Salish Sea Market
110 - 6996 W. Island Hwy V0R 1G0 Bowser, BC, Canada

Every Autumn, artist Lisa Strain, from right here in little ol' Bowser, stocks the Salish Sea Market up with her hand crafted upcycled fabric creations to keep women fashionably warm through the chilly seasons. Lisa combines strips made from recycled t-shirts and sweaters with her signature cotton west coast patterns, and voila! A fashion explosion! Two years ago, Lisa started with fingerless gloves. Last year, she added light cowls that work well as a stylish neck warmer, and now, as the ever so important mask. This year, Lisa also brought in her new fleece lined extra cozy extra warm cowls for those who like to keep their neck bundled up. Lisa's work is so much fun, just like Lisa! We invite you in to find your colours.

Artist Amy Baxter is a Bowser-ite living and creating in our community, so the Salish Sea Market has the pleasure of frequent visits from her as she keeps us well stocked with her work. Amy's specialty is "Texture Layered Photography" on photographic watercolour paper. Amy is a photographer that takes her imaging to a higher artistic level, without the use of filters. She digitally layers many of her photographs together until she gets the effect she is looking for... a photograph that looks like a watercolour painting. It's pretty unique. As I mentioned, we are well stocked with a fantastic selection of Amy's ready to frame prints, and a few in her customized framed pieces ready for gift giving.

Darrell Giraldeau, a fibre artist from Parksville, has been showing her work at the Salish Sea Market for over a year now and is gaining much popularity with her wet felted work. Darrell started off creating assorted decorative bowls, and bottle bags, designed for carrying wine and water bottles, among other inventive uses. She says she is having fun experimenting as she branches out with new creations. Darrell's recent visits revealed to us some of her new creations... whimsy and elegant decorative handled bags and fashion purses. For those of you that have the bug and desire to learn wet felting, Darrell offers classes. Feel free to contact us for more info. Here's a look through Darrell's wet felting creations that we have been showcasing in the Market...

It is with sadness that we will be saying a fond farewell to a popular couple who have been displaying their artwork at the Salish Sea Market for the past 3 years. Syd Giesbrecht is a woodcraftsman and Joanne Giesbrecht is a painter. They and their artistic creativity will be dearly missed. They will be gathering up any remaining artwork at the end of the month to take with them, so we are giving everyone a chance to see what is on display here, before we see it off to Alberta. Stop in, or give us a call at 778-424-2012 for more information. We are open Tuesday thru Friday, 10-5, and Sat/Sun, 10-4. Please keep in mind, with the current BC Health standards, we have a limit of 4 people in the Market at a time. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

Graham Herbert, of Hornby Island, has showcased his love of boats by painting colourful, happy images of classic vessels floating on reflecting waters. We carry 19 different images formatted as giclee prints on canvas, easy to ship directly to your home - it's as simple as sitting in your armchair, delving into our website and dropping us a message with the title(s) of your choice. Why not give it a whirl?

Brrrrhhhh! Cold weather is coming and it looks like Bentley Le Baron's polar bears are on the move in the Market. Polar bears on the Salish Sea you say? Not! - but they are one of Bentley's signature sculptures and we love their sleekness in both the glazed ceramic and smoked clay styles. Enjoy!

Parksville artist Yvonne Acheson was having a little staycation right here in Bowser this week and we were so pleased she popped by the Salish Sea Market to say hi. We have been showcasing Yvonne’s work for over six years and our visitors love how her images depict Vancouver Island and its west coast nature so well. Those who don’t live on the island think taking a piece of Yvonne’s art home with them is a fitting memento of their visit, providing much joy long after and reminding them to come back soon. People of all ages gravitate to Yvonne’s colourful work, and to her warm and delightful personality, too. Here’s a look at what we have on hand at the market today.

With the crisp cool weather comes... tea time! The Salish Sea Market has a fabulous selection of caffeinated and caffeine-free artisan teas for every desired taste and health benefit. For the past six years, we have been proudly carrying high quality loose leaf teas created by Desiree Lyver of the Hornby Island Tea Co., who's family farm sources the finest ingredients from small tea and herb farmers, locally and globally to bring us fresh, flavourful, aromatic, unique tea ble...nds. It is a special treat each time Desiree visits with her growing boy, Aksel and tops us up with a fresh delivery of the 8 varieties of exceptional quality blends of Hornby Island Tea. We are excited to announce that we have expanded our tea selections, as we welcome the addition of complimentary new blends brought to us by Wendy Massey & Brendan Waye of the Denman Island Tea Company. Wendy got us started with our first order of 9 varieties of masterfully crafted blends. When you think of snuggling up to a fine cup of tea, or gifting that lovely experience to someone special, think fresh local made artisan teas, found here at the Salish Sea Market. See more

Comox Valley artist Esther Sample started painting as a hobby in the mid 90's, starting with watercolours. Several years later, she moved into acrylics. Alongside her painting career, Esther has also spent more than ten years with her family experiencing the BC coast through commercial fishing, which has greatly influence and inspired her artistically. In 2014, she began a comfortable adventure painting her realistic coastal seascapes, ocean waves and wildlife in oils. 2014 is also when the Salish Sea Market began our artful relationship with Esther and her work, which continues to wow our staff and visitors. We carry a great selection of prints, and a new original or two. Esther recently unveiled a few new pieces that we are pleased to share with you.

Today is a very important day in that the Salish Sea Market team is celebrating the 4th anniversary of our convener of conversations, Vivian Gennings. Over these past four years, our team, our artists and our repeat visitors have gotten to know Vivian for her attentive and supportive nature. Many of you have connected with Vivian through her storytelling, and perhaps you are tied to her through the purchase of a cherished piece of art in your home that she helped facilitate. Vivian continues to give our visitors a warm and enlightening experience that the Salish Sea Market has become so well known for. We invite you to join us in celebrating Vivian, a beautiful woman and sales consultant extraordinaire.

Nanaimo artist Katherine Moore began her love of glass work as a hobby in stained glass, which took her to making windows professionally in a glass shop. While there, she began to work with fused glass and this has been her passion ever since. Her unique designs include mounting kiln fired fused glass to hand painted wood backgrounds and frames. Katherine's colourful and popular hearts, bees and nature pieces have been represented by the Salish Sea Market for over 8 years, and we continue to enjoy watching as her work evolves to a new level. Katherine stopped in at the Market to top us up on her traditional favourites and to show us some of her new unique one-of-a-kind pieces. They make wonderful gifts to oneself, or to another deserving art collector in your life. Just saying...

Ladysmith willow craftsman Andrew Kent recently visited the Salish Sea Market with new work, and a little fresh willow to add some finishing touches to his dried wreaths. His rustic décor and furnishings start with local sourced willow and alder branches. He also uses cedar, stone or tile as a solid and functional top to his tables. Andrew's repertoire includes several different stylish west coast/forest designed chairs and tables that can be used indoors or outdoors under cover. Stop by the Market Tuesday through Sunday, or visit our website, for a closer view of his very unique willow work.

Coombs artist Kat Cearns' artwork is a dead giveaway that Kat is an animal and nature lover. Through connection to her characters and environments, it is her goal to bring joy and an appreciation of nature. Mission accomplished! Our visitors continuously comment on how they can't help but smile when viewing her work. Over the past four years the Salish Sea Market has been displaying Kat's work, we have seen her confidence blossom as she continues to learn more about her craft. Her paintings are whimsical, and bold with colour and playfulness. Kat recently brought in two new pieces and we are so pleased to share them with you.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Our team at the Salish Sea Market would love to express our gratitude to all of you who choose to follow us and to our Salish Sea artists who continue to wow us with your creativity - we so value our relationships with you! The Market will be closed on Monday, October 12th - time for us to reflect, within our circles, for all that we are thankful for. See you soon! ~(Gratitude by artist Caroline James, Gabriola Island)

Do you live on Vancouver Island and find yourself wondering how many types of shorebirds can be found here? Do you see birds in your yard, on your walks, or by the beach that you would love to be able to identify? Well, Sarah Clark, our conductor of comings and goings, has an answer for all your Vancouver Island bird questions...

Sarah Clark, our conductor of comings and goings, is at it again. She has posted another heart-warming and inspirational story on the Salish Sea Market's blog. It's a story of an exceptional young man, Alex McLeod from Qualicum Beach, and his very full and giving life. Painting is just one of Alex's creative skills, which has been represented at the Salish Sea Market since 2018. Alex does so much more in and for his community, and it gives us great pleasure to share his story with you...