IMPERFECT PERFECTION Concrete artist Yien Truong started her Sunset Cement home decor business when the pandemic began in early 2020. Each colourful, handcrafted piece is made from high-performance concrete, finished with a food- safe sealant and features Truong’s signature textured crackle effect. No two bowls, trinket dishes or plant pots are the same. Truong mixes oxide pigments to cre- ate her own unique colours, taking inspiration from her surroundings and the changing seasons. “I love making the crackle effect; it’s new, it’s old, it’s modern and it works with any decor. It’s something imperfect that looks pretty perfect,” says Truong, who offers concrete crafting workshops for groups. Starting at $20; sunsetcement.com GOTTA GET IT UNIQUELY TORONTO GIFT IDEAS EVERYDAY INDULGENCE Chef Olga Balicki knew she was onto something in 2016 when her salt + MUSTARD line of infused finishing salts and artisanal mustards sold out at a Toronto holiday market. “That fuelled a fire under me,” Balicki says, noting that everything is handmade in small batches without additives or preservatives. Balicki ferments her own black gar- lic and customers can’t get enough of her black garlic powder, salt, mustard and hot sauce, not to mention white truffle mustard and award-winning Hottie hot sauces. Starting at $10; saltnmustard.com WHIMSICAL FUNCTIONALITY Julian Amati-Lecours is an artist-blacksmith who explores the boundaries between art and function. He studied sculpture at OCAD University, fully intending to take up blacksmithing, and now works out of his Tap ’N Anvil Forge studio creating commissioned pieces, home decor, tools, sculptural objects and architectural ironwork. “I will take an artistic, sculptural form and find a way to insert functionality into it, or I will take a functional object that I want to make artistic and insert sculptural elements into it,” he explains. Whimsical Squiggly Bois octopus coat hooks are among Amati-Lecours’ favourite pieces to forge “because even in a batch of 100, every one somehow stands out as unique, each with their own personality.” Starting at $70; tapnanvil.com PHOTO: SALT + MUSTARD PHOTO: SUNSET CEMENT PHOTO: TAP ’N ANVIL FORGE Summer 2023 | Ignitemag.ca | 71 STAGE YOUR EVENT HERE! For rates and more information, email [email protected]. TDMUSICHALL.COM TD Music Hall is ideal for corporate meetings, workshops, presentations, cocktail receptions and client entertaining, featuring plug & play AV system, livestream and content capture capabilities, catering packages and more.
