Elaine Robitaille is one of those rare individuals that knew what she wanted to do from a very young age.

“My five year old self knew exactly what she wanted,” says Robitaille.  “She wanted her own business and she wanted to be an artist and I never, ever wavered from those goals.”

Selling polymer clay beads, and the raw materials known as “canes” that they are created from, first on E-bay and then through Etsy and Artfire, two of the hottest online selling markets for artisan works, Robitaille has also taken to marketing her products online through social media such as Facebook and Twitter as well as through her own website www.tooaquarius.com where she writes a blog and muses upon the art world in general.  Here she posts links for her Etsy and Artfire sites, showcases her latest works and offers “how to” tricks of the trade for those interested in learning the polymer clay craft.

Robitaille also manages to work into her busy schedule time to make her own jewelry as a way of showcasing the many ways in which her beads can be used, and ventures to a number of different craft shows each year to sell her wares in person.  She also, offers her skills and talents to the Swift Current Art Gallery and elsewhere as a teacher for those interested in learning how to make their own jewelry and polymer clays.

Despite being told “art doesn’t sell” repeatedly by her friends and family, Robitaille has managed to prove her naysayers wrong by being able to not only to make her living at it, but to do so right here in the Southwest.

How to Get There:  There are many ways to find Elaine Robitaille and her many artistic endeavours.  You can head over to her website at http://www.tooaquarius.com.  Find her on the class schedule at the Swift Current Art Gallery, or see her work displayed for sale at a variety of places in the Southwest including:  The Swift Current Museum, The Grasslands Gallery in Val Marie, near Grasslands National Park, or at the Summer Salon at the Swift Current Art Gallery running from July 7 to September 1st.

Good to Know:  

The Summer Salon – Saturday, July 7 to Saturday, September 1
The Summer Salon is an annual invitational exhibition located in the Art Gallery of Swift Current.  Presenting a variety of art forms including abstraction, painting, drawing, sculpture as well as fine craft and design, photography and film, it is all work prepared by professional artists practicing in the Southwest.

Exhibition is at Art Gallery of Swift Current, (which is also the same building as the Swift Current Library) 411 Herbert St E. Info: 306-778-2736.