Art by Canace

Last Saturday we were doing one of our weekend road trips, only this time without a specific plan. One of the towns in the Hudson Valley we love to visit is High Falls. There's always something beautiful there to see, whether it's the landscape or one of the shops. So towards the end of the day, we headed there.

I knew there was an anniversary celebration at High Falls Mercantile, which was one of the first places I discovered when we moved here almost a year ago. I thought the celebration lasted all weekend. When we arrived, it was almost over, because it was only on Saturday. I need to start paying more attention in class.

Here's the best part. We got to visit with the nice people who work so hard to make this place so special, the owners Jeff and Larry and their girl wonder, Cait. They were winding down, and we felt it was our duty to help finish off some delicious food from the party.

Cait then introduced us to the magical Canace, who makes the unique, stunning, masterful, and highly original art that I first discovered at their store a year ago. It was great to meet her in person, I truly think her work is genius. We had a great time chatting, and a bonus was meeting Canace's daughter Bri, also an artist, as well as her friend Janet, who makes beautiful jewelry too.

I was smothered in creativity and gracious hospitality. I took pictures of as much of Canace's art as I could -- the girl obviously worked her tail off getting pieces done for the shop's anniversary.

It's nearly impossible to describe Canace's art. And photos don't really do it justice. Her work is quite soulful, and the more you look at it, the more you see. It's endlessly interesting and beautiful. She makes collages, assemblages, paintings and jewelry, each one of a kind.

Canace explains a bit about her history with her art on her website:

"For as long as I can remember I've been fascinated with old things, tarnished things, rusty things, things with a history. I've collected everything from rusty springs to dragonfly wings. My greatest joy is to create something with those treasures, to give them a new life and interpretation. Not everyone understands what I do, but if they can somehow grasp the feeling that goes into a piece then that's my gratification."

Have a look.

This necklace is positively haunting me. Just thought you should know.

I'm in love with this bracelet made from a vintage theatre seat number. The number on it represents the amount of times I've tried it on and held it in my hand.

Canace's work will appear in this upcoming book.

I learned from this book's description that "Steampunk is a burgeoning counter-cultural movement; a genre, community, and artform. The Steampunk movement seeks to recapture the spirit of invention, adventure, and craftsmanship reminiscent of early-nineteenth century industrialization, in part, to restore a sense of wonder to a technology-jaded world."

And get this:

"Dr. Grymm's alter ego, Joey Marsocci, proprietor of Dr. Grymm Laboratories, has been a freelance designer of theme park attractions, toys, puppets, graphic marketing, film props, and private consignments for over 18 years. His custom contraptions and sculptures have been seen in Steampunk exhibits and publications around the world, including the Steampunk Exhibit held at the Oxford University History of Science Museum in 2010 and The Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas, NV. He also hosts an annual Steampunk art show, Steampunk Bizarre, which takes place in Hartford, CT and is the feature artist of the 2010 documentary entitled I Am Steampunk."

Ok, so I didn't know any of this. Intriguing or what? I'm always the last to know.
But I do know I love Canace's work.