Prince George, B.C.- Sometimes, the items produced by artisans at Studio Fair, have just as much a story as the people who are responsible for the creation.

The pieces created by Tin House Designs fall into this category.

The framed oxidized tin tiles speak of days gone by in Western Canada and they have humble beginnings. 

Tim Kilkenny grew up in Russell Manitoba, and when his grandfather died, he, along with his father and brother, went to visit an old building in Broomhill Manitoba that had been owned by his grandfather.

That building was typical of the what “used to be” in so many prairie towns; a general store, gas station and implements store on the main floor, apartments and a dance hall upstairs. Sort of a, one stop shop for household needs and entertainment when farmers made their once a week trip to town for supplies.

The building was long since past its prime, but Tim, his father and brother, each took a piece of pressed tin from the wall of that store as a keepsake.   That was the beginning of a passion and new career for Tim .

He stripped the tile of its layers of paint to reveal the natural oxidized thin sheet of metal underneath. Soon this discovery of the beauty of the tin tiles became a hobby, then, a full time job and a company called Tin House Designs.

Now in it’s 8^th year, Tin House Designs has completed recovery of tin tiles from its 71st building.

Each piece of recovered tin is framed, and comes with the story of it’s placement. Kilkenny says most of the tin comes from prairie buildings, “So many of the small prairie  towns are sort of time capsules, where not a lot of development has gone on since the original buildings were constructed, so this tin is still in there.” He says upgrading the buildings requires removal of the tin tiles in order to meet today’s building codes. “We recently worked on several buildings in Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District. That area is now a National Historic Site, and when the upgrading was being done to allow for boutiques and the like, we were able to recover a lot of tin tiles from the old buildings.” 

Kilkenney says the tiles were manufactured in Toronto,  usually ordered through the Hudson Bay company,  and would arrive in neat bundles by train. “The tin can be seen in lots of prairie towns, but its presence dwindles the further west you go. In B.C., it is usually only seen in little towns that established along the gold rush route.”

The designs of the pressed tin vary. From the simplicity of crossed swords, to the intricate designs which include Celtic knots and flowers, the tiles show a variety of influences. “The sad thing is, we have no idea who the actual artist was” says Kilkenny. “We can be pretty sure some of the designs were done by the same person because they have similar elements, their ‘signature’ if you will, but the actual name of the artist is unknown.”

You can find   Tim at Studio Fair in Prince George today. Or , visit  his website at: www.tinhousedesigns.ca