Marcy Bast

Marcy is Saskatchewan-born and raised, and finds her inspiration in Canada’s boreal forests and through her experiences as a professional biologist. She has worked in clay, glass and other media over the years, but finds the greatest satisfaction in hand sewing and working with fabrics and leather. Many of the pieces she creates use leather which she tans herself using traditional all-natural methods. Home-tanning is very labour-intensive and time consuming, but results in a truly organic and renewable material, free of chemicals and dyes. She is also a self-taught beader, and detailed embellishments often accent leather pieces that she designs and creates. Her focus is on the sourcing and utilization of ethical and organic materials — with priority placed on supporting responsible and sustainable harvest of furs and leather as an important part of Canada’s history and subsistence economy. She encourages her buyers to understand and be respectful of the source and care that has gone into the fur and leather materials they choose to own.