Tonya MacPhail came to St. John's for a visit in 1998, and she's still here, turning out her colourful Newfoundland-inspired products as the proprietor of Krooked House Craft & Design. Her original line—jewellery, candle holders, mirror and picture frames, ornaments—is all based on the shapes and colours of the old houses lining the steep streets surrounding St. John's harbour. “This city was my first inspiration,” she says. “I just love the place and the people.”

Born and raised in Halifax, MacPhail has always been interested in making art from wood. She learned the craft from her father: “I've been surrounded by wood all my life,” she says. Besides the houses, the current production of Krooked House includes a line of “N'icebergs”, earrings and necklaces fashioned from polymer clay and sea (beach) glass, and one of “Tin Fin Fish,” amusing, brightly coloured little fish made from recycled tin cans and wood.

MacPhail began her craft business almost as soon as she arrived in St. John's, selling Krooked House products from a table she set up outside the St. John's Folk Festival, and soon made it her full-time career. She has exhibited at every Christmas Craft Fair in St. John's since 1998, and has recently begun to take her work to trade shows. In 2003, MacPhail persuaded her sister, Shannon, to move to St. John's and help her with the business. Krooked House Craft & Design now sells its wares across the province, as well as in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and in two locations in the U.S.

“I just love what I'm doing,” Tonya McPhail says. Houses, icebergs, fish: “these are an unending source of inspiration, and, like the pieces we make, no two are ever the same!”

Individually hand painted by the artist, these candle holders portray the vibrant colour of the row houses in downtown St. John's and surrounding areas.  They make a perfect and unique gift!