The Squamish Farmer's Market continues to grow in its diversity of locally-grown and handcrafted goods, and the latest addition to the fair is sure to entice the creative-minded as well as young children.
Offering a different option to market shoppers and browsers, Kim Smerek, a Brackendale-based artist, illustrator and teacher, will operate a colourful, fun, child friendly booth at the Squamish Farmers Market this year.
Smerek is a local art teacher who uses as her classroom various venues, including Brennan Park, the Brackendale Art Gallery, and her own studio. She also provides art instruction for the Squamish home-school group and volunteers at Mamquam Elementary School a few times a year, teaching art classes.
Starting Saturday (June 5), Smerek will be offering simple art activities to ignite children's create imaginations.
She'll also be selling her self-published children's books, including What is Zazu? and Hairy Mary, along with toys, art and educational activities for the very young.
Her new children's book coming out in July, called How Many More Birds? will also be available at the Farmers Markets as well as through the Upstares Gallery and locations across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
Smerek said she decided it was time to become more visible in the community and promote visual art and extracurricular art activities in Squamish after a number of current vendors commented that the market needs more artists.
And since visual arts training is limited in Squamish, said Smerek, she will be teaching a few art camps for ages nine to 12 at Brennan Park, as well as a six to 12 year old art after-camp. Camp schedules can be viewed at www.squamish.ca.
Her future plans also include developing a community art event/project in conjunction with Homebase Studios in Squamish.
The event will incorporate the idea of urban development vs. environment, a current hot topic on the Squamish agenda.
Smerek owns the company, Kim Smerek Illustration, which provides promotional illustration and design services to businesses in Canada and the U.S. She has exhibited her work for the last 20 years in various locations across Canada and the U.S. and has always been an advocate for creativity training, arts education and self-publishing.
Her past accomplishments include recently completed large-scale murals in Vancouver and the U.S. which can be viewed on her website at www.kimsmerek.com.
