Meet Krystal:
Art, Legacy & Dreams Unfolded

Chasing dreams and honouring family legacies, Krystal is an artist and entrepreneur in Weyburn, SK. She is the owner of Olive’s Branch Art Studio, which is only possible with the ongoing support of her mom, Kathy, dad, Brian, and step-mom, Lynda Thomas. She is also the co-owner of CollabARTive Studios, alongside Malia Brackpool. 

 Krystal’s mission is to carry on the family legacy of female owned and operated entrepreneurship through the art industries.The family matriarch, Olive Demencuik, is the inspiration for Olive’s Branch. Building a female owned ceramics business from the ground up in the 1970s, she was a trailblazer in her own right. 

These businesses came about on a healing journey, using art to reconnect to our true selves, to those who have come before us, to those we love in the present, as well as those we will love in the future. Krystal is a recovering academic, having spent 17 years in university as a student and teacher, pursuing first a BA Honours with international distinction in sociology, followed by a Masters in justice studies, and then a PhD in criminology. At the tail-end of the PhD, she decided academia wasn’t for her anymore. While she still teaches at the university level, she’s unsure if she feels a need to finish her dissertation on the experiences of being related to someone who has taken a life. Timing can't always be perfect, but all is not lost. 

Krystal is considered an expert in the field of restorative justice, and uses her education and skills in teaching, facilitation, research, writing, management, event planning, and more in building her businesses. With an expertise in restorative justice, she infuses her businesses with the values aligned with restorative practices, such as humility, compassionate curiosity, understanding, inclusivity, kindness, respect, and dignity to build communities and businesses capable of taking on the world. 

Krystal works in resin, and is now expanding the business to include ceramics. She is thrilled to go back to her roots in this medium, exploring the businesses that both her grandmother, Olive, and her mother, Kathy successfully ran in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. 

All My Relations,

Krystal