I am a long time homesteader in the Yukon, and have been making art as the main stay of my livelihood since 1991. My kids were raised here, a variety of animals have called the farm home; goats, rabbits, chickens, geese, horses, llamas and sheep. I grow my own food, and the animals help grow the compost that the gardens need. I try for a closed loop, a small footprint and a simple life.

Trade beads, which were made and traded world wide from late 1600’s to early 1900’s, have been the backbone of my jewelry. In the last 10 years, I have added ancient Roman Glass, which is coming out of ancient Roman dump sites and being recut into beads, shards and discs.

I work a lot with traditionally tanned hides, which are still available in my area. These include moose, elk, deer and caribou. My sheep provide Icelandic wool for felting, which I wash and prepare at the farm.

My studio is part of the solar powered, wood heated house, and faces onto the gardens. Summertime is full of organic vegetable production, lambs and lots of northern sunshine. I am committed to having kids experience a small farm and connect to their food source, and host farm tours and workshops, both here and in the local schools.

I am slowly downsizing the farm production to meet my personal needs, and giving more time to my art practice. I started beading as a young girl, learning from a First Nations neighbour who traded beads and leather for babysitting. I now include wool felting, sculpture, basket making and teaching as part of my art making.

Homestead life has many seasonal demands, and making an income is only one of them. So I am starting with a format the will blend in to the seasonal rhythms around here! I will have the website sales venue active for the last 2 weeks of every month, more or less, and you can follow me at riverbankartsyukon on Instagram to see what is up and coming.

I offer a glimpse of the art mediums that I love to create with, in the Gallery Rooms. To start with….

Roman Glass Jewelry; earrings, pendants, necklaces

Tradebead and Gemstone Jewelry; bracelets, earrings, necklaces

Soft Sculpture; wool, wire, clothe, stitchery, driftwood figurines

Wool Felting, cards and Wallhangings; wool, stitchery, wet and needle

felting techniques.

Each 4-5 weeks I will offer new work, in the form of an online exhibit, for sale. These exhibits will be focused on one medium at a time, and will be for sale for a limited time.

Thank you for your visit, and your support.

Shiela