It is a rare imaginary world that isn’t home to imaginary creatures. So it was fitting there was no shortage of creations designed for animals at the holiday edition of the Blim Market this past Saturday afternoon at the Chinese Cultural Centre.
It’s a world where pets send one another Christmas cards. Just ask Kristy Stefanucci, who picked up a homemade card on behalf of Mr. Kitty to send to Maggie, her parents' dog.
It’s a world where cats — or at least their owners — completely fall in love with “donut cats,” a plush doughnut-shaped feline filled with catnip.
Donut cats came about a couple of years ago when Thomas Marnin saw his girlfriend Skye Saylor’s donut cat drawings and thought it would be a great business idea. It floated around in their heads as they went on a 68-day walk from Seattle to San Francisco last summer.
They already had the business cards, albeit the size of two-postage stamps, which combined their last names MarninSaylor, and a brand was born.
“The reason we made the brand was so we’d look more legitimate when asking people to camp in their yards,” said Marnin, a cheery-looking fellow who was dressed like he should be slinging ice cream sodas in the 1950s.
“When we got back, well, I bet we could make a business out of donut cats. We’re doing well. A bit too well. We’ve been scrambling the last few days, up all night sewing.”
Marnin and Saylor were the first Americans to rent a table at Blim, all because friend and employee Jessica Hurst went into the store in Chinatown on a recent trip to Vancouver from Seattle.
“[Blim] had such cute, weird stuff that I knew our people would like theirs,” said Hurst, who came into the MarninSaylor world by way of animals.
She was walking her dog when she saw Marnin and Saylor hand-sewing cat donuts on their front lawn while their two guinea pigs scampered about.
While Blim includes the polished workmanship of MarninSaylor and the like, the market is less about finely finished crafts than it is about creating, and the process thereof.
The market is an extension of Blim, which defies easy description as it serves as a store, performance venue, studio, gallery and workshop space.
“People always talk about the Blim vibe,” said Yuriko Iga, Blim founder and director.
“It’s a balance between indie culture and not being too commercial. It’s not about everything being finished. Sometimes things that are over-finished aren’t as attractive to me. Blim’s always been about experimental. Always been a place to try stuff out.”
Iga, who was involved in Calgary’s indie arts scene before moving to Vancouver in 2002, started Blim in fertile territory as small venues were scarce in the city at that time, especially with the closure of the Blinding Light! Cinema and the Sugar Refinery.
She took the name from a world she invented for herself when she was four years old, Blim Blim, which was populated by her stuffed animals.
“Animals have always been a part of Blim. We’ve always done cat stuff and, as of recently, cats have become really trendy. We still do it, just more of it.
“Animals are very attractive as far as marketing goes… look at Telus and Fido commercials,” Iga added. “It’s not the way I look at it because I love animals. Animals, for me, are almost more significant in my life than humans to some degree.”
For more information on the monthly Blim Market, go to blim.ca.
