Let me introduce myself: I'm Janet Davis, an artist and entrepreneur living and working on the North side of Bonavista Bay, on the island of Newfoundland in Eastern Canada. There are many challenges to running a business here in a small rural community, and there are many wonderful benefits too. This blog is where I share some of those challenges and triumphs, and share what it's like to live in this part of the world.
Some images taken from around this old shop today… have I mentioned lately just how much I love my studio?
Printing in green ink today and sipping Gros Morne Coffee Roasters’ Mexico-Chiapas Medium Roast with a gorgeous crema. Nice that it’s also fresh, local, fair trade, and organic.
I’m not blue. Well, my hands are. We’ve been printing blue cards and bookmarks today, on to mini-prints tomorrow. I’ve got plenty of orders to keep me printing for the next couple of weeks. It’s a great time to drop in for a visit, to see printmaking in action!
We’re sampling some coffee from Gros Morne Coffee Roasters in the espresso machine at the studio, and today’s cup of Tuckamore Blend I can quote was the “best cup of coffee I’ve ever tasted” according to JW. The roasting company describes it as “a sweet, full-bodied, creamy blend that produces a lovely crema, makes a great espresso.” And we agree! You’ll be able to find Gros Morne coffee beans at the Café’s giftshop this summer!
Norton’s Cove Studio & Café is looking for three team players who qualify as participants in the Canada Summer Jobs program:
Art Salesperson
11am-6pm Wednesday to Sunday; 35 hours/week
July 3rd 2022 – August 27 2022 (8 weeks)
$15/hour
This position has been filled.
Host/Hostess: Food Service
10am-2pm & 5-9pm Wednesday to Sunday; 40 hours/week
June 12th – September 17th 2022 (14 weeks)
$13.50/hour + tips
This position has been filled.
Assistant Chef
2-10pm Wednesday to Sunday; 40 hours/week
June 12th – September 17th 2022 (14 weeks)
$13.50/hour + tips
This position has been filled.
If you are interested in art, the beauty of this part of the world, great food, and smiling people, please apply!
Send your resumé and a cover letter telling us why you’d like to be a part of Team Norton’s Cove.
By email:
nortonscovestudio@nf.aibn.com
Or by mail:
Norton’s Cove Studio Inc.
P. O. Box 223
New-Wes-Valley, NL
A0G 4R0
I am still going through inventory, adding more and more to the sales table which is pretty full- but there’s more getting added before the end of today! There are hundreds of cards & mini-prints up for grabs at 50% off here in-store. Cards listed at $7.25 are now $3.63 each, and mini-prints listed at $14.50 are now $7.25 each. And there are quite a few larger pieces on sale too. Have a look in the online shop!
January brings a 40% off sale on Norton's Cove apparel for those who subscribe to the Norton's Cove eNewsletter! Just enter the discount code 2022 in the checkout in the online shop, or remind me in person at Norton's Cove Studio!
I am back to regular hours in the studio, and am putting together a plan of future events at the Café and Lower Deck to be added to our events calendar as we nail down dates and happenings. While I’m doing lots of paperwork today and taking down Christmas decorations here at the studio, enjoy this from a couple of my favourite people: Ian Foster & Nancy Hynes’ Old Christmas Day video (which my brother Trev and sister-in-law Dana just so happens to appear in!)
Norton’s Cove Studio’s winter hours: Please do stop in to browse the shop, to chat about the latest books you’ve read, to apply for a summer job at the studio & café, or to sit around hooking mats! We’d love to see you (with a mask on, of course! )
I’m in the studio this evening, printing a special order. Working during Christmas week- by choice, as my studio is an awesome place to hang out. Here is my view:
You may be thinking that with the largest COVID numbers released today from the government of NL would make me want to lock my doors and keep people out. But here are my own numbers: So far this month, I’ve had 29 visitors to my shop. So an average of about 1/day. Not exactly shoulder to shoulder nor a big COVID risk. So the door is unlocked, and the OPEN sign is facing the street. If you know how to wear a mask, drop in!
This week has been kind of crazy- projects at home, in the studio, and at the café have kept me and Duke rather busy…
We are plugging away at getting the Lower Deck complete in time for our Tibb’s Eve event, and it’s looking great, but we’re running into a couple of issues, like not enough electrical plugs, and not being able to get our electrician to visit us to complete the project they started in 2017. We also have been having trouble with our heat pumps, and I’m probably going to end up paying to get new ones put in, even though the one downstairs has never been used. Very frustrating when you can’t get service or warranty repair on new equipment! New electrician and new heat pump guy coming soon!
Duke has been building a little sunroom on the deck, enclosing a little space with glass and storm doors to increase our ability to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine over the long fall, winter, and spring months. We had meant to have that done during the summer, but work dictated that that wouldn’t be happening! I was still painting the structural bits in December! We were really fortunate that the snow held off as long as it did, as we just got our first snowfall a couple of days ago. We’re almost finished that project.
We had our annual family tree decorating supper at home last night. Biggest tree ever. Two things that we’ll remember forever came up during Christmas Trivia: Duke’s dangerous water buffalo decorating concept, and in the twelve days of Christmas, we will forever more sing “nine sheep a-laying” and giggle while anyone who wasn’t there will think we’re weird or stunned, or both.
And in the studio, I’m creating a piece of artwork for a prize winner (long overdue) and packaging up some of the Hermit Cove Cups editions which have been waiting patiently to be matted/framed. I’ve got a big canvas to make No. 70 in the Smudge Herring painting series too. And I’ve been working on getting some financing in place to create the Wesleyville Inn, to help accommodate all the beautiful people that want to stay overnight in this town all through the year as tourists, visiting family & friends, or attending events here in New-Wes-Valley.
We’ve had our first Holiday Party at Norton’s Cove Café, and we’re hosting the second tonight! Ted put together a lovely little menu and is getting a helping hand in the kitchen from Duke, and Trina and I are serving. I do enjoy these events- the café is lightly dressed for Christmas, and we have some great Christmas music playing too! The space is beautiful, and even more-so by candlelight, I think!
I’m in the studio today and tomorrow, and would love to see you! If you can’t shop in person, the online shop is open 24-7! Don’t forget that there is 25% off almost everything in-store, and the online shop is offering two discount codes to let you get the most out of your purchase! HappyHolidays2021 for free shipping in Canada (up to $50) and MerryChristmas2021 gets you 25% off 5 different collections!
We do still have Tibb’s Eve tickets available, which you can purchase here in the studio or in the online shop. Sure to be a fabulous night!
I have to go get my head down and back to work work work- until next week…
xo
Events, shows, platform, where to find Norton’s Cove Studio & Café:
Norton’s Cove Studio is located at 113 Main Street W in New-Wes-Valley on the north side of Bonavista Bay, on the island portion of the province of Newfoundland & Labrador. Norton’s Cove Café is right across the street at 114 Main Street! The studio is open year-round, and the café is open during the summer and for special occasions for the rest of the year.
If you can’t get to Norton’s Cove Studio in-person, you can shop with us virtually via our online shop. We ship everywhere, or you can choose to pick up your purchase if you’re going to be nearby (handy if you are nervous about COVID or are worried that a product might sell out before you can get here!)
You can pick up a selection of Norton’s Cove Studio’s note cards, bookmarks, and mini-prints in a number of lovely small businesses around the island and beyond. See the full list HERE!
And of course, you can follow us here on the blog, on twitter, instagram, and facebook!
Here’s my shop door, and I fully support the #justacard message. If we want to be able to visit nice shops in the future, we need to support them now. And what can we do? We can make a purchase every year, no matter how small. Just a card, or just a book, or just a coffee will do the trick. We can recommend our favourite shops to our friends. We can buy the things we can locally, instead of looking elsewhere. I can’t expect the small grocery store up the street to keep carrying the products I like if I buy them somewhere else.
Last year, when Newfoundlanders were told to staycation at home, Norton’s Cove Café was discovered by many locals who had never been in our region before. They enjoyed their visit, and they told their friends. And their friends came this year. I heard from customers over and over again, “my next door neighbour was here last summer and they told me I just had to come!” Recommending to friends really is a huge help to small businesses!
I really appreciate every dollar I earn in my business so that I can keep growing and adding new products, new services, and offerings in my hometown.
Well, I’m pooped already. Yesterday I spent the day arranging my craft fair booth inside the studio, making sure I’d have everything I need when I bring it to town tomorrow. Today I spent packing it all up. Trying to decide what to bring with us, trying to get a slideshow to run when my computer has decided that it is biased against flash drives, and trying to figure out how to package it all so that it’ll fit in the truck without any harm coming to any of it has me ready for a pre-supper britbox hour. I’ll take a break and do some final arranging tonight.
As much as I enjoy the CCNL’s Christmas Craft Fair, it is quite a lot of work to undertake, and I often wonder how other makers manage to attend shows all through the weeks leading up to Christmas. I’m definitely a one-show-gal. This show will take me a full 8 days to prepare for, actually show up at, and unpack back at home again. If you can’t get to the fair to see us this year, we do have our online shop open 24-7, and I”ll be offering up free shipping in December! And of course the studio will be open to the public 40 hours a week in December too.
The View from Norton's Cove 