ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Chloe Cottam

Growing up in the Crowsnest Pass, I was always interested in the arts, and particularly drawn to textiles. Both my grandmothers were prolific sewers, and during her visits to our home, my paternal grandmother taught me a lot about all aspects of sewing. When I was about 11 years old, a knitting class was offered at a local yarn shop, and I enrolled in classes where I cultivated a passion for this new hobby.

I continued knitting throughout high school, and enjoyed pursuing various forms of art and craft, deciding during my post-secondary studies to focus on becoming better at one thing. I chose knitting, experimenting with new techniques and patterns that I taught myself by watching YouTube videos and through a lot of trial and error. I loved the challenge and find there are always new things to learn. I work with a variety of yarns, and whenever possible I like to source out natural hand-dyed yarn. In the last couple of years, I have also learned to crochet and have begun

to experiment with new designs, such as 1970’s inspired crocheted halter tops.

When COVID came along, I found myself out of a job as a massage therapist, and decided to throw myself full-time into my knitting. I found a lot of support for my work through the markets I attended as well as the website I created to showcase my work. I even received bulk orders for dozens of newborn baby booties and hats, which I was so grateful for. Knitting through the first year of COVID in particular proved to be a wonderful antidote to the anxiety and uncertainty of the time.

In 2019 I joined the Fernie Arts Co-op, which has been a wonderful venue in which to showcase my work. I love giving people handmade gifts - it’s one of the best things about creating! Through my interactions with people at markets and the Fernie Arts Co-op, I know that there are many people who feel the same way. Knowing that people are wearing my creations and finding pleasure in the fact that they are handmade, brings me joy and keeps me knitting! I am the sort of person who needs to keep my hands busy, so knitting is the perfect accompaniment to an evening with Netflix during the long winter evenings, and I am grateful for all the support I receive in my creative endeavours.

For more on Chloe and to see her work, follow her on Instagram and Facebook at @cj_handmade_or stop by the Fernie Arts Co-op in downtown Fernie.

January 27-29, 2023

Reel Canadian Film Festival is dedicated to showcasing the talent, skills, diversity, and independence of the Canadian Film Industry.

For more information, line-up and tickets visit: fernielovesfilm.ca

REEL Canadian Film Festival Weekend Passes make great stocking stuffers!

LOCAL REELS

Local filmmakers, this one’s for you!

The REEL Canadian Film Festival is seeking submissions for the LOCAL REELS component of the festival. LOCAL REELS are short films (amateur or pro), under 10 minutes, showcasing your talent, skills, creativity and love of filmmaking, to be shown on the BIG SCREEN before REEL feature films. If you are an up and coming filmmaker located in the Kootenays we want to hear from you! For more info email: adventure@jameshillman.ca

Delicious, authentic Indian dishes, for dine-in, take-out and delivery.

Offering off-sales for wine, liquer and beer.

301 2nd Ave, Downtown Fernie, BC himalayanspicebistro.com 250-430-0399

Holiday Double Header

by CLAIRE SMALLWOOD

If you get invited to some holiday parties this year, here are two easy and delicious recipes to substitute for chips and dip. The pear tart is quite literally one of the easiest and most delicious desserts I’ve ever made.

Naughty Cauliflower

This amazing appetizer can double as a side dish at a dinner party. I’ve seen “lactose intolerant” become “lactose tolerable” due to the deliciousness.

Ingredients

• 1 whole head of cauliflower, leaves removed. Cut bottom of stem so the cauliflower can sit balanced in baking dish

• Juice of one whole lemon • 1 cup of heavy cream, maybe 1 ¼ cup if your cauliflower is large • One box of Boursin cheese, any flavour • Salt and pepper • Bread for serving (I recommend making crostinis)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Boil the whole head of cauliflower in salted water until it’s soft to the touch, usually about 10-12 minutes.

Place cauliflower in a baking dish (one that works as a serving dish as well is preferable) and season generously with salt and pepper. Slowly pour lemon juice and heavy cream onto the cauliflower so it soaks into the cauliflower. Unwrap the Boursin cheese and remove one half of the foil wrapping. Using your whole hand, press the Boursin (foil against your skin, hehe) onto the cauliflower like you’re palming a basketball. Press to expand the Boursin all over the top of the cauliflower. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until liquid is bubbling. This might take up to 45 minutes to ensure that the cream has reduced and it’s not too liquidy.

Serve with olive oil crostinis or gluten free crackers. Eating it straight out of the dish is also perfectly acceptable, as is keeping all the crispy creamy Boursin bits for yourself. Submitted Photo

“...here are two easy and delicious recipes to substitute for chips and dip.”

Pear Tart

The trick to making the pear look so symmetrical is to quarter the pear lengthwise, then cut off the rounded pieces and discard (or eat!). The pear you use doesn’t have to be perfectly ripe, or it could be very overripe!

Makes 1 tart in ceramic pie dish, preferably shallow.

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Pear Tart | Submitted Photo

• 1 cup flour • 1 cup sugar (use coarse) • 1 tsp baking powder • 1 tbsp cinnamon • 1 egg • 1 stick of butter (½ cup) • 1 tsp vanilla • 1 pinch of salt • 1 pear

Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly. Cut in chunks of butter or margarine (it helps to have the margarine as cold as possible) and toss in the flour.Add 1 egg and vanilla.

Using a pastry cutter, break the yoke of the egg and start to ‘whisk’ the dry ingredients and butter together, careful not to overmix. You basically want the egg to incorporate with the flour, and the butter should remain fairly chunky. Dump the mixture into the pie dish (do not press down, just make sure it’s evenly distributed) and arrange the pear (thinly sliced, symmetrical pieces) in a delicate circle. Sprinkle with sugar and bake in the oven at 375 for 35 minutes, rotating halfway through.

If you overcook it, the crust will be rock hard. It’s ok for the middle to still be a bit soft when you pull it out. You can substitute other fruit for the pear: I’ve made it with strawberries or apples, no problem!

Correction from my Friendship Burritos article in November Fernie Fix Issue: Fernie has been blessed with a once-amonth pop-up: Bootleg Burritos! Check ‘em out @bootlegburritos

O Come Let Us Algorithm

by MICHAEL HEPHER

I think we can all agree that there are some hard economic times ahead and being that most of us creatives choose lifestyle over stability, I suspect those struggles will affect artists disproportionately. It may be a hard winter for some of us, so it’s a good thing we are out of the box thinkers.

When I joined Instagram 11 years ago it was a quirky, wild community of creatives looking for community and connection, sharing our process, and random oddities overlaid with retro filters and frames. It was a digital space that managed to preserve some heart. Over the years Instagram has developed into an advanced websphere for merchandise hawking and time wasting—you have to really wade deep to find the vestiges of the heart it once had.

Social media was originally hailed as a grassroots movement of empowerment in self-promotion. The general public finally had the power to share, like, and follow whoever inspired us, which caused a great unraveling of the power structures in many fields—certainly in mainstream arts. Every industry needs gatekeepers. In the pre-social media era, gallerists and curators decided what art was ‘good’ and allowed it to pass into their institution. There is nothing wrong with curated work, but there was plenty of great art out there that was either ahead of its time or just not discovered. Artists who didn’t fit the idea of what was en vogue for the time were left trying to eke out a living in the peripheries of the art world, and social media helped change that and many unique artists found their way to a sustainable art practice.

Over the years my own creative life has moved away from a dedicated retail space, primarily so I could spend more time making art and less time selling it. Without that downtown retail exposure, Instagram became a lifeline for me to the letterpress community as well as for the promotion of new products and projects. Making sure my work, and my ‘feed’ were of the best quality content was an important part of my life. It kept my followers engaged and interested. I had great conversations and followers became acquaintances and then friends—and then something changed: Instagram started curating peoples’ feeds. A mysterious algorithm rather than the individual user took charge of what we see and by how many people—just the latest example of how money ruins the good things. The social media revolution is over.

Submitted Photo

“...and then something changed: Instagram started curating peoples’ feeds. A mysterious algorithm rather than the individual user took charge of what we see and by how many people—just the latest example of how money ruins the good things.”

The recent shift to ‘TikToks’ from still images by almost every social media app has further intruded on my working time: now I’m thinking about camera angles and lighting when I should be thinking about my art. I’m not a videographer—I don’t want to be—but if I don’t play by the new ‘rules’ my carefully crafted website and online store sits virtually unused.

I don’t mind paying to be seen. Like all mediums, the gatekeepers all need their piece of the pie. If I am going to pay, however, I’d like to be in control of the medium and most artists I know don’t have the skills or desire to make videos, and simply can’t afford to pay someone to put together motion content with the regularity needed to keep on top of the algorithm. These online social spaces that used to be supportive communities have been monetized into popularity contests that use an elusive (and hardly guaranteed) future payoff as the dangling carrot.

The only way to get around the algorithm is for all of us to take an active approach in our feed. Instagram won’t hide a post if we seek it out. Make a note of artists you admire and periodically go to make a comment, tag a friend, or simply click the like icon. Use the search function to find new local artisans and interact with them. If you let the apps passively feed you whatever they want it will be like listening to pop radio: you’ll get a watered-down stream of high-production mush. To be truly engaged in our online world, to find authenticity and heart in our social media, we need to continue to actively push through the bright shiny trinkets to the deeper, richer things below. It’s time consuming, but we are there anyways getting fed a stream of useless ‘watch til the end’ videos, right?

This season, please continue to support your local artist community: dig deep, shop local, shop small, shop handmade, shop authentic, shop sustainable. When you venture online, stay engaged, and stay active. I can tell you from experience those small choices can be the difference maker for a local artisan living in a resort town. Have a happy holiday.

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Closed Christmas Day + Boxing Day Happy Holidays!

The Watering Tree

by Sadie Rosgen

Christmas time was a special time for my brother and I. Jake was younger, endlessly curious, and always ready for action. He hung on every word I spoke and loved everything I loved for a time.

One year he penned a loving letter to Santa asking for a guitar, a pic, and a pizza! Mom and I laughed so hard that year and on Christmas day when Jaker dawned his prized cowboy hat and boots, sat down with his guitar and pic while the pizza bubbled in the oven, I knew that all of the Christmas magic was held in the capable hands of my amazing mother. For us, it was never about the amount of presents or the extravagance of the season. It was about being present, having great food to enjoy, and creating a foundation of memories that we all share. No matter your traditions or faith, I am wishing you the very best that the holidays have to offer.

The Watering Tree

By Sadie Rosgen

1989 just us three all together under the watering tree.

Hanging gingerbread ornaments sleeping downstairs, people dropping by I don’t remember what I got but I know how it feels to want everything you have.

A turkey and a bottle of gingerale caramel chocolates her laugh in bluejeans surrendered on the couch.

Frosted faces red from outside we had time eachother.

A guitar, a pic, and a pizza.

BUSINESS, LIFESTYLE AND LEISURE

z FOODSAFE Level 1 | February 6 z Time Management | February 10 z More Conversational Spanish | February 13 z Residential Tenancy | February 13

FIRST AID AND SAFETY

z Transportation Endorsement | February 1 z Occupational First Aid Level 1 | February 2 z St. John CPR C and AED | February 3 z St. John CPR A | February 3 z Occupational First Aid Level 3 | February 6 z Airbrakes | February 11 z Class 4 Driver Training | February 12 z TECK Hazard Energy Isolation | February 13 z St John Standard for Industry | February 21 z Transportation Endorsement | February 23 z Forklift Certification | February 24 z Occupational First Aid Level 1 | February 24 z Basic Fall Protection | February 27 z Red Cross Emergency Child Care | March 4

Be Prepared. Start Here.

z High Performance Teams | February 17 z Basic Bookkeeping | February 23 z CORE Hunter training | February 25 z Start Fly Tying | March 2

Now accepting Mountain Adventure Skills Training (MAST) Applications for 2023/2024

For more information on courses, please visit our website at cotr.bc.ca/ConEd or phone 250-423-4691

Cyrano de Bergerac, duelist, soldier and poet, was first introduced to the world in 1897 in a play by Edmond Rostand. The play focuses on de Bergerac, a gallant cavalier with an unusually large nose, who is deeply in love with his best friend, Roxanne, but is so crippled by his own self-loathing that he can’t bring himself to talk to her about his feelings and eventually ends up helping Christian, a handsome, inarticulate soldier to win her heart.

Cyrano’s story has touched the hearts of many people and has been adapted to film many times. Among those to play Cyrano on the silver screen were José Ferrer (1950), Christopher Plummer (1962), Gérard Depardieu (1990) and Kevin Kline (2008). The most memorable modern version is 1987’s Roxanne. Written by and starring a 41-year-old Steve Martin the film also starred Daryl Hannah. The principal character is not a French Army cadet but is instead a small-town fireman named Charlie “C.D.” Bales.

The most recent film to take a crack at interpreting Edmond Rostand’s tale of swashbuckling and unrequited love is Cyrano, a 2021 musical directed by Joe Wright, with a screenplay by Erica Schmidt. It is based on Schmidt’s 2018 stage musical of the same name. The film stars Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Ben Mendelsohn.

Dinklage, who at this point is probably best known for playing acerbic nobleman Tyrion Lannister in HBO’s Game of Thrones, first came to public notice playing the train obsessed Finbarr McBride in Tom McCarthy’s excellent independent film The Station Master back in 2003. He is excellent at playing deeply intelligent, unbelievably bitter loners and outcasts, and that is exactly what he is called on to do here. His Cyrano may not be as misanthropic as Tyrion, Cyrano de Bergerac is, after all, a hero and a fundamentally decent person, but there is still a great deal of angst and darkness in the character.

Cyrano

by ANDREW VALLANCE

Ben Mendelson (Star Wars: Rogue One, Animal Kingdom) stars as the movie’s villain. Hailey Bennett (Hillbilly Elegy, Swallow) plays Roxanne, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Luce, Waves, It Comes at Night) is Christian.

Joe Wright is known for directing great films like Atonement, The Soloist, Anna Karenina and The Woman in the Window. In this instance he has directed a terrific film which touched me to the point of tears. He is an extremely talented artist.

The songs in Cyrano are also excellent. Written by the rock band The National, they are both mournful and touching, dealing with a great deal of introspection, as opposed to traditional show tunes which tend to be loud declarations of love, grief and anger.

Cyrano had its world premiere in September 2021, had a one-week theatrical run in Los Angeles, and then a wide theatrical release in the United States and the United Kingdom in February 2022. The film was a box office disappointment, grossing $6.4 million on a $30 million budget. However, it received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the soundtrack and Dinklage’s and Bennett’s performances. It was nominated for several awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor at the 79th Golden Globe Awards, four nominations at the 75th British Academy Film Awards and a Best Costume Design nod at the 94th Academy Awards.

This movie is absolutely worth a look. Two thumbs up.

‘tis the season!

Small Business Holiday Dinner

Saturday December 17 The perfect solution for a small business, we do all the work!

Private Parties (30-70 people)

Plated or buffet style Available dates until Dec 18

Restaurant open 9am-3pm only: until Dec 18 Regular open hours 9am-9pm: starting Dec 19

To book a spot or for all enquiries email: events@enjoyfernie.com