At her house there’s a bus filled with driftwood and a shop filled with driftwood and it’s all sorted by size and she’s made things as big as headboards and coffee tables because Dawn Stronstad loves driftwood.
Stronstad’s business is called Get My Drift? and she’s from Burns Lake and collects her beloved driftwood at Ootsa Lake.
Stronstad came down to the Duchess Park Craft Fair this weekend to sell some of her art pieces that include driftwood trees, picture frames and mirrors that are put together like a puzzle.
“Because they flooded Ootsa Lake there’s tons of driftwood and to me it’s the best driftwood,” Stronstad said.
“I had so much driftwood in my shop I thought I’d better do something with it.”
So she started creating.
During the creative process Stronstad will have three or four picture frames set out and will slowly piece them together using all the little pieces of driftwood she’s collected.
“It’s really relaxing to do it,” Stronstad said. “And when pieces come together it’s really rewarding.”
The trees are put together with a metal rod implanted into a base. Each driftwood piece has a tiny hole drilled into it and they are artistically stacked on top of each other and numbered so that people can disassemble the trees to store them more easily if they’d like.
Being a retired forester, Stronstad loves all types of wood and has built her storage and staging boxes from old barn board she’s found out in the bush and some of her bigger installations include driftwood and pine beetle wood bases that offers visual interest.
“I just love it,” Stronstad said. “There are such unique pieces and I spend many, many hours collecting it and it’s been so much fun.”
Look for Get My Drift at Duchess Park Craft Fair on Sunday, Nov. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
