ARTISAN STORIES

Meet the Maker:
TANYA GABRIELLE

"The rainforest is quietly the most alive thing that exists. I wanted to bring more of that rainforest energy into my home."

Tanya Gabrielle came to Tofino for a summer. Sixteen years later, she's still there.

After years spent working in a demanding career in Vancouver, Tanya arrived on Vancouver Island drawn to surfing and a slower pace of life. What began as a temporary escape gradually became home, shaped by the vastness of the Pacific, the stillness of the inlet, and the ancient rainforest surrounding it.

Today, Tanya balances her work as a wellness counsellor with Cloud Factory, a creative practice rooted in that same landscape. Her handmade beeswax candles carry elements of Tofino itself—from seaweed gathered at low tide to cedar collected from the forest floor after a storm.

O: Before candles became part of your life, you spent years working as a wellness counsellor. What led you from that work to creating with your hands, how has that earlier chapter shaped the way you approach your craft today?

T: My healing journey inspired Cloud Factory. I’ve lived with chronic pain since I was young, and being in the rainforest and connected to the ocean taught my nervous system how to slow down. Over time, my health improved and my illness went into remission.

During this journey, lighting beeswax candles became a ritual, a way to make time for myself, soften the energy in my space, and help me feel more grounded.

In 2015, while out on a walk, I had the idea to start making my own candles. I began harvesting cedar and seaweed and experimenting with ways to bring these elements into my candles, as a way of bringing more of that rainforest energy into my home. Through Cloud Factory, I hope to share that same sense of calm, ritual, and the beautiful simplicity of nature, wherever people may be. I’m incredibly grateful that Obakki has given me the opportunity to share that with a wider audience.

O: You now call Tofino home, and your work feels deeply rooted in that landscape. What first brought you there, and how has living in Tofino shaped the way you create?

T: Someone I was dating introduced me to Vancouver Island life and surfing in 2007 and I completely fell in love with the slower pace of life. A few years later, after working in a very demanding career in Vancouver, decided to take a break. I move to Tofino for the summer to surf and Sixteen years later, here I am.

There's something about the vastness of the open ocean, the stillness and quiet of the inlet and the ancient rainforest that influences you to slow down and enjoy life for what it is. The rainforest forest is quietly the most alive thing that exist, everything you see is growing, changing, transforming, every element has a purpose.

The sound, simple shape, textures, and colours of nature inspire everything I create.

O: Could you walk us through your creative process—from the first spark of an idea to the finished candle? Are there any rituals, techniques, or materials that have become uniquely your own along the way?

T: All my ideas begin with a feeling I get in connection to nature. I love the smell of burning cedar, it feels incredibly grounding to me, so I recreated that scent using essential oils for my cedar pillar candles. I forage cedar after storms, when branches have naturally fallen, so I never have to cut from a living tree.

I dry the cedar, grind it into a fine powder, and use it to finish the outside of the candles. I melt the beeswax, carefully monitoring the temperature so I don't damage the essential oils, then pour it into molds.

Once the candles have hardened, I hand, finish each one with a small knife before rolling them in the cedar powder. For my green candles, I harvest bright green seaweed while diving or walking the beaches during very low tides. I dry it and use the powder to naturally colour the beeswax.

For years, I've burned tall, skinny candles in empty barnacles I found washed up after big swells. Those have inspired my recent collaboration with artist Nathalee Paolinelli, who created beautiful elegant porcelain candle holders for my barnacle worm inspired candles. I absolutely love her work, I’m grateful and excited about this collaboration!

O: Your materials come from the ocean, the forest, and your own garden. What has working so closely with nature taught you—not just as a maker, but as a person?

T: I’d say nature teaches me to live with purpose and to slow down. Having my craft so closely connected to nature reminds me to be present in the process, to create with passion and enjoyment rather than pressure.

O: When someone brings one of your candles into their home, what do you hope they're really taking with them? Is it a place, a memory, or perhaps simply a feeling?

T: More than anything, I hope it brings good feelings. The scents I create are inspired by places, memories, and moments that bring me joy. Candles have this beautiful way of creating warmth, peace, and light, they can bring people together and invite us to take time for ourselves. I hope my work brings a sense of joy, connection, and grounding, all wrapped in something beautiful.