Thursday, October 29, 2009

Eco-Friendly Artist - Elise Bolduc - Marée Boréale



Labradorite has got to be the most fascinating stone - at first glance it's a semi-translucent grey stone and not much to look at but with a small change in perspective a sudden flash of iridescent blue-green! A veritable aurora borealis captured in stone.

Buying stone jewelry, precious or otherwise, is not usually associated with being 'green' so I was surprised to find an incredibly beautiful ring made from recycled copper and Labradorite not issued from mining. Artist Elise Bolduc "hand collected it on the banks of a river close to Labrador."

Her amazing ring below is the one I purchased a few months ago and it has never left my finger since!:



In her own words:
 
M A R É E   B O R É A L E

"My name is Elise Bolduc and I run a little jewelry shop called Marée Boréale. I live in what is likely the windiest spot in Québec, that is, in a little cottage sitting right on the beach by the St-Laurence river. That is where I spend winters with my lovely fiance who is very supportive and makes sure I absorb some food during those long hours I spend making jewelry. Hours during which I probably wouldn’t notice if our cottage would blow away in one of those crazy storms we often get. Oh how I love those thunderous waves and cold winds.
 

a view from my window


In the summer, when it gets a little warmer around here, I migrate north.  In fact, I love the boreal forest, the tundra, the cold. I love the North. My studies in biology –dealing with insects and spiders of the Arctic and how they cope with climate changes- have taken me on an isolated island in the Canadian Arctic for the last few summers. There’s no word to describe how it feels to stand alone in those barren grounds. It makes you feel tiny and yet so strong. It makes you feel you need to do all you can to preserve these places where time, traffic, and wall-mart do not exist.


on the Arctic island where I conduct my research

Whether I am walking in the tundra or on the beach, I constantly notice tiny pretty things from nature; bugs, stones, shells, lichen, drift wood…  I always feel an urge to capture the beauty of these things and bring it into a piece of art so I could hold on to it.


pendant made with copper wires and hand picked Labradorite


When I am in town for a while, the same thing happens with objects I come across in my everyday life: electric wire, vinyl records, buttons, glass, pieces of electronics, plastics. I strongly believe that it is possible to find sustainable alternatives to pretty much all the materials I may need.  The trick: to never stick to my first idea of what a piece should be.  Instead, I let the idea change as I meet fabrication challenges and find sustainable solutions to it."

 
Earrings and pendant made from seashells



Earrings made with recycled vinyl records

Shop at her store or request custom items at mareeboreal.etsy.com !


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