As we near the last days of our 40th Anniversary Sale, I’m reminded of so many people I’ve met, so many lovely clients and they’re wildly varied projects we’ve been involved with. I think back at what we’ve done over the years and wonder how we did it?
The answer is that Artefacts has been so lucky to have had some of the best staff on hand and the combination of their skills, their ingenuity, their versatility and, above all, their kindness, interest and sympathy in working with our clients can not be understated.
I’m going to do my best to remember here the various players who have called Artefacts home … with apologies to the (few?) that I will miss.
Scott Little and Dyan Jones
I met these two not too long after Scott started the business in 1986 and was soon swooped up into the Artefacts fold. Free spirits each, both Scott and Dyan were willing and patient teachers and I learned a lot in short order
Dyan’s beau Randy and his friend Rob were the “muscle” in the first year, transforming the cavernous building that was Artefacts’ first home into something usable.
Not long afterward, Robert Brown presented himself and quickly established a place as our stained glass guy but he was much more than that. Robert began experimenting with glass and metalwork – impressing our clientele but attracting a following of his own, too. He eventually moved to space of is own in St Jacobs at the old blacksmith shop and can still be found at his website.
At that time, we had a number of different people take on roles as we experimented with what creative arts suited us. Bonnie was a ferrier that worked with Robert at the forge, Sam a musician/poet who loved to clean hardware, Brad managed the expanding showroom followed by Tim and then Christine.
Another super moment was when Sandra Dunn walked into our midst. She began working at the forge and very quickly dove into the art of blacksmithing. While she didn’t remain with us for too long, she is one of the best blacksmith I’ve ever met and has a string of public commissions crisscrossing the country. She continues to work and teach at her studio in Kitchener and can be reached through her website
As things go, our staff came and went and, just as we were most desperate (or at least, that’s the way she remembers it), along came Krista Selinger. Krista was a breath of fresh air who not only managed the showroom and our growing clientele but organized and displayed as best she could the great piles of salvage that Scott and I kept dropping off.
We would go away for a week of buying, leaving her to take care of (literally) everything, return with a truck laden with goodies, unload and go off again. She was a powerhouse and we used to perform feats of strength challenges in our down time.
Eventually, Krista left us to have a family and now has them to manage. We miss her.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the help we received from our families – sometimes as paid employees. For instance, everyone in the photo above has worked at Artefacts including my daughters Phaedra and Jessica as well as Scott’s daughter Allison, my nephew Riley, my step-son Jacob and my sister Cathy.
Scott’s Dad Merv was conscripted and did passable work in exchange for an Artefacts sweatshirt.
We have been blessed with good cabinet makers who’s ability to interpret what we wanted to achieve with our salvage bits was what has set us apart in the design field. Seen above is Margaret Bennett who is the sort of person that considers an occupation and becomes it. She left the public library system to become and electrician serving us first as electrician of standing at our new location but then decided she wanted to be a cabinetmaker. So she did – only retiring from our ranks a few years ago (with a stint of beekeeping in between).
Our other cabinetmaker of note – Tilman Lichter – was so much a back of the shop fellow that I can’t even find a photo of him but think of a nice version of Dr Evil, add glasses, remove a few digits and you’d get the picture.
Both Tilman and Margaret were key in what it was we do around here – reclaim, refurbish, reuse.
Our current staff consists of Mitchell Robinson who was my neighbour and began as a co op student which morphed into summer help which morphed into a position he’s held for coming on 20 years. Mitchell handles all the refinishing duties in the studio but can also be found in the showroom when I’m too busy or not around. He is the darling of many an older lady who can’t begin to tell me how lovely he is but is also pleasing to the broader range of customer.
The mantle of cabinetmaker has fallen to Steve Almeida who has plied his trade in a few different studios in the KW area after graduating from Conestoga College. He now plies with Artefacts and, like Mitchell, seems to have a way with clients who drift out the door saying “it’s all good – I had a great chat with Steve”.
Of course, there have been many others over the years who have helped, supported, backed this fledgling business from it’s early days through the last 4 decades:
Nicole, Nate, John, Manny, Susie, Jaden, Keith, Ellen, Marian, Julia, Flo, Bill and Merv to name a few …
and many friends and colleagues with whom we parlayed, traded, shared and exchanged goods and ideas:
Grant, Brad, Ross, Dave, Bob, John, Sven, Paul, Bart, Jan, Sam, Craig, Lloy, Dave, Cleason, Phil, April, George, Peter, Jana, Reno, Wayne, Robb, Rodney, Art, and Matthew.
Thank you all.
And Now … some of our Animals!
My name is Chris Blott. Artefacts has been my life for 38 of its years and I would not trade this experience for anything.
I’ve met so many interesting, creative and dynamic people over the years, been invited into their homes, made heartfelt and critical decisions on changes to these homes with them and shared the joy of a successful job time and time again. Many a Saturday has passed here more like a party than a business with friends coming together, stories being shared and endless laughter.
I am greatly indebted to Scott, his shared wisdom, his insight and artistic drive and his friendship. Scott retired 5 years ago but we worked together for 33 years and, though we squabbled like a married couple, we had each other’s back, understood each other at a glance and laughed much of the time.
Here’s to another 40 years!
