tub filler (Victoria Speciality Hardware, starting at $1,615)

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GREAT SPACE

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HOME&DESIGN

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

THE ARCHITECT AT HOME

Stretching tall instead of wide, this spectacular Nanaimo home, designed by an architect for his own family, turns minimal space into a high-reaching, lightfilled oasis of inspiration.

By Danielle Pope / Photos by Lance Sullivan

Light is one of the most important elements David Poiron wanted to emphasize in his home.

By pairing an open-concept floor plan with polished concrete flooring and a sliding glass door wall, Poiron was able to create the illusion of space and capture light in creative ways.

W

hen architect David Poiron pictured the house he wanted to build for his family, he knew it needed to be an openconcept design filled with light and have at least three bedrooms, a den and garage. Yet when the planning began, Poiron realized he would have to become ultra-creative to fit those wish-list items onto his small suburban Nanaimo lot.

Three months of extraordinary problem solving later, the result was a contemporary work of art.

“Part of the purpose of this project was to prove people could live in smaller spaces.

This really gave us the chance to explore a variety of spaces and see how they could be used differently,” says Poiron, founding partner of Checkwitch Poiron Architects, an internationally recognized firm with offices in Nanaimo and Vancouver, famous in Nanaimo for its award-winning design of the city’s spectacular Cruise Ship Terminal.

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TWICE THE APPEAL Poiron cheekily named his dwelling Double High House because of its resemblance to a double-wide mobile home turned on its side. It’s his reimagined version of your typical suburban site plan.

While the lot itself measures just 50 feet by 130 feet, Double High House stretches a slender 15 feet by 72 feet. A dynamic bumpout cantilever office and a glass balcony, framed by fibre-cement and cedar siding, forces this geometric structure to stand out for its clever use of space.

The house is strategically positioned lengthways along the north edge of the property to maximize its exposure to the sun. To bring in even more light, Poiron built a sliding-glass-door system that runs along 22 feet of the house to connect the main living area with the exterior wooden

Exterior: Double High House reflects a truly reimagined suburban site plan, maximizing use of the small lot. Poiron wanted to create a visually appealing geometric structure by combining a dynamic bump-out cantilever office with glass balcony, all framed by West-Coast-themed fibre-cement and cedar siding. The deck acts as a visual connection to the exterior in the winter and as a house extension in the summer.

This page: The kitchen features IKEA cabinetry, which Poiron customized and installed himself. The simple wood tone parallels the cedar and fir found throughout the house and is contrasted by the glazed-white cabinets and pantry and white countertops. The kitchen also features a special box window, which acts as a mini greenhouse. As guests must pass through the kitchen to get to any part of the house, Poiron wanted the space to be durable and functional and allow for circulation and movement.

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deck and landscape. This system brilliantly blurs the line between interior and exterior.

“As an architect, the place to take risks is in your own home, because if you aren’t comfortable taking a leap, why would anyone else be?” he says. “When it works, it’s a great way to show what’s possible.”

SPACE, LIGHT, HEAT Inside the home, light pours through ample windows and four skylights onto a series of interconnected open spaces. The polished, stained concrete flooring and bright, glazed-white kitchen create the illusion of

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spaciousness. In a seamless flow, the kitchen merges into the adjacent open-concept dining room and living room. Here, met by a wall of glass, this section of the house seems to expand, borderless, into the outdoors. The dining room opens to showcase the full magnificence of the house’s height, with decorative lighting hanging dynamically in the space above.

Poiron built efficiency into every design element. In addition to natural solar heating, the 2,200-square-foot home features in-floor radiant hydronic heating, natural ventilation, a heat recovery ventilator and an energysaving lighting design.

ARTFUL INTERPRETATION One of the more interesting elements of the home is the staircase to the second level. Poiron wanted to make full use of this valuable space, so he created a gallery-style exhibit to showcase each step.

On the second level, tile flooring and large windows add brightness to the bedrooms, office and play area — a space that started out as a gallery. Poiron’s son, now three, naturally influenced the use of space in the home of this growing family. “With any house, you rethink and repurpose what the spaces need to do for you at any given time,” Poiron says.

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The open-concept living room — complete with Poiron’s special Eames chair — is one of his favourite rooms, and is subtly separated from the dining room by the furniture layout. A glazed-white shelving unit with a custom fir top builds consistency with the motif found in the kitchen and ties these spaces together.

Fir frames the windows as well, with the “window wall” door opening directly onto the deck from this room.

This house, while contemporary and stylish, remains very much a home. Poiron says his favourite days are the ones where he can just be at home, enjoying his house.

“I do have a favourite spot,” he says. “It’s a chair in the living room my wife bought me for Christmas one year. It’s nice to just sit there on a Sunday afternoon and take it all in.”

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AD #: Volkswagen-YAM-11302016-2.39x9.58-2016golfwagen-janfeb.pdf Client: Volkswagen Victoria Publication: YAM Magazine Insert Date: Jan/Feb 2017

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Left: The fir staircase to the top level acts as a rotating gallery. Poiron aimed to take advantage of this unusual space with a crenellated display case that would allow the family to show special objets d’art throughout the seasons. Recessed gallery lighting above and below the shelves highlights select objects and creates a point of interest as people walk by.

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LocaL MarbLe Quarried and Fabricated on VancouVer isLand This wash closet, located under the staircase, is outfitted with a custom fir counter and a semi-recessed sink to create a simple but elegant nook off the entry. A frosted window brings light directly into this space, and the materials complement the finishes found throughout the home. The polished concrete flooring builds consistency throughout the space, while the rounded accent mirror and glass carafe holding sprigs of cotton softens the look.

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Above and left: The top level of Double High House hosts bedrooms for all family members, including Poiron’s son. This toddler’s bedroom combines playful colour with a little whimsy to brighten the dark porcelain tile flooring, and skylights add additional brightness. The upperlevel sitting room overlooks the dining area and is nearly at eye level with the hanging light display. The high-gloss cabinet builds cohesion with the rest of the fixtures and doubles as a storage area for toys.

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Interior designer Kyla Bidgood in her home, which she describes as “an evolving work in progess.”

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

DESIGN MINDS From awe-inspiring spaces to iconic furniture and art, these creative forces are pushing the form and function of our West Coast esthetic.

By Athena McKenzie

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

DESIGNING HAPPY Kyla Bidgood embraces clever twists on colour, pattern and material for her distinct style.

IF

haven’t seen before, a residential project needs to be an extension of interior designer Kyla Bidgood has a visual signature, the homeowner’s lifestyle and a person’s personality. it could be described as ebullient.

“My job as a designer is not to come in and impose my style on “I think a lot of our interiors have a really happy, someone else; it’s to come in and listen to them and transpose that playful element to them,” says the principal designer onto physical space.” of Bidgood + Co, where she leads a team of six in For a recent residential project, Bidgood + Co renovated a residential and commercial design projects — from restaurants 1920s heritage house, which Bidgood says might be outside of here in Victoria to tech offices in London, England. the company’s normal contemporary esthetic, but she loved the “I love pattern and materiality and using creativity to discover challenge. The homeowners wanted to pay tribute to the era but how you can use a material in ways that haven’t been done before,” she also wanted the home modernized. Bidgood + Co used a repeated continues. “Really pushing the envelope. When you design a space, graphic black-and-white motif with brass elements to striking effect. it’s easy to say, ‘Let’s pick a carpet, a paint colour, a light fixture,’ but If Bidgood pushes her clients, she also takes that’s not how I think of space at all. To me, it’s design risks in her own home, recently ordering very sculptural. It’s tactile. How do we push it “I don’t want to say it’s a pink sofa for her living room. She admits she beyond what anyone imagined in this space and was slightly worried before it arrived that she transform it into something else?” like set design, but it is like might “grow to hate it in 10 years” but now Recently, Bidgood + Co. won two Interior setting the stage for a person’s that’s it’s placed in the room, she loves it and Designers of B.C. awards for their work at experience in that space.” “everything else has to change — loving design The Duke Saloon, a Victoria country and is a disease and a gift.” western bar, and for Citizen, a downtown Her attraction to colour is reflected in her menswear store. major design influence, Patricia Urquiola, an Italian architect and “With commercial work, you’re story-telling,” she says. “Someone designer known for her imaginative furniture and tile patterns. needs to walk in the door of that tech office or restaurant and “I think her approach to furniture design is very similar to my immediately get a sense of what that space is about, whether it’s design approach,” Bidgood says. “It’s very modern and you’ve never sophisticated, serious and romantic, or playful like a country bar. seen anything like it before, but there’s always something about it I don’t want to say it’s like set design, but it is like setting the stage that’s very nostalgic. She’s very original and uses so much colour.” for a person’s experience in that space.”

The interior designer does see a possible future in designing For the retail space in Citizen, Bidgood + Co designed a pegboard furniture herself. In January of last year, Bidgood + Co merged with a wall with interchangeable components, including shelving, hooks builder, Strong Construction Group, to form Bidgood Strong Projects. and boxes, that can be switched out depending on the shop “We’ve been doing a lot of our own custom stuff, furniture we merchandise. need for projects and wall paneling like the pegboard at Citizen “It’s highly functional but it’s also a striking pattern when you — how could that evolve, what other versions of that can we do?” walk in the space,” Bidgood says. “So the rest of the space can be Bidgood says. “I’d love to design light fixtures. That’s high on my totally simple and that wall speaks for itself.” list of things I want to do one day. Really thinking beyond what’s While Bidgood says that commercial projects allow her to take available. What can we create that isn’t there yet?” more risks because many clients are looking for something they

Left to right: Design projects by Bidgood + Co include the The Duke Saloon, where Bidgood’s team transformed a 90s-era nightclub into a modern country bar; The Livet, where the casual and inviting atmosphere doesn’t mean a lack of high design details, such as slat built-ins and copper and oxblood elements; and Citizen Clothing, where the team designed the highly functional merchandise display wall.

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REIMAGINING THE TREE John Lore looks to create a West Coast furniture esthetic.

KURT KNOCK

For John Lore of Live Edge Design, creating non-commissioned pieces offers unique opportunities: “You really get to take advantage of the size and grain of the wood.”

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

E

ntering Live Edge Design’s Duncan workshop, with its evocative smells of fresh-cut cedar and maple, one’s eye is immediately drawn upward to the enormous tree slabs filling the shelves high on each wall. Every piece has been air- and kiln- dried and photographed for the company’s extensive database, where customers can pick the wood they want for their custom furniture, be it a striking liveedge dining table with a beach-rock pool inlay, a floating art-like headboard or curvy kitchen countertop.

“If we want to keep the tree slab as wide as possible, we have to keep the defects, so we treat these defects as design possibilities or features, if you will,” says John Lore, founder of Live Edge. “If there’s a knot or a crack we make it look interesting. We can fill a crack with resin or make larger ones rock pools.”

Live Edge obtains most of its wood through what Lore calls “urban salvaging.”

After a wind or snow storm on the Island — mainly between Mill Bay and Nanaimo — the company gets a call that a tree is down and “drops everything” to retrieve it for processing at its workshop.

“At a minimum, we’re able to tell someone where the tree grew and why it came down, and that adds another dimension to the piece [of furniture],” says Lore. “A tree has been in one spot for its whole life, which is often several generations of humans. It’s like a sentinel watching the area. When you think of all the things that happen in the area around that tree, it’s really good fodder for history and imagining.”

Lore has been designing furniture for 20 years and says his style has moved from a rustic esthetic to more contemporary. He credits Japanese-American furniture maker George Nakashima for this evolution.

“He brought over the idea of using really wide slabs in furniture and leaving the natural edge on. For years he was the only one doing it, then we helped popularize it.”

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For Lore, Live Edge Design grew out of his perceived need for a furniture style that suited the West Coast architectural esthetic started by Arthur Erikson, with its powerful natural influences that blurred the lines between the inside and outside.

“One of my main goals was to build furniture that looks at home in those kinds of homes, with their huge windows and lots of beams,” he says. “Primarily in North America, the furniture designers are on the East Coast and the design has European influences. The West Coast has its own look, and it is really underserviced by furniture manufacture.”

The pieces he enjoys making most are the dining tables, with all their possible combinations of wood and design features, such as bases and rock pools. The final product provides a large palette for the wood grain and it serves as a central piece of furniture for the house.

“You end up with something you can look at every day and find something different in it to enjoy,” Lore says. “It’s about family, friends and neighbours, great conversations and decisions — you name it, it happens around the dining table. When you design a good one, you hope it’s going to be in the family for a few generations: it’s fun to imagine how that table will play a part in their lives.”

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

Jetta Volkswagen

Landscape designer Bianca Bodley of Biophilia Design Collective has designed several large commercial living wall installations, which “inspire the same way that art does and also purify the air.”

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

REV.#

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File Name: YAM-3rd-2.39x9.58-VW-2016.indd Trim: 2.39” (w) x 9.58” (h) (Exported in horizontal layout to be flipped to vertical position in magazine) Bleed: 0.125” x 0.125” Live: N/A Colours: 4C Studio: NF Notes: No crop marks for YAM Magazine exports.

AD #: Volkswagen-YAM-11302016-2.39x9.58-2016jetta-janfeb.pdf Client: Volkswagen Victoria Publication: YAM Magazine Insert Date: Jan/Feb 2016

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Vehicle shown for illustration purposes only and may be an upgraded model. *Starting from price is based on the 2017 Jetta Trendline 1.4T, 5-speed manual transmission with a MSRP ($16,395) and freight/PDI ($1625). DOC ($395), environmental levies ($100), tire levy ($25), license, insurance PPSA fee (up to $45.48, if applicable), registration ($495), options, any dealer or other charges, and applicable taxes are extra. Visit Volkswagen Victoria to view current offers. “Volkswagen”, the Volkswagen logo, “Trendline” and “Jetta”, are registered trademarks of Volkswagen AG. ©2016 Volkswagen Canada. DL 49914428 #31186

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PLANTING THE SEED

Bianca Bodley’s innovative designs bring more nature into people’s urban lives.

W

hen Bianca Bodley, owner of Biophila Design Collective, first started on her career path in landscape design 11 years ago, she was living in a small apartment. Experiencing life in a confined urban space inspired her to develop Biophilia, a company that has led the way in greening indoor spaces with stunning living walls and installations.

“There are so many of us in apartments and small spaces, spending time at work where there’s little natural light and greenery,” she says. “We all have an innate attraction to nature; that’s what Biophilia means. I wanted to bring greenery into people’s lives, to where we spend most of our time. I do love big landscapes, but not everyone has two acres to play with. We all have a wall or a little patio or a little garden or a communal rooftop space — or even space in a coffee shop.”

Much of Bodley’s knowledge around living walls comes from researching systems in France and those of one of the original builders of living walls, Patrick Leblanc.

“There are a lot of considerations and challenges,” Bodley says. “The essential elements to making a living wall sucessful are finding plant palettes that will do well, inspire people, make the air healthier and fit people’s budgets, as well as establishing the correct watering schedule.”

Along with living walls, Biophilia is also a design leader in the emerging movement to green roofs.

“Green roofs are great because they act as insulation, extend your outdoor space and create habitat,” Bodley says. “A lot of my knowledge around green roofs comes from Scandinavia and Germany because they’re the founders of all the technology, and green roofs are actually mandated in many countries in Europe. I also took courses and trained locally. Initally people here were scared of water damage, but if they’re built right they don’t have those risks.”

While living walls and green roofs are a passion for Bodley and the demand is growing, much of of Biophilia’s work is landscape-design build. Bodley’s partner — in life and business — Lindsay Mitchell, is a welder and furniture maker, and the pair tries to incorporate elements of art or built-ins into all of their projects so each is truly unique. Of course, they also bring a sustainability focus to every job, whether it is indoors or out.

“Environmentally friendly is what the consumer base is expecting — I’ve always been here, but it’s great to see the transition,” she says. “There’s also a real movement towards food production. Food production in your landscape doesn’t

have to be in a designated spot. I like to incorporate it. For example, herbs look great all year round. You can have a front garden that’s entirely herbs if it has the right aspect and it will just look like a beautiful garden.

Vegetables are a bit different because they only have a short window when they look good, but if you do them in the foreground of a garden bed that can work too.”

Each design process is very client driven.

Bodley describes herself as a pragmatic person, so combining form and function is important. Her first thought is to

“We all have an innate attraction to nature.” maintenance requirements and if the client understands those requirements.

“How it looks relates to the level of maintenance and you need to find that balance,” she says. “I try to make every project unique. It’s easy to repeat what works, but you can fall into a formula. I want each client to see themselves in the project and relate to it.”

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47

CARVING SPACE

Landscape architect and sculptor Illarion Gallant with a prototype for his memorial public art piece, The Lost Airmen of the Empire, destined for Hospital Hill at the north end of Victoria International Airport.

For Illarion Gallant, the Canadian landscape is a dynamic muse.

T

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JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

“

he joke is that I’m going to make my money designing wallpaper and linen,” says Illarion Gallant, the Victoria landscape architect and sculptor best known for his polarizing public art, such as Bouquet of Memories, the tulips at the Victoria International Airport, and Commerce Canoe in Bastion Square.

Gallant is flipping through stacks of Moleskine notebooks, where he’s repeatedly doodled and coloured in a small delicate design.

“When I’m in board meetings or when I’m on flights, I draw these,” he says. “I hammer them out and then I come home and colour them. I joke that this is where the money is at; now I have to prove that I’m right.”

Along with these “doodles,” Gallant fills three to four “idea books” a year — large, hardcover sketchbooks in which he roughs out the concepts for each of his projects, be it a sculpture or a landscape design. And when talking to Gallant, the two are rarely differentiated.

“Do I see the difference between the two? Not really,” Gallant says. “When you’re doing landscapes, there’s sculptural form everywhere. When you’re doing anything, there’s functionality involved because people are going to interact with it — landscape more so because the premise is that people are going to use it, people are going to pass through it.”

When speaking of his influences, Gallant refers to time spent in Austria while an art student in the mid-1980s. He was helping a group of German and Austrian sculptors transform a stone quarry into a people’s park.

“We were a group of sculptors who understood objects trying to define space. It was a pivotal experience and it put in me this love of the landscape,” Gallant says. “When I came back, I started designing landscapes.”

Gallant runs his landscape design company, Rusnak Gallant, with his partner in business and life, Twyla Rusnak. “She knows how to carve space — she carves the positive, I carve the negative.”

Along with his experience in Europe, Gallant points to his childhood in Ontario and time spent in central Ontario as his biggest influence. As an artist, he tries to define the Canadian landscape and looks at human intervention on the fabric of this terrain.

“When you’re doing anything, there’s functionality involved because people are going to interact with it ...”

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

A current public art commission has him working on a memorial honouring the Second World War airmen who trained at the former Royal Canadian Air Force base on the grounds of what is now the Victoria International Airport. Along with a seating area made from bricks salvaged from a former hospital on the site, the main sculptural feature will be 25 giant metal feathers.

“The airport memorial is heavy emotionally — look at the ages of the people who were killed,” he says. “As an artist, I get tossed in these situations and I get to research and I learn all these things. For me that’s the kind of stuff I love and brings the deeper layers.”

Gallant and Rusnak bring this research to their landscape work as well, learning as much about the site — and landowners — as possible.

“That’s my job; how else do you design? When I meet my clients, within 20 minutes I can be asking pretty personal questions. I’m designing for you; I need to know this stuff because I’m making decisions for you.”

If it comes off as ego and bravado, Gallant is OK with that. In his mind, especially in the art world, you need to be bigger than life or you’ll “get squashed.” And while it also helps with dealing with criticism, it’s the ultimate characteristic for designing with creativity.

“It’s about having that confidence,” he says with a laugh and a shrug.

“It’s about having gay abandon.”

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A YA M M AG A Z I N E S P E C I A L F E AT U R E

A guide to planning your day

LIUBOV BURAKOVA/STOCKSY

Here comes the

WOW

1 2

Searching for the perfect bridal look? Here are five of 2017’s standout trends to inspire you to make a style statement on your wedding day.

Tulle gown from Lazaro

COLOURFUL WEDDING DRESSES

3

In a major break with tradition, coloured wedding dresses are having a moment.

Many designers, possibly inspired by Pantone’s 2016 colour of the year, Serenity, are offering that answer for something blue on your big day. Bright fucshia, jewel tones and even black have other brides saying, “I do.”

Other key dress trends seen at the major bridal fashion shows include off-the-shoulder looks, embellishments — such as crystals, beading and floral appliqués — and risqué plunging necklines.

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YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

For some brides, finding the perfect shoes is as important as finding the perfect dress. If you’re looking to bring the wow factor with your footwear, consider slipping your tootsies into a pair of the embellished heels. From delicate appliqué flowers to crystal-bedecked stilettos, your wedding shoe fantasies can be realized. And remember, there’s no rule that your shoes need to match your dress! But you will want them for your first dress fitting to make sure your dress length is ideal to show off those kicks.

Lela Rose collared cape

BRIDAL CAPELETS A strapless or off-the-shoulder dress makes wearing a topper even more fun, and while veils are always lovely, capelets are a modern approach. From simple sheer cover-ups to whimsical faux fur to dramatic draped lace, the options are as varied as dress styles.

Embrace this multi-faceted look by wearing the capelet during the ceremony, then slipping it off to “reveal” the top of your dress at the reception.

Beaded Trickling Capelet from BHLDN

JOVANA VUKOTIC/STOCKSY

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FLORAL CROWNS

Don’t let your bouquet get all the botanical glory. While especially suited for outdoor weddings, floral crowns are perfect for almost any wedding style — with many brides choosing them over veils. Brides who find larger flower crowns overwhelming may want to consider ones made of more delicate vines and interwoven flowers.

Another popular option is to wear flowers and foliage braided into the hair.

For that special couple...

5

BOLD EARRINGS

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While accessorizing your bridal look can often be a challenge, 2017 is all about the statement earring — and the bigger the better. Dubbed the “shoulder duster,” these long danglers hang down and elegantly frame the face. There are either rounded or more angular options, so choose a pair that best complements your face shape and dress style. For a very fresh modern bridal look, wear these earrings with simple loose braids.

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For the

groom

COLOURED SUITS As with women, men are choosing to wear more colour. Again, hues of blue are the most popular, but shades of grey, deep burgundy and even green twill are making the sartorial cut.

Wedding fashion isn’t just for the bride — here are three of our favourite groom style trends.

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WEDDING BLING

Grooms deserve special accessories too. Think tie bars, cufflinks and a thoughtfully selected watch to keep you on time for all those important moments, from the I do’s to the last toast.

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Etiquette www

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Do I have to create a wedding website?

Who pays for what?

It’s your wedding — you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. (Make that your mantra!) That said, a wedding website is a nice convenience, providing a go-to place for guests with answers to FAQs, from the best nearby hotels to gift registries. Sites like weddingpaperdivas.com and theknot.com are easy to use and range from free to very affordable.

Once upon a time, the bride’s family paid for everything (to help secure a good match!).

These days, equality reigns, so most families split the cost equally — or come up with their own fair formulas.

From what to do about cell phones at ceremonies to who pays for what, navigating wedding etiquette can be stressful. We’ve answered some of these pressing questions so you can focus on your big day.

My partner and I don’t need more “things,” but we do want to travel — can we ask for money instead of gifts?

Yes, as long as you word your request tactfully. The perfect place to do this would be on your wedding website, where you can show a photo of your dream destination and helpfully suggest that contributions to your goal of climbing Kilimanjaro or touring Tuscany are welcome.

You might also find an Experience Registry online to make it easy for your guests to purchase gift certificates toward your dream trip.

Do I have to invite my friend’s significant other?

I’m worried about the disruption of mobile phones at our wedding. Can I request no phones and no sharing?

If your friend is in a committed relationship, you do need to invite the significant other.

However, if your friend wants to bring someone they just met on Plenty of Fish, no need to invite the partner.

That said, some people are shy about attending events alone — a plus-one means they are more likely to show up.

More and more couples are opting for “unplugged weddings.” Some go completely unplugged for the entire wedding; others request unplugged for the ceremony only. To warm guests up to the idea, politely put your request on your wedding website. Then, as guests arrive for the ceremony, have your greeters politely mention the event is unplugged — or hand out pretty little “unplugged” cards. And it’s OK to ask guests not to post photos from your wedding until you or your partner have posted first. Some couples ask their wedding photog to post “approved” photos on their website right away so guests can share them.

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IN THE BRIDAL PARTY? Here’s your official to-do list!

Attendants

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen DURING THE PLANNING

•O rder and pay for formal wear.

•B e available to help with all those pre-wedding tasks, including addressing invites, choosing colours and decorations.

Honour Attendant

Traditionally called the Maid of Honour or the Best Man, you are the right-hand person for this momentous occasion.

DURING THE PLANNING

• Number 1? Listen. Whether it’s about the honeymoon, the spouse-to-be or even endless musings on cake flavours and colour schemes, you’re the go-to set of ears and shoulder to cry on.

• Take responsibility for your side of the bridal party and delegate their pre-wedding and wedding-day tasks.

• Help your member of the couple shop for his or her attire and pick the co-ordinating bridal party outfits.

• Make sure your side of the bridal party gets to fittings and finds the right accessories.

• Be available to help with all those pre-wedding tasks, including addressing invites, choosing colours and decorations.

• If you’re acting for the bride, host or co-host a shower or a more non-traditional party for the bride or couple — think a cooking class or a charity-focused activity.

• Let guests know where the couple is registered.

• Keep a record of all the gifts received at various parties and showers (or delegate another member of the bridal party to handle this).

• Plan a pre-wedding party with your side of the bridal party. It could be a separate bachelor/bachelorette blowout or a hybrid party for both — whatever the couple wants.

BEFORE THE WEDDING DAY

• Help arrange accommodations for any out-of-town members of the bridal party.

• See to it that your side of the bridal party gets to the rehearsal, and co-ordinate lodging, if necessary.

AT THE CEREMONY AND RECEPTION

• Hold the ring during the ceremony. (If necessary, wear it on your thumb for safe-keeping.)

• If standing for the bride, help arrange her train and veil before the ceremony begins and just after she arrives at the altar. You may need to help her bustle the train for easy dancing at the reception.

Hold her bouquet while the couple exchanges vows.

• Sign the marriage licence as a witness.

• After the ceremony, give the officiant a sealed envelope with his or her fee (from the couple).

• Act as a host, along with the rest of the bridal party: show guests where to sit, direct them to restrooms, tell them where to put presents, invite them to sign the guest book, etc.

• Collect any gift envelopes brought to the reception and keep them in a safe place.

• Make sure the couple takes a moment to eat something: refresh their drinks and bring them plates of food from the buffet line.

• Offer a toast to the couple.

• Last, but not least? Don’t let the couple get stressed out on the wedding day. You’re there to troubleshoot any crisis.

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BEFORE THE WEDDING DAY

•H elp plan and attend any pre-wedding parties and events, such as showers and the bachelor/bachelorette parites.

•A ttend the rehearsal dinner.

AT THE CEREMONY AND RECEPTION

•G roomsmen may be asked to seat guests for the ceremony.

•S erve as greeters at reception.

• “ Decorate” the couple’s car or the vehicle being used to leave the reception.

Parents of the Bride DURING THE PLANNING

•H elp the couple look for ceremony and reception sites.

•C ompile and submit names and addresses of your family and friends you would like included on the master guest list.

•A long-held tradition is for the mother of the bride to help choose the wedding dress.

•H elp with family and cultural traditions and any heirlooms to be incorporated into the ceremony or reception.

BEFORE THE WEDDING DAY

•A ttend the bridal shower.

•A ttend the rehearsal dinner.

AT THE CEREMONY AND RECEPTION

•A ccompany the bride down the aisle.

•S tand in the receiving line to greet guests; if following tradition, the mother of the bride heads up the line, as reception host.

•G ive a toast to welcome the new spouse into the family.

Parents of the Groom DURING THE PLANNING

• Host a dinner to introduce the spouse-to-be to your side of the family.

• Help the couple look for ceremony and reception sites.

• Compile and submit names and addresses of your family and friends you would like included on the master guest list.

• Help with family and cultural traditions and any heirlooms to be incorporated into the ceremony or reception.

• Let guests know where the couple is registered.

• Offer to track down late RSVPs from anyone on your side of the invite list.

• Plan and host the rehearsal dinner, traditionally held the night before the wedding.

BEFORE THE WEDDING DAY

•A ttend the bridal shower.

•H ost the rehearsal dinner.

AT THE CEREMONY AND RECEPTION

•S tand in the receiving line after the couple.

•G ive a toast to welcome the new spouse into the family.

GOODBYE EXHAUSTION

hello exhilaration!

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wrong, many of us are feeling the negative effects of too many obligations, too many demands, too much information, too little downtime and too little sleep. We chug hightest coffee and grumble good-naturedly at the water cooler about how busy we are, while inside we wonder how many more days we can go before we hit the wall. We know it’s coming.

We know nobody can withstand this pace. And yet somehow we do.

The really crazy thing about exhaustion is that we think this is normal.

“Because exhaustion is so commonplace nowadays, we don’t identify it as a big problem,” says Dr. Mark Sherman, general practitioner and founder of the BC Association for Living Mindfully (BCALM).

“We have friends and family members who are taking antidepressant and antianxiety medications, but because it’s so common we

SIMON DESROCHERS

A

fter the Rio Paralympic Games wrapped up and she brought home her gold medals last year, wheelchair racer and ParksvilleQualicum MLA and social development minister Michelle Stilwell said she was weighed down by exhaustion, torn between whether to run for re-election and spending more time with her family.

She’s not alone. More than three-quarters of Canadian workers surveyed report working while tired, and one-third say they do so very often, according to a 2016 survey by staffing firm Accountemps. Lacking focus, procrastinating more, being grumpy and making more mistakes are the results.

Call it ongoing tiredness or call it exhaustion, this epidemic is currently razing a population near you. From falling asleep at the wheel to flipping out when the server gets our order

URBANLIP/MASTERFILE

“I’M SO EXHAUSTED” IS THE FREQUENTLY SPOKEN ANTIMANTRA OF MANY CANADIANS. YAM EXPLORES THIS NOT-SOMODERN EPIDEMIC AND HOW TO ESCAPE IT. By Alex Van Tol

Michelle Stilwell holds six gold medals from the Paralympics, including two from Rio. Part of being a mom, athlete and MLA is learning how to deal with exhaustion.

“If we care about ourselves, why do we go, go, go until we’re overwhelmed?” normalize it as something society is going through.”

Sherman points to an epidemic of sleep issues, mood disorders, stress-related diseases and pain complaints — all relating to the stress epidemic that we’ve somehow managed to normalize.

Even more bizarrely, we wear our exhaustion like a badge of honour — a status symbol of sorts.

“What is this about?” asks Sherman, posing a question that’s so rhetorical it hurts. “If we care about ourselves, why do we go, go, go until we’re overwhelmed?”

Doing so, he says, compromises our relationships, diminishes our ability to be skilful and loving parents, and depletes our ability to engage in self-care.

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THE PRESSURE TO BE “ENOUGH” For the most part, many of us do it because we want to appear a certain way on the outside.

“There is an intimate relationship between profound insecurity and our sense of not being enough,” says Sherman. “Not that we don’t have enough. That we are not enough.”

So we try to define ourselves by our jobs, our stuff and how we look on social media, all the while feeling like we can never fill the cup.

“It comes from a place of shame and insecurity, and it leads to ‘comparison mind,’ where we are always comparing ourselves to others and seeing where we fall short.”

Ah, there it is — it’s the demands of living in our modern world. Some of us would happily see Facebook burned at the stake. And almost none of us would argue that the rise of mobile devices and the Internet has coincided with a sense of never being able to shut off.

But in her latest book, Exhaustion: A History, British scholar Anna Katharina Schaffner takes a microscope to our conviction that we are the most tired group to ever have lived. If, like me, you have managed to convince yourself that modern life is way more exhausting than it could possibly have been in the Victorian era or the 1950s or

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SET BOUNDARIES

Saying yes when you want to say no?

Each week, make a list of your top five priorities (more sleep, make time for friends, etc.). If a request doesn’t fit one of those priorities, say no. Really!

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CALL TODAY TO BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT.

YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017

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Planning is all about direction.

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Contact me today for a free review of your plan.

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the term “Scotiabank Investment Specialist” refers to a Scotia Securities Inc. mutual fund representative. Scotia Securities Inc. is a member of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association.

46%

Percentage of Canadians who cut into the time they spend sleeping in order to complete other activities. Most adults need 8 or 9 hours a night. even just before AOL, well — you’re wrong.

Schaffner proves, through medical, cultural and biographical sources, that extreme mental and physical stress are pretty much mainstays of the human condition, regardless of era.

HOW TO END EXHAUSTION Fine, then. Regardless of its causes, exhaustion isn’t anything new. But still: you’re feeling exhausted. So can we talk about how to change it?

First, there’s good exhaustion and there’s bad exhaustion. “To me, in my training, exhaustion is a good thing,” says Stilwell. “I love pushing myself to the limit where I’m seeing stars, can’t breathe. You need to push yourself past that to be elite, and the best in the world.”

But Stilwell cautions against this kind of limit-pushing in day-to-day life, where we’re not facing physical exhaustion as much as mental exhaustion. To mitigate against exhaustion in her ultra-demanding schedule — daily physical training, raising a middle-schooler, briefings and meetings, listening to constituents when she runs into them at the hardware store, answering emails late into the night — Stilwell honours a healthy lifestyle. She drinks enough water and gets enough vitamin D to support her immune system; she chooses exercise over TV or browsing social media; she prepares clothes and lunches ahead of time in order to avoid beforeschool chaos. And now that the Paralympics are over, it’s likely these measures will prevent exhaustion from sneaking up on her again.

Here, in eight steps — each of which will restore approximately half of the energy you lack (do the math: you really can get the cup to overflow) — YAM shows you how to recapture that joie de vivre.

1. Schedule unscheduled time.

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Leave one day a week free of birthday parties, social commitments, events and obligations.

“It’s not just kids who need idle time,” says serial entrepreneur Rebecca Kirstein, who last fall spearheaded Victoria’s first-ever multi-day education summit. “Human beings need idle time. We need time to just go with the flow; to just wake up naturally and go wherever the wind takes you.” Being unscheduled doesn’t mean you can’t go for a walk with a friend or attend a potluck, just that nothing should be planned ahead of time. Also, feel free to nap, like Saanichton web developer Shawn DeWolfe. “I look for

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shortcuts,” says the busy father of a teenage daughter and stepson. “I used to be mocked for taking naps, but I will if I can manage it.”

It helps him stay stable when working for clients in the 24-7 web environment.

2. Fully and completely accept yourself.

Our minds are prone to a negative bias, says mindfulness expert Dr. Mark Sherman. “We tend to only see the negative in ourselves and others, and we don’t appreciate what we are and what we have.” Sherman echoes the late psychotherapist Carl Rogers, who insisted that change can only occur once an individual has fully and completely accepted themselves. “When we love ourselves and can accept ourselves and our myriad flaws and idiosyncrasies,” says Sherman, “when we are not shaming or beating ourselves up, then there is space to make change.”

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You may not feel like being active, but even a 10-minute walk in the fresh air can significantly boost energy.

3. Take responsibility for what you’re eating.

“What you put into your body has a huge bearing on how you feel,” explains Dr. Marita Schauch, a naturopath, speaker and author who works at Tall Tree Integrated Health and who specializes in treating adrenal exhaustion. Plan healthy meals, eat enough protein and produce, drink water and ease up on the sugar (this goes for white carbs, too). Magnesium and vitamins B and C are all nourishing to your nervous system and good for anxiety, says Schauch. Focus on all your senses when you’re eating. And don’t skip breakfast: you can’t get your hormones back in balance unless you normalize your circadian rhythm. A checkup at your doctor’s is always a good idea, especially if you’re feeling particularly ground down.

4. Would you please sleep, already?

Really, this is the foundation of physical and mental wellness. Sleep is to your brain what the charger is to your cell phone. It powers up the areas controlling mood and behaviour, stabilizes chemical imbalances and consolidates memory. “Take it seriously,” says Victoria counsellor Sarah Pullman. “There is a serious long-term consequence to body, mind and spirit being exhausted.” Pullman asks her patients to commit to making the hour before sleep a time

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of winding down. Have a bath; read a book; practice deep breathing to signal your nervous system to begin calming itself. “If having a good sleep is an issue, seek holistic care from a naturopathic doctor or acupuncture or whatever helps you,” she says. “It’s important not to accept it as that’s just the way things are.”

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5. Watch what you tell yourself.

“If you say ‘I’m tired’ over and over,” says Schauch, “that’s all your body knows.”

Schauch, who typically goes by Dr. Marita, challenges her patients to use words carefully, because they are powerful. The truth of this cannot be underestimated. Toltec spiritualist don Miguel Ruiz leads off his landmark book The Four Agreements with a directive to be impeccable with your word: the word shapes your thought and speech, and in so doing, the events you create in your life.

6. Slow down.

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Challenge the idea that overscheduling is a good thing, says Pullman. She points to the swaths of evidence that overscheduling is destructive for kids, and asks how it could possibly be any different for adults. “People need to practice saying no, which is really hard,” she says. “You feel like you will be disappointing someone or letting someone down. But you really need to get better at listening to your own gut, and knowing what is too much for you.”

7. Let go.

Loosen your grip on the control lever. Let other people help you. Put down those things that aren’t essential. Put them down.

“Sometimes you have to let things go,” says Victoria’s poet laureate Yvonne Blomer, who juggles her literary duties with caring for her son, who has autism. “I would rather really consider before I say yes than have to back out, so it is making me more careful about what I agree to.” (Blomer elegantly illustrated the “letting things go” tip when, during our interview, her six-month-old Brittany spaniel wandered into the room with suddenly and inexplicably blue feet, having upended some bubble bath. Instead of freaking out about the furniture … she stopped and took a photo.) Sherman agrees, noting that letting go becomes easier if you are accepting of who you are — because along with that comes an acceptance of your natural limitations.

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GET A CHECKUP

Getting enough sleep and exercise but still exhausted? Time for a checkup to rule out medical causes such as thyroid disorders or anemia.

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WHO’S WINNING THE FRAZZLED FIGHT? The experts I spoke with agreed that women suffer more from exhaustion than do men, although they were quick to acknowledge the generalization that women tend to keep closer tabs on their emotional well-being and report more frequently when things are out of sync, while guys bottle everything up inside.

The biggest exhaustion crunch for women occurs between the ages of 44 and 64, when the pressures of career and child-rearing and householdrunning really come to a head.

Men do feel it too, although they’re more likely to experience a crushing heart attack than admit to feeling overwhelmed.

“Men are often stoic about their health,” says Pullman.

“They often carry the burden of being the main breadwinner. I also see a lot of loneliness in the men I work with.”

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8. Be mindful.

This isn’t about sitting still and clearing your mind of thought. It’s about recognizing that you are exhausted, that it’s not normal and that this is an issue — and beginning to shape your life to meet your core needs.

Begin by paying attention to your feelings, and honouring your own deep wants. “As a society, the journey away from this tipping point is one of self-love,” says Sherman. “If we can move from a place of self-judgment, self-loathing and shame to self-acceptance and self-love, that’s way more important than if someone just learns to meditate.”

CHANGE YOUR STORY Exhaustion is ubiquitous, but it doesn’t have to be your story.

“One message I want your readers to take away is that of hope,” says Sherman. “There have been lots of people who have really suffered — who have been at that point of exhaustion and burnout, but who have reclaimed their lives.” Pick your starting point, be it a mindfulness program, a new food group, an earlier bedtime or unused space in your schedule, and make the change.

You got yourself into it. You can totally get yourself out of it.

CLIENT: MAYCOCK EYECARE YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017 PUBLICATION: YAM MAGAZINE SHIPPING DATE: NOV 30, 2016; AD SIZE: 4.94” x 4.7”

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STYLE WATCH Fashion Stylist: Janine Metcalfe Photos by Jeffrey Bosdet

The Winter Dance Inspired by the minimalism of winter, these white tulle skirts, silk and lace dresses and soft sweaters perfectly capture the dreamlike quality of the season.

Left: Pink Martini white skirt (Migration, $85); Astria off-the-shoulder sweater (BCBGMAXAZRIA, $231).

This page: Pink Martini white dress (Migration, $120)

Guinevere ruffled lace dress (BCBGMAXAZRIA, $296), Plume with ostrich feather, diamante banding, embroidered lace and pearl and beaded appliquĂŠ (Lynda Marie Couture Millinery, $240)

Willowby by Watters tulle skirt (White Peony, $930), Line white sweater (Bernstein & Gold, $249), Ralph Lauren faux fur infinity scarf (The Bay, $68)

This page: Joseph Ribkoff blouse ($165) and Joseph Ribkoff pants ($135), both available at Barbara’s Boutique Right: Astrid and Mercedes white silk wedding dress (White Peony, $2,195); white cropped fur shawl (BCBGMAXAZRIA, $434)

Models: Ballet Victoria dancers Andrea Robyn Bayne, Geneva Frampton, Luke Thomson and Artistic Director Paul Destrooper Makeup: Erin Bradley Hair: Mandy Rogers of Hunt & Gather Hair Company Stylist Assistant: Stuart Cameron Shot on location in Victoria at Cinderbloc Studios with special thanks to Ballet Victoria

SCENE

scene

FAMILY MATTERS JOAN MACLEOD’S NEW PLAY GRACIE IS SET IN THE POLYGAMOUS COMMUNITY OF BOUNTIFUL, A PLACE SELDOM OUT OF THE HEADLINES

By David Lennam

J

oan MacLeod’s plays are, it’s often suggested, torn from the headlines.

The Shape of a Girl was essentially the Reena Virk story.

Jewel looked at the aftermath of an offshore oil-rig disaster, the sinking of the Ocean Ranger.

The Valley was inspired by the 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport.

MacLeod’s latest, Gracie, which has its world premiere at the Belfry Theatre on January 20, has that same headline quality, but calling MacLeod a journalist may be an exaggeration.

Mostly, it’s just good storytelling.

“I want people to talk about it,” says MacLeod, who lives in Victoria and teaches creative writing at UVic. “My plays often are inspired by current events, and I like to look at them through character and by creating my own narrative, but it’s not docudrama.”

“

I hope things aren’t really black and white in the play … although the situation at the end of the day is black and white to me.

BELFRY THEATRE

JOAN MACLEOD

GRACIE RUNS AT THE BELFRY THEATRE FROM JANUARY 20 TO FEBRUARY 19.

BEYOND THE SURFACE Gracie is a monologue, the story of a 15-year-old girl on the cusp of discovery — of self, of place.

The place just happens to be Bountiful, the infamous polygamist enclave buried deep in the Kootenays.

This isolated Mormon fundamentalist community of 1,000, all descended from a halfdozen men, has been writing its own headlines since 2007 when leaders faced charges relating to polygamy and moving underage girls across the Canada-U.S. border.

The stories that become dinner-table talk exposed kids in arranged marriages, allegations

CULTURE X3

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COUNTING CROWS

OUR TOP PICKS FOR WHAT’S NEW AND HOT IN LOCAL LIT, THEATRE, MUSIC AND ART. METAPHORS FOR THE PSYCHE

Don’t miss En Trance, a selection of works from artist Sandra Meigs’ highly anticipated 2017 Art Gallery of Ontario exhibit. Meigs, a Victoria-based artist whose vivid paintings have been described as “complex narratives with comic elements,” was awarded the 2015 Governor General’s award and the Gershon Iskowitz Prize, presented annually to an artist who has made an outstanding contribution to the visual arts in Canada.

Winchester Galleries, Oak Bay Avenue, January 24 to February 11

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Preliminary Study for What is the Mind of the Mystic, 2015, acrylic on panel, 20 x 16 inches

2

In his debut collection Seven Crow Stories, Victoria-based novelist Robert J. Wiersema looks deep into the shadows, drawing on myth, folk tales, ghost stories and fairy tales. As he did with his bestselling novels Before I Wake and The World More Full of Weeping, Wiersema interweaves the supernatural and mythical with the domestic, whether he’s writing of an expectant mother kept awake by a mysterious crying in her new home or a hard-drinking musician with a vengeful muse. (ChiZine Publications, 2016)

of abuse, and the names Winston Blackmore and Warren Jeffs. (Jeffs is now in prison on counts of child sexual assault.)

In the play, Gracie has arrived in Bountiful via Colorado City, the largest polygamous community in North America and the domain of its leader, Jeffs. She was moved north at age eight because her oldest sister is being married off to the community.

As a youngster, Gracie fell in love with her new home, after leaving the madness of Colorado City, but her coming of age opens her eyes to the cracks in the community.

“She’s starting to come face to face with what her choices are going to be,” says MacLeod. In fact, she’ll be forced to marry, and her brother, like most of the young men there, will be forced out.

Eataly.

AMANDA BULLICK PHOTOGRAPHY

JUDGE NOT The playwright calls Bountiful a complicated place, but one that has always held her interest — as an outsider.

“No, I am not a polygamist,” she laughs.

“I was raised United Church … There’s a lot that’s clearly wrong and upsetting about it, but complicated things are always good things to write about.”

MacLeod travelled to Bountiful to research Gracie, remaining content to lurk around the outskirts, as she put it.

“Just going there and seeing what it looked like, how beautiful it is … I remember turning the corner and there were four women wearing the long dresses and walking along.

And looking at Bountiful down the road, it felt like it was teeming with kids playing on bikes, that kind of vibe of kids like me who grew up in the late 50s and 60s. We hung out on our bikes. This didn’t seem any different.”

And yet it is.

“At the end of the day, there are some great things kids in that community grow up with, but for both boys and girls there, to me, it’s a no-brainer. No, that’s not OK to have 140 children. They’ve been trying to prosecute what’s going on in Bountiful a long time, and

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TO CELEBRATE TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD

Their compelling blend of gypsy jazz meets ska and folk has earned Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra its place as hometown favourite. To celebrate the group’s 10th anniversary, Victoria Ska Society presents these world-travelling troubadours on stage at Sugar Nightclub on January 14, 8:30 p.m.

Special guests include West Coast indie soul pop band Lovecoast and jazz/world beat musicians Harvey Paris and Eli Bennett. ticketweb.ca

Eat. Drink.

CElEbratE. 250.385.5643 | glovictoria.com 2940 Jutland Rd. Victoria, on the Selkirk Waterway

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I think that should happen ...”

The challenge in writing about a topic where you have judgment, MacLeod will tell you, is in not passing judgment. MacLeod was never going to come out and tell us how wrong this all is. This isn’t an editorial.

“We’re all good and bad,” says MacLeod.

“She’s not a saint. I hope things aren’t really black and white in the play ... although the situation at the end of the day is black and white to me.”

Gracie director Vanessa Porteous (artistic director of Alberta Theatre Projects, which is co-producing the play with the Belfry) suggests the story is more about survival than mortality, and says the character is “torn” and “on the horns of a dilemma,” but loving and innocent.

“We have to look at her community through her eyes, so really it asks us not to judge, but to look at things with empathy.”

THE PRESSURES AROUND US Despite the public’s general distaste for what’s going on in Bountiful, Porteous notes the play is not at all propaganda. Don’t prepare to be shocked, she says.

“Joan’s empathy is her greatest strength as a writer. Gracie loves her home, loves God, wants home and family and she has to make a choice whether to stay with her family. It’s a struggle between our individual needs and feelings and the pressures of our society around us.”

As a play, Gracie is going to ask questions, but it’ll be up to audiences to supply the answers.

What’s at stake, says Porteous, is “how do you keep your body and soul together when the people you love the most are asking you to live a certain way and you can’t?”

The role demanded someone with a great deal of talent and stamina to survive a monologue. Gracie herself will be played by a young girl — a veritable newcomer named Lili Beaudoin, a recent grad from the Studio 58 program in Vancouver.

Porteous recalls how blown away she and Belfry artistic director Michael Shamata were

by Beaudoin after auditioning 50 others.

“From the first moment, when Lili read us the first section of the play, Michael and I looked at each other and were just crying.

The challenge was to get someone who could capture that naiveté without overdoing it.”

“She doesn’t have to push,” notes Shamata.

As for MacLeod, asked if she was worried whether the topic of Gracie would be exposing secrets of an intentionally isolated — and isolating — community, she says she’s pretty sure it will go unnoticed.

“I think they’re a community not interested in the rest of the world.”

She also questions how many Canadians in general have theatre on their radar. In this way, the stage can be as isolated as Bountiful itself — if you’re not looking for it, it has distinguishable invisibility.

street scene DESTINATION:

UPPER FORT YAM WALKS A BLOCK TO EXPLORE THE EXCEPTIONAL OFFERINGS OF UPPER FORT.

By Melissa Gignac

NOSH ON THIS Upper Fort’s current incarnation boasts a broad mix of residential, retail and restaurants. Picnic Too is

SIMOM DESROCHERS

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SIMOM DESROCHERS

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s I cross Cook Street to explore Upper Fort, it strikes me that I’m about to enter a proto-Victoria neighbourhood: a single block that hosts the Capital City’s holy trifecta — a coffee shop, a yoga studio and a medical marijuana dispensary. Yes, the neighbourhood is shaking off its long-held moniker, Antique Row. As part of the Harris Green borough named for Thomas Harris, Victoria’s first mayor, Upper Fort saw early residential development in the late 1800s, with a shift to commercial in the 1920s as automobiles entered the city and downtown living became unfashionable.

Fast forward a century or so and Upper Fort today is becoming a blend of retail, commercial and residential.

Its most notable building — the Mosaic at 1061 Fort — was originally built in 1963 as the Royal Trust Building.

Designed by Victoria architect John Di Castri, it features Mexican artist Andres Salgo’s mosaic murals depicting B.C.’s historic and modern industries. Today, the aptly renamed Mosaic features 85 live/work strata units with ground-floor commercial.

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4 Top to bottom: 1 The Mosaic Building // 2 Empire doughnuts from Picnic Too // 3 Hilary’s Cheese Co. 4 Sally Bun’s famous tomato soup

unobtrusive from the street, but far from basic within. If popularity can be measured in doughnuts, this coffee stop/eatery is clearly the It Girl; popular enough that the locally made Empire doughnuts I had my heart set on were sold out by 1 p.m. on my first go. Not a quitter, I tried again the following week and was rewarded for my persistence with a slim but tasty doughnut to go with my Americano.

Hilary’s Cheese Co. has recently returned to the neighbourhood after a short hiatus and an ownership change. Chief cheesemonger and general manager Candice Meighen was, in past lives, both a sommelier and actor, divergent careers that play perfectly into the education and performance aspects of Hilary’s popular Cheese Series events. Comox’s Natural Pastures Aged Farmhouse and Etorki sheep’s-milk cheese from the Pyrenees are both hot sellers.

I’ll be back in the spring when Hilary’s starts offering cheesemaking courses.

A few doors east I land at Leka, a retail explosion of bright Scandinavian prints and locally screened knitwear. I’m immediately drawn to the Fat Boy beanbag chair covered in Marimekko’s Unikko poppy print (a favourite print of Leka owner Aase Lium-Hall). I imagine comfortably plopping myself here until that donut settles down, but there’s soooo much

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more to see at Leka. I don’t need new kitchen textiles, but suddenly I need new kitchen textiles.

Leka sales associate Chantelle Parent tells me about Masala Bites, an eatery across the street: “They have a deep-fried cauliflower — it will change your life. And their butter chicken is the best I’ve ever had.” Owner Aase Lium-Hall is partial to her wintry favourite, the tomato soup from neighbouring Sally Bun, one of the district’s anchors.

VERVE TO VINTAGE Shops like Leka and its neighbour Not Just Pretty, an eco-boutique specializing in stylish, modern clothing, represent the block’s contemporary edge.

But Upper Fort hasn’t totally thrown off its antique roots. Vanity Fair Antiques and Collectable, along with Charmaine’s Past and Present, are a nod to the long-standing Antique Row cognomen. Vanity Fair sates the magpie desire for shiny, with case after case of vintage jewelry boasting all the cameos and glittery brooches a girl could ever need, along with sweet little pillboxes and charming Lucite handbags.

Across the road at Charmaine’s, covetable mid-century modern finds never seem to stick around long. On my way out, I stop to scratch Cody, the world’s mellowest golden retriever, who has been standing sentinel by the doorway for some 13 years.

Cody, the block’s unofficial ambassador, was on the receiving end of animal-control warnings this summer, which led to a community uproar. Cody, along with Snippet at Heart & Sole, are two of the block’s popular canines. Shop dogs unite!

CHANGE HAPPENS It’s clear Upper Fort’s retail shift has infused the community with new vitality. And this neighbourhood is slated for more change, with construction soon to start on Abstract Developments’ Black and White building at the southeast corner of Cook and Fort. Lucky for the new residents, they’ll be landing in one of Victoria’s most vibrant districts.

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BOOKMARKS The book’s characters are brilliantly alive ...

By Carolyn Camilleri

Hidden Keys

by André Alexis (Coach House Books, 232 pages)

In this gracefully written novel, Tancred Palmieri is a 25-yearold professional thief, but one with a conscience and a sense of honour mingled with street-smart sensibilities. When he meets Willow Azarian, an aging, wealthy heroin addict, she asks him to help her solve a mystery and he agrees, more for the challenge than the prize. Willow believes her deceased father hid clues in the gifts he left for her and her siblings. The book’s characters are brilliantly alive — and not just Tancred and Willow, but also Daniel Mandelshtam (a police officer and a close friend of Tancred’s), Alexander von Wurfel (an artist and shop owner) and even “Nigger” Colby and “Freud” Luxemburg (two street thugs). The references to places in Toronto, especially Parkdale and Rosedale, neighbourhoods on opposite ends of the wealth spectrum, add much to the richness and reality of the story. As the mystery deepens, Tancred discovers as much about himself as he does about Willow’s mystery. It’s a stellar read.

Next Year, For Sure

The Wonder

Son of a Trickster

by Zoey Leigh Peterson

by Emma Donoghue

by Eden Robinson

(Doubleday Canada, 256 pages)

(Little, Brown and Company, 304 pages)

(Knopf Canada, 336 pages)

Here’s a book I almost didn’t read, but I’m so glad I did.

It’s about a couple, Chris and Kathryn, who, after nine happy years together, decide to have an open relationship. It was this line, in a testimonial by Zoe Whittall, that convinced me to read it: “This is the first book I’ve read about fidelity that doesn’t take the easy route by making someone the hero and someone else the fall guy.” Despite its seemingly modern situation, it is telling a timeless story as it looks in microscopic detail at the stages and dilemmas in a relationship. From alternating perspectives, Chris and Kathryn think about who they are individually and as a couple, the patterns in their lives, and what they want and feel they deserve. It touches a nerve, even if we could never be this “modern.”

History mixes with mystery and suspense in this pageturner that takes you to Ireland in the 1850s. Lib Wright, an English nurse who served with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, is assigned to keep watch over 11-yearold Anna, who is reputed to be surviving not on food but “manna from heaven.”

Lib’s job is to observe and determine if Anna is a miracle or a scam. I didn’t like Lib in the beginning (we’re not supposed to). She is arrogant and cynical — in other words, perfect for the job. Anna is a very sweet girl: smart, sincere and completely dedicated to her mission. Lib can’t help but like her, and Anna’s influence brings out a much more likable version of Lib. The twists in the plot and conflicts between characters make this quite a surprising story.

The opening is a kicker — a dog dies from heartworm — but while it had me in tears, it warmed my heart to Jared, a 16-year-old First Nations boy living in northern B.C. Jared’s life is hair-raising: his mother loves him but is rarely sober and has a terrifying violent streak and a boyfriend to match. Jared’s father is softer, but an addict living with his new wife and her daughter. Despite the challenges of his upbringing, Jared is a sensitive kid who takes care of people, whether he’s baking and selling marijuana cookies to pay his dad’s rent, helping the elderly couple next door or protecting a younger kid from being bullied. For the first two-thirds, I couldn’t put it down. Then it got weird for a bit — and I don’t mean his father appearing as a raven (I am okay with that). Keep reading, though, if only for the glimpse into a world that is so often misunderstood and ignored.

New year, new resolve Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations

by Richard Wagamese (Douglas and McIntyre, 176 pages)

Books in the spiritual category can be kind of, well, flakey (not that there is anything wrong with that).

This one isn’t. It’s a collection of snippits about what one of Canada’s foremost First Nations authors thinks

about and has come to believe — and it’s pretty cool. Whether read front to back or flipped open at random, there is much in here about gratitude, beauty, nature, courage, relationships and what is really important in life.

Living Well: Six Pillars for Living Your Best Life by Greg Horn (Dog Ear Publishing, Lighthouse Press Paperback, 194 pages)

If you, like me, hate being told what to do, you might like this book. The author acknowledges up front that everyone’s

journey is different, and customizing a wellness program is the key to success.

The Six Pillars are Thinking Well, Eating Well, Moving Well, Sleeping Well, Hosting Well (microbes, not party planning) and Staying Well. Much of it is common sense, which turns out to be backed by science. He can be repetitive (especially about eight hours of sleep), but maybe we do need to be told things over and over.

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DO TELL

WE ARE NOT WHAT WE APPEAR You’ll never look at squirrels the same way once you’ve seen the finely detailed paintings of Carollyne Yardley, whose distinctive style (which she dubbed Squirrealism) has earned her international attention. Yardley’s fascination with squirrels began during a time of personal upheaval, when a wounded squirrel appeared in her yard. Nursing the visitor to health, she says, was a strangely transformative experience. Yardley’s work leads us deeper into what it means to be human, even as it explores shapeshifting, animal ancestors and animal-headed humanoid forms such as Ra and Anubis, as she continues to do in her solo shows and in joint shows with Northwest Coast artist Rande Cook.

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Lunch and conversation at Café Sabarsky, a New York café at Neue Galerie that draws inspiration from the great Viennese cafés of the early 20th century.

2. What is your greatest fear?

Shipping fragile artwork 3. What do you admire most in your friends?

Funniness and wisdom 4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Slurping 5. Which living person do you most admire?

Google’s algorithm 6. What is your greatest extravagance?

Art supplies 7. What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Squirrels 8. On what occasion do you lie?

On the occasion of question 7 9. Where are you happiest?

On the dance floor 10. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Nothing, I’m rad 11. What historical figure do you most identify with?

Lynda Carter as Diana Prince (the secret identity of Wonder Woman) 12. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

A New Yorker

14. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Loving myself

Carollyne is sitting in a Timothy Oulton Cave chair (starting price $2,200), 74 YAM MAGAZINE JAN/FEB 2017 available at Luxe Home Interiors.

JEFFREY BOSDET/YAM MAGAZINE

13. What is your most treasured possession?

My library of art books

© 2016 Porsche Cars Canada Ltd. 2017 Porsche 718 Boxster shown below. Porsche Centre Victoria DL2230 # 31209

For the sport of it.

The new Boxster is the sequel that continues the 718 era. At its heart, a four-cylinder turbocharged boxer engine beats with the same fighting spirit that delivered countless podium finishes. In them lives the will to break away from standards. And to inspire conviction. So it is entirely appropriate that it, too, should bear these three digits in their name and carry the 718 legend forward.

The new 718 models were made for the sport of it. They are mid-engined roadsters that unite the sporting spirit of the legendary Porsche 718 with the sports car of tomorrow – and transfer it to the roads of today’s world. With one goal: to take the everyday out of every day.

Only one question remains unanswered: what are you still waiting for?

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