Montreal Craftsmans' Fair Featuring the Products of Québécois Artisans

When I was trying to think up a title for this post, I found myself stuck in a linguistic divide. How to translate 'Salon des Métiers d’Art de Montréal'? A craft exposition? No, that's not right. An exposition featuring the products of various Québécois artisans, but how many non-Quebecers understand what an artisan is? Heck, I'm not even certain that 'artisan' is an actual English word!

I settled for 'craftsman', and I hope that that meager word in some way manages to transmit the very rich culture that lies behind these 'crafts'

The - I suppose you would call it a 'fair' or an exposition - is currently underway at Montreal's Place Bonaventure. For the next ten days (07 - 17 December) artisans from around Quebec will be displaying and selling their products to the general public. Admission is free!

In addition to a multitude exhibitors, there are also a pile of workshops being offered.

The schedule of workshops and other activities on offer.
Dates and times are indicated on the board.

Here are a just a few of the exhibitors:

Lots of woodworking on display. This one offers some nifty paintings
and other wood-based items:

Carved wooden cityscapes:

Texted a pic of this booth to my sister. It really caught her interest!
This guy is selling magnetized wood items!

Okay, I have to admit that these photos are not in actual order.
My sister texted me back that it looked like there was nothing but food
and booze at the show! Well... I answered that I like food and booze. I then
tried to assure her that there were other things, like clothes and jewelry!
So I took a single, token picture to prove it:

Wooah! This lady is playing those boxes! They are really
musical instruments that sound like wind chimes!

These look like mega-sized pepper grinders. Don't know what they are...

Ceramic plant potters! As someone trained in floristry, they caught my eye!

Fuzzy honey stand pictures! Quebec has a wide variety of honey types.

A clear picture of one honey producer's booth:

Cassis = black current.
Honeys, syrups, and black current Porto!
Great stuff - particularly the Porto!
Their products can be purchased at Montreal's Jean-Talon Market

Animal-face pillows.
Another booth (not pictured here) has goat-fiber pillows... .

Christmasy cloth decorations.
My sister asked if there was anything 'Christmasy'... .

Cool wood-paintings and other items.

Pepper-crunchers and knife-blocs. Cutting boards, too!

Decorative plates, salad bowls and other kitchen items - all in wood!

Flat wooden round-things!

These were dips of all sorts. Early on, I wasn't taking too many pictures.
These guys had all sorts of interesting flavors, from coconut curry to leek... .

Joe the wooden spoon maker!

Light-reflectors.
Put them in the window, or hang them up somewhere where the light can
be refracted through them for an amazing kaleidoscope of color.

Some pretty amazing stone carving. Yes, these are stone!

Kitchen pottery. Plates, oil decanters and other things.

Marrionettes

Believe it or note, these are crayon holders!

Local wine maker. Lots of ice-wine on show.

These are some really cute bird houses.

I really wish I had a photograph of the tea producer that offered teas foraged from the northern forest, but, alas, I was too busy getting info from them for my own personal use. These guys carried Labrador tea, which is a bark-based tea that I have only found in one local tea shop that is now closed.

So, there are a lot of products on show at the exhibition, and a lot of jewelry, for those people who may be interested. Custom-made, custom-made from Quebec gemstones, and a batch of other ways to serve up jewelry to those who want it!

There are also soap-makers of all sorts at the fair.

And, of course, there is a section devoted to food, which I only left because I was trying to get my sister interested enough in the exhibition to come down herself, in person... .