SaltSpray Design

SaltSpray Design Anthea Taljaard is a contemporary folk artist, author and speaker based in Nova Scotia, paper mâché. https://antheataljaard.substack.com/

Her work explores identityand belonging through characterful, story-driven pieces. Welcome to my seaside studio where ocean love and creativity meet. I I paint and design including originals, Giclee prints, custom soft furnishings, as well as ceramics. I offer art prints, throw pillows, bedding, curtaining, wall murals and ceramics, custom designed to your requirements. To discuss please call 9024146117 or email me on [email protected]

NORMA - The Sassy SeagullI made Norma for every woman who has spent years being sensible, useful, accommodating and gene...
09/01/2026

NORMA - The Sassy Seagull

I made Norma for every woman who has spent years being sensible, useful, accommodating and generally behaving herself — and has begun to suspect that perhaps she has done enough of that. Norma has opinions, and excellent legs. And she is quite certain both deserve to be noticed.

She is not trying to look younger. She is not disappearing quietly into the background, she is simply getting on with being entirely herself.

A little salty.
A little ridiculous.
Still very visible.

And frankly, rather pleased about it.

https://www.saltspraydesign.ca/product/norma-the-sassy-seagull/1622

Norma the Seagull
Original hand-built SaltSpray Design folk-art sculpture
One of a kind, available online and at the Central Library on September 1 for the Objects we Keep talk from 6-7pm.

There are objects we keep because they are useful.And then there are the others.- The chipped bowl that belonged to your...
08/31/2026

There are objects we keep because they are useful.

And then there are the others.

- The chipped bowl that belonged to your mother.
- The little wooden thing your child made at school.
- A book with somebody’s handwriting inside the cover.
- A piece of furniture that makes absolutely no sense in your house, but somehow leaving it behind would feel worse.

I have become increasingly fascinated by these objects, not because they are valuable. Often they aren’t. But because somewhere along the way they stopped being *things* and became containers for people, places, versions of ourselves, and lives we once lived.

When I left South Africa, I learned how strange it is to decide what gets to come with you. You can replace a chair, but you cannot necessarily replace what that chair remembers.

That idea has found its way into my sculptures, into *Soul Decor*, and increasingly into the conversations I am having with people who tell me about the objects they have carried through marriages, moves, deaths, immigration, children leaving home and whole lives changing shape.

Tomorrow evening, September 1,(6-7pm) I’ll be at the Halifax Central library talking about The Objects We Keep — and why the ordinary things around us can sometimes tell us more about who we are than the things we deliberately choose to say about ourselves.

I suspect most of us have at least one object we would grab before something considerably more expensive. I’d love to know yours.

If you are in Halifax, come and join me on September 1, from 6-7 pm.

FOX IN STRIPD PAJAMASThere is something about her that makes me think she has just appeared in the kitchen far too early...
08/30/2026

FOX IN STRIPD PAJAMAS

There is something about her that makes me think she has just appeared in the kitchen far too early in the morning looking for her coffee. Striped pajamas on, tail out, arms already reaching for her morning fix. But after that, no rush, it's a cosy sunday morning...

I have always loved making characters that feel as though they already have a whole life going on before you meet them, and this little fox definitely does.

She is the sort of creature who would be perfectly happy living on a bookshelf, beside a stack of books, quietly keeping you company.

Original hand-built SaltSpray Design folk-art sculpture
One of a kind, available now. $65. DM to purchase.

For someone who could use a slightly odd, very friendly little fox in their life.

CANADA IS NOT FOR SALEI made this goose because sometimes politeness has reached the end of its usefulness.She wears her...
08/30/2026

CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE
I made this goose because sometimes politeness has reached the end of its usefulness.
She wears her NEVER cap. One wing carries the Canadian landscape — trees, land and home. The other carries the water — the oceans and lakes. On her chest, a plaid maple leaf. And under her boots?
A FOR SALE sign. being stomped into the ground.

She was made as a piece about holding onto what matters. Right now, she feels rather more timely than I expected.

She is simply, stubbornly, unapologetically pro-Canada.

Pro-land. Pro-water. Pro-home. Pro-knowing where the line is. And apparently, very much pro-stomping. Canada Is Not for Sale is an original, one-of-a-kind SaltSpray Design paper mache sculpture.

She is available now.
For the Canadian who has been looking for the appropriate response and feels a goose may have expressed it rather well.

https://www.saltspraydesign.ca/product/canada-is-not-for-sale-canadian-goose-/HLYDYFU6EZZNZ5W7E575LIB5

Did you know that Norma has her own song? Not only does she look fabulous, stay full of mischief and rock those seagull...
08/28/2026

Did you know that Norma has her own song? Not only does she look fabulous, stay full of mischief and rock those seagull legs, but she also has a tune of her own.

Listen to the preview on my website....:-)

https://www.saltspraydesign.ca/songs

It’s a small thing, really.A boat on a wave.But look at it a little longer, and something shifts.The wave isn’t threaten...
08/23/2026

It’s a small thing, really.
A boat on a wave.

But look at it a little longer, and something shifts.

The wave isn’t threatening. It isn’t dramatic.
It’s held. Contained. Almost like it’s carrying the boat rather than testing it.

And the boat itself—simple, steady—just sits there.

There’s a quiet trust in that.

Not everything in life needs to be controlled or pushed through. Some things ask you to stay the course and let the movement happen around you.

This piece feels like that moment. When you realise you don’t have to fight every current. You just have to know where you’re going.

https://www.saltspraydesign.ca/product/yellow-round-boat-on-a-blue-wave-studio-edition/1627

The Swimmer is for the woman who knows something in her life is shifting — and she is not running from it.* She is not w...
08/18/2026

The Swimmer is for the woman who knows something in her life is shifting — and she is not running from it.

* She is not waiting for perfect confidence.
* She is not standing there in a sensible cardigan, overthinking the temperature of the water.

She is getting in.

Joyfully.
Awkwardly.
With goggles, red lipstick, and a yellow floatie if necessary.

Because participation does not always look graceful.
Sometimes it looks like arms in the air and a slightly ridiculous swimsuit.
Sometimes it looks like deciding, quietly but firmly: “I am not sitting this one out.”

The swimmer is my dedication to the women entering a new season of life with humour still intact.

The women who are done watching from the shore. The women who have changed, and know their life now has to catch up. The women who are not escaping anything — they are finally joining themselves in the water.

The Swimmer is for the woman who knows it is time to joyfully get in.

If she feels like yours, order her online.

https://www.saltspraydesign.ca/product/the-swimmer-studio-edition/1617?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=K33RL7EFUECCDNLHDHDX3SBO

Cape Breton does dramatic with ease…Cliff. Sky. Water. Wind. All of it taking up room without apology.Inspired by our pa...
08/18/2026

Cape Breton does dramatic with ease…

Cliff. Sky. Water. Wind. All of it taking up room without apology.

Inspired by our past weekend visit, here is a cliff, a lot of sky, and one small red boat celebrating the ocean.

Texture Oil on canvas 6x6”

DM me to purchase.

Please join us for an author talk with Anthea Taljaard, creator of SaltSpray Design, a contemporary Canadian folk artist...
08/16/2026

Please join us for an author talk with Anthea Taljaard, creator of SaltSpray Design, a contemporary Canadian folk artist, sculptor, author, and speaker based in Nova Scotia. at the Woodlawn Library on Sep 8, 19h00-20h00.

This talk is grounded in Anthea's new book, Soul Decor: At Home in Your Own Skin, and in the broader Soul Decor framework, which asks how homes, objects, handmade work, memory, humour, scars, and ordinary rituals help people recognize who they are.

An audience Q&A, as well as a book signing, will follow the presentation. All are welcome to attend.

Please join us for an author talk with Anthea Taljaard, creator of SaltSpray Design, a contemporary Canadian folk artist...
08/15/2026

Please join us for an author talk with Anthea Taljaard, creator of SaltSpray Design, a contemporary Canadian folk artist, sculptor, author, and speaker based in Nova Scotia. on Sep 1,18h00-19h00 in the Central Library Halifax.

This talk is grounded in Anthea's new book, Soul Decor: At Home in Your Own Skin, and in the broader Soul Decor framework, which asks how homes, objects, handmade work, memory, humour, scars, and ordinary rituals help people recognize who they are.

An audience Q&A, as well as a book signing, will follow the presentation. All are welcome to attend.

https://halifax.bibliocommons.com/events/6a34296b296ea565de2d34eb

Address

40 East Chezzetcook Road (Head Of Chezzetcook)
Halifax, NS
B0J2L0

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+19024146117

Website

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