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Profile: Tania Gleave Of Local Jewellery House “Lemon Park”

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The Lemon Park sisters, Tania and Penny Gleave, have always shared an interest in fashion and design, and often discussed starting a business together. So when Penny expressed an interest in changing careers three years ago, at around the same time people were asking about the jewellery Tania was creating and wearing at her openings, they decided to start Lemon Park. Penny takes care of much of the business side of things, while Tania is the self appointed “sweatshop girl” doing all of the designing, making, and sourcing of materials. This week we interviewed Tania alone, because if we had interviewed them both simultaneously, we would have probably broken the internet…

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Indie Profile

tania_gleavethumbnail1Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: I live in Ambleside with my gorgeous artist fiance Peter Kiss. We have a great little porch that is covered in wisteria, I love to eat our meals out there, looking out at the busy port life of Vancouver, and over to Stanley Park. From my front door, to have my skis on and hit the slopes takes 23 minutes, which is a great thing that really helps overcome the monotonous rainy days of winter. It is quiet and beautiful in my neighbourhood, I have really great neighbours, and it is just a few minutes to get downtown.

Tell us about some of your favourite local haunts: For food, Vancouver has to be one of the top places to eat out in the world in spite of its relatively small size – so many really top places to eat in all categories of food. Plus, it’s so cheap to buy good fresh groceries depending on where one shops and any kind of ingredient one wants, to be able to cook absolutely anything. Currently my favourite spots to eat are Les Faux Bourgeois, fantastic flavours at Maenam, Kingyo, great bowls of noodles at Bao Chow and Benkei, and of course, Kintaro. Fun little spot near to my studio in North Van is The District on Lonsdale. For clothing, Red Jade at Hum, Mandula, Obakki, and The Silk Project. For jewellery, Lemon Park Lemon Park Lemon Park! Oh, and Mary Anne at Catbalu and the wonderful Emma Bracefield.

Is there a local designer that you admire? Joanna Staniszkis of The Silk Project – for the quality, innovation, originality of her stunning clothes and installation works, and for Joanna’s endless source of help, suggestions, extraordinary generosity and support. Margarita Angelatos of Red jade clothing. The cuts of her clothes really work, and the great knits she uses, I love. They mix really well and also show off our jewellery! Barbara Cohen- exquisite quality, beautiful, contemporary jewellery.
Brent Comber – for successfully bringing inherently familiar West Coast raw materials into the the contemporary international design world. His work is never overdone, always allows the materials to sing in his clean, strong designs. Sven Boecker, photographer- for his unfailing eye for detail, precision and his enjoyment of quirkiness and fun.

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What inspires you? Real and implied textures; fine and rough cut gemstones; large open barren spaces like the Top of the World Highway in the Yukon and the vast empty landscape of Antarctica; the unlikely history of a found object; patinas; intaglio print making and printmakers; bright and active wise minds like Mr. Gordon Smith’s ; ancient, peeling, scratched, and tagged walls found in places like Rajasthan, the Downtown Eastside, and London; kind gestures

Tell us about your favourite space to work: pounding the pavements of Jaipur in search of the perfect gemstone beads and unusual items to incorporate into the jewellery; squatting at my hotel bedside grouping components that I have just acquired into possible combinations for a new piece, in Indonesia or Vietnam or India; my lemon park sweatshop in my basement when the phone doesn’t ring and I know I will not have to leave my bench all day; outside on Hornby Island on a warm day.

What is your favourite Lemon Park design right now? Our new collection combines hand made oxidized silver chain with large, attachable faceted gemstones and huge, striking wood necklaces, all hand carved and finished…big and no messing around kind of jewellery!

What sort of music do you listen to when you are working? Late Thaw (Vancouver), The Breakman, contemporary Indian music, and a lot of CBC fm in the afternoon…

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Is there a Vancouver craft event that you look forward to attending or taking part in? One of a Kind Vancouver. That was a great, well run, well attended first time show last winter. We look forward to doing that show again. Plus, we will be part of Celia Pickles annual Crackerjack 2009 in West Vancouver next to the Silk Purse Gallery in November.

Why is Vancouver a good city for indie design? It is a young, open, and small city so there is so much room for all the artists and designers, makers, and creators, and many more…heaps of great ideas and creativity out there and heaps ready to be uncovered. We are all ready for it, and there is lots of support and interest in Vancouver-based work.

Describe your favourite part of a typical Lemon Park day: undisturbed, continual piecing, combining, planning, designing, making new pieces and cohesive collections.

If you were to choose one of your pieces to send to Hollywood, who would you send it to and which piece would you send them? Johnny Depp, TR072 from the Rocks Collection.

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