Cannabis Goldsmith - A Show About Art and Design

Greenland has some nice rubies and sapphires and they are some of the oldest in the world. The colors of the corundum mined there tend to be in the pink to red color spectrum due to the geology and how the crystals were formed. They would look great in jewelry I think, but that is not the only reason you should consider using them in a design. A Norwegian company set up a ruby mine in Greenland an...

In a year, the United States has turned into a terrorist state and their president into a despotic dictator. Canadians must rely on ourselves. Let's meet each other, let's get to know our next door neighbors (in Canada), so when the shit hits the fan you can help your neighbor or they can help you. We have to buckle down and get ready. Our Prime Minister is spending more and more time away...

I’m an artist, so I can make exotic predictions. There’s a lot of political and media analysis in this episode, but if that’s not your thing, you can skip straight to the last 7 minutes . I’m horribly sick with the flu, and I talk about how sick I am of Canada’s Prime Minister and his pandering to the US President. There is something seriously wrong with a Canadian Prime Minister who won’t wear a...

What are photojournalists and why are they important? What do photojournalists seek to accomplish with their art? I give three examples of different approaches to photojournalism, from the political to the cultural, and encourage you to listen to two interviews with photojournalists Simon Townsley on Battle Lines and Chris Anderson on IMPOLITIC at the links below. On the second part of the show I...

I'm going to document my experience seeking funding for a book of photography and for a documentary film. I am hoping it will help others who are seeking to fund art. It will be journalism, but also provide the steps I will take to secure or fail to secure funding for my projects. This first part of the series is about getting your thinking clear and straight about what you want to fund and wh...

So you've swallowed a Faberge Egg and figure you've committed a perfect crime, but you are no match for an intern with a stick and a bucket, or Drugloo, the space age contraband recovery toilet manufactured in Texas. I speculate why many of the podcast listeners are in Australia and Germany... (Cannabis Goldsmith Listener Stats: 1. Australia 2. Canada 3. USA 4. Germany) Drugloo - Ranger co...

Is it a restoration? An art project? The Maitland Tower is an incredible historical riverfront property being developed into community art and event spaces by Philip Ling. I went upriver to have a look, and learned how this project combines the modern and the old in new ways that will grow art in South Eastern Ontario. I also talk about why it's important to license creative work from artists...

As podcasts I once trusted for news, journalism, and truth become chat shows or mouthpieces for a handful of US tech companies trying to justify their extreme valuations, I take a step back and consider if I really need their advertorial content or banter. I am cutting them out of my life becausethey are spreading slop now too. It’s time to focus on truth, art, and the real. I talk about how emoti...

One of the greatest human experiences you can have is when you resonate with an artist's work, or it resonates with you on some almost unconscious level. Petr Válek's synthesizers are hand-built from found materials and embellished with designs coming from a very deep place in a rural area in the Czech Republic. They are also fun and comical. How can an art object contain such multitudes?...

Media Literacy 101. The American media pundits are coming into Canada to sell books and influence our politics. They are appearing on our state funded current affairs shows as "news” but this is not news, it is US marketing funded by Canadian tax dollars. The first part of this episode describes the hypocrisy of American media pundits who use marketing, disinformation or polarization to sell...

I describe the difference between the news media space in Canada and the United States, and why I believe most Canadian journalism is now state funded government propaganda. I describe how I get my news from a variety of non-Canadian sources to kludge together a view of what is going on in my own country. I talk about an incredible brooch from the house of Boivin that was designed in the 1950’s, a...

My Mom taught me how to write a decent letter of complaint, so I wrote one to our Prime Minister, Mark Carney, who seems to have moved on from the impressive date-specific unaccomplished achievements he promised to Canadians just a few short months ago, in order to get elected. I gave him some suggestions and told him Canada needs a sales and marketing focus to increase foreign exports, not politi...

Let's speculate about who stole Marie-Louise's emerald necklace and why. If you have information on the Louvre jewel heist, please contact the French police or Interpol: French Police: https://www.police-nationale.interieur.gouv.fr/Contacts INTERPOL stolen art unit: https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2025/Louvre-Museum-theft-Stolen-jewels-added-to-INTERPOL-s-Stolen-Works-of-A...

Geoffrey Hinton has to stop doing these interviews where he is warning us about the dangers of his own invention. Or, hosts should ask him how much money Hinton made from the development of this technology which he now says can take our life savings or destroy the world. He must man up and take responsibility for his horror. I am hunkering down for a winter of design, and it will be fabulous! Doug...

I’m already designing a Canadian themed Sterling Silver trophy belt buckle for the 2026 Calgary Stampede, based around a Sugar Maple leaf from my own tree in the front yard. This silver masterwork will be packed with cultural and national symbolism. Who will wear it to the Stampede next year? It is just too sad to watch the USA spiraling toward civil war or becoming a failed state. It‘s not doing...

Heads Up: There's a Suzanne Belperron Auction in December! My favorite designer has a few pieces coming up for auction in December. I talk about her work and how she became head of a major French jewelry Maison at the age of 24, and how her designs transcend the materials they are constructed from and sometimes appear to have been designed in the future or by aliens. My treasure hunting hobby...

The animals know the score. Winter is coming fast and it's not only about the seasons, it is about the closing of trade routes and markets. We can learn from the critters as they prepare for a brutal winter ahead. Custom Corporate Commissions by TRIBE A custom commissioned sterling silver belt buckle by TRIBE is more than a prize or gift- it's a story, an experience, and a lasting legacy....

Artists can be prickly, but we are brave. In this episode, I artsplain why the National Gallery of Canada and its new director, Jean-François Bélisle, need to get out of their offices and into Canadian communities to connect with artists on the ground. If only our national arts institutions would support Canadian artists instead of generating bold yet meaningless policy rhetoric. I marvel at how t...

The USA has shot itself in the face. I have never seen brand destruction like this before. They are doing absolutely everything they can to drive away their friends and customers. We in Canada are buying Canadian and non-USA products. Customers around the world will soon avoid purchasing USA made products on principal alone, and this presents business opportunities for us outside America, if we ca...

There are ridiculous estimates of the value of Taylor Swift's engagement ring out there on the mainstream media. Here's what it is really worth. We reverse engineer the construction of the ring to find we can make you an exact replica with a lab grown diamond for $50K, delivered. I explore where the real value lies in the engagement ring, and how the football player boyfriend did OK with h...

Diamond prices drop further, and Botswana, a country where 20% of their effective GDP comes from mining natural diamonds, is in deep trouble. Over 25 international post offices are refusing to ship packages to the United States and this will cause problems for artists trying to reach US customers. It's time to say goodbye to America and look for domestic and new international markets. I explai...

Middlemen suck, especially for artists. Here's why. TRIBE - Bringing Sterling Silver Trophy Belt Buckles Into The Modern World https://tribe.ca Send an email to alexd@cannabisgoldsmith.com to get on our mailing list or to commission custom jewelry products from TRIBE. The Cannabis Goldsmith is an Art & Design podcast produced by TRIBE COMMUNICATIONS INC. in Ontario, Upper Canada. ©2025 TRI...

Culturally, much of America now appears to be built on the shifting sands of sweet memory and Hollywood myth, as the world can now plainly see. As the world cauterizes itself against America's rapid slide into chest-thumping autocracy or mayhem, it 's becoming apparent that many no longer consider US cultural products attractive or of any value at all. US cultural products are so tainted b...

Once a big project ends I've found it wise to clear my works surfaces in the workshop and studio to make room for new projects. A bit of cleaning and tidying provides closure on the last project while opening space for new ideas to develop. Close friends visit me and there was much eating and talking. Information, photos, drawings about the construction of the 170th Spencerville Fair Sterling...

There are some answers in this podcast that will help your pivot to video. I've been a still photographer for more than a half a century, and I've been experimenting with video creation for the last 6 years. Switching from producing still photography to videos can be daunting, but still photographers can deal with it. In fact, we bring important skills to video production that can take a v...