Laurie Blake
Seat Weaver, Caning Canada
As a second generation seat weaver I have been weaving chairs since 1986. My mother who was a rehabilitation teacher for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) used to hand cane chairs for vacation money. One day she asked for my help weaving a chair which as a teenager I happily did for a small fee. I really enjoyed weaving the chair and thought I could learn the craft and make a bit of spending money. Back in those days we didn't have websites, e-mail and the good old internet so I made up an informational flyer, photocopied it at the local library, put on a business suit and took the city transit to all the refinishing shops in Calgary, Alberta to introduce my weaving business Caning Calgary. Many of the refinishing shops in Calgary took me under their wings giving me a shot.
As we didn't have digital cameras or the internet when a was asked to weave a style of chair I hadn't seen before I would take it apart backwards and make detailed notes so I could provide a quality finished piece.
Quality workmanship, at a fair price, in a timely manner. That's what I do, with a skip in my step and a smile on my face.
My husband David and I are going to be living in our RV full time starting in October 2019. Once we hit the road we will be providing our specialty weaving services to clients local to the area we are exploring.
Our current plan is to be in the Vancouver area mid October 2019 to mid April 2020. We will likely split our time between the Vancouver area and Calgary for the months of October and November while I sort out my eye balls. We are planning on being in Nova Scotia May 2020 to October 2020.
I will only be accepting new projects in Calgary on a case by case basis and will only be able to give a rough idea of completion schedule as I am recovering from eye surgery and we need to finish home renovations prior to leaving.
