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For several years, we have been fortunate enough to show furniture, lighting and accessories by the internationally acclaimed artist Martha Sturdy. In February, just before the world shut down, I was able to see this working artist in her Vancouver studio. I always try as much as possible to visit our artists in their spaces. I tend to (or rather, used to) do these crazy short trips where I would fly somewhere for a day and be home to kiss my children goodnight. A thing of the past! |
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Martha has had a long and storied career. She was well known in the 1980s and 90s for her wearable jewelry which were featured in runway shows of Donna Karan, Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein. As her studio grew, so did her work - she expanded into furnituring, fixtures and works of art. While she creates in many mediums including steel and wood, her furnishings at Anyon focus primarily on her work in resin. “Everything she makes, including jewelry, furniture, home accessories, and artwork, is at once pared down to a bare essence and scaled up for a bold presence.” Architectural Digest |
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We love resin for the same reasons Martha does. It’s a natural material that just absorbs color and is so practical to maintain. Martha plays with a wide spectrum of colors. We are drawn particularly to her studies in whites and neutrals as well as her dual pours where two colors of resin pour and glide into a mold with a completely unique outcome in every instance.
"What I love about resin is that it can be three-dimensional and any color," she says. "When you have leather or wood, it's just a surface, but with resin the color goes right through the material, so if you scratch it you can sand it and it looks new again." Sturdy to AD |
| On my day trip back in February, in what feels like a different world, I toured the studio with her close knit team which includes a studio head who has been with her for decades and her daughter Jessica. While we chatted, a group of art students recognized Martha through the window and tapped on the door to meet her and ask her advice. | 
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Like her art, Martha is entirely multidimensional. She is an accomplished equestrian, rumored to ride daily, and lives on a 250 acre farm. She and her husband bought a tiny island called Preston Island which is known for a ‘Birthing Rock’ where baby seals are born. Beyond my appreciation of fine and functional art, I relate to Martha on so many levels -- as a mother, a business owner and a lover of animals and the outdoors. |
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We truly enjoy the process of helping people create their own bespoke resin pieces. With dozens of colors to choose from, the combinations seem gorgeously endless. A Martha Sturdy piece is functional art that elevates a space.
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