For the Crawl, artist tidy their studios, sweep away the sawdust, scrape away the clay and present their work in a finished state, with usually just a few clues as to how the pieces unfolded. But the work you see is the result of untold hours of focused work and countless moments of problem solving: hitting a wall and persevering, and often of large financial investment. Of course, finished work is what we are striving for but for many artists, the process is where the “art” actually lies. Everyone else gets just part of the story in the form of the final piece.

He moved to Metchosin in 2001 to escape the hustle of the lower mainland, and to concentrate on his passion — creating art from wood.

…Grundmann is opening his studio, Pebble Woodworks, to the public during the 10th anniversary Stinking Fish Studio Tour, running July 24 to Aug. 2, in Metchosin and East Sooke.

Working with metal was a natural progression for Casja where the material she uses shapes the style of what she makes.

While in university, Cajsa saw her work as being a more clean cut style but over time there is now a more organic feel to what she does.

The 25-year-old Canadian Red Seal Certified Journeyman Joiner/ designer/artist gathered 10 years of woodworking experience and studied wood-products manufacturing at BCIT before pursuing his dreams of “not simply producing furniture, but creating art that makes you feel, think, and see things in a new way.”

After paying his dues in commercial shops, Russell now cycle-commutes to his 650-square-foot Hand One Design ( www.handonedesign.com) studio on an idyllic White Rock farm, where the only sounds that interrupt his work day are the noises made by some neighbouring cows.

In the fall of 2009, Russell realized his dream to have a space where any furniture imaginable could be created.

Local artist Stan Matwychuk is taking the lead in organizing initiatives, which would include life drawing classes, art history lessons, summer markets, mural festivals and outdoor film screenings.

“It’s a loosely based organization of artists who get together and work towards creative ends. Anything arts based that’s a bit off-kilter,” said Matwychuk. “We’re trying to program the space and get things happening.”

Matwychuk said he’s confident of his initiatives because Squamish is an arts community at heart.

“Because it’s very outdoor active and people are very creative and live outgoing lifestyles, art is just a natural extension of that so I think that Squamish is definitely growing in that avenue.”

The centre opened just over a month ago in an upstairs loft on the corner of Vancouver Street and Second Avenue and is adorned with different types of artwork.

Trops explains, “My friends and I have been talking about a cooperative for over a year now, and as with all things, the timing needs to be right.”

She continues, “After graduating in 2001 from the University of Lethbridge BFA program, I’ve been in the RCA as a solo artist since it opened in 2002. I feel that it is time for me to move on in the sense of letting go of some of the art community interaction, and focusing more on my own work. I will still keep ties to the RCA, and I know this increase of artist density will help the RCA as well.”