Marilyn Clayton
Jewellery and Encaustic Art
This artist is number 17 on the Studio Tour map. She is a guest with Daniel Marlatt
Tour Location
250 Edwina Drive
Trent Lakes
Directions: Edwina Drive is located approximately half way from Bobcaygeon to Buckhorn on Hwy 36
Artist Statement
Designs Marilyn has been a maker for as long as she can remember. Crafting and drawing through childhood, experimenting with needlepoint and ceramics through the years, she has always been drawn to the quiet satisfaction of working with her hands. Her first real encounter with jewellery came during a visit to her aunt and uncle in Saskatoon, where her older cousin taught her to bead rings and bracelets. That early spark never left.
Years later, working as a Registered Nurse in a high-stress environment, Marilyn needed a creative outlet that could genuinely nourish her. She found it in hand-knotted malas. Through the repetition of that practice, she learned to feel the energy of gemstones and understand how they wanted to be used. That intuitive process became the foundation of everything she makes today. Marilyn is primarily self-taught, with ongoing advanced training in metalsmithing, wire weaving, encaustic techniques, and gemstone work. Her greatest teachers have been the materials themselves and the quiet, patient practice of letting each piece reveal what it wants to become. She works from her studio in the Haliburton Highlands, building each piece to suit the stone rather than forcing a stone into a design.
This is her fifth year participating in the Victoria County Studio Tour, and it remains one of the most meaningful parts of her practice. She was first welcomed at her sister’s studio in Bobcaygeon, then at Linda Harris’s pottery studio, and most recently at Daniel Marlatt’s studio near Buckhorn. Each location has brought new collectors, new conversations, and a deeper sense of belonging to this creative community. There is something irreplaceable about connecting face-to-face with the people who find her work. Sharing the story behind a piece, and witnessing the moment when someone recognizes something in it as their own, is the reason she does this.
Artist Contact
705-715-4053
info@8thbymocdesigns.com
8thbymocdesigns.com