We often dreamed of a spacious, well-equipped workshop through the first three decades of our business. In those years, Janis encouraged my work and allowed me to work in a spare bedroom and occasionally even in the living room. Later, our ever-growing projects took over our garage and our driveway. The fumes, dust and smoke from my projects would often waft into the house. Janis was patient and encouraging through it all. In 2003, it was finally time to build my long-awaited workshop and studio on our newly purchased small acreage in Yarrow, British Columbia. I drew up some plans and brought them to Janis for her input and approval. She looked them over carefully and then shook her head. She asked me to tear them up and begin anew, and this time to design the shop BIGGER AND BETTER. There would only be one chance to do this project, and it had to be done right. The building would be constructed using ICF construction. This method uses a Styrofoam form system with steel-reinforced 8” thick concrete fill for maximum insulation for both heating and, more importantly, to minimize sound escape, which might bother our neighbours. The entire exterior of the shop would be made of hand-sculpted concrete, themed to match the house we would build a decade later. The shop has been comfortable and efficient, changing how we worked and allowing us to tackle much larger projects. It was a large and successful part of our long-held dream.
The house that love built
We bought our property and moved into a dilapidated old farmhouse in June of 2003. While the house was very tired and needed replacing, Janis instead encouraged me to build my dream shop, which I had long wanted and dreamed of. She insisted we could wait for a new house. That wait was a long one, but a decade later we could finally begin working on the replacement, which would take two years to construct. We were determined to build a house we could live in well into our old age. The house features extra-wide hallways and a roll-in shower, and we went with premium components throughout to ensure the house and everything inside lasts for a long, long time. Inside, the trim is all about butterflies, Janis’ favourite. On the exterior, we went with hearts. Tens of thousands of hearts are routed into the window and door trim. There are many heart-shaped stones in the rock work around the lower perimeter of the house. And even the knots of the large tree supports around the porches are heart-shaped. The house is made of concrete poured into Styrofoam forms and is super well insulated. The roof is made of recycled tires and designed to last many decades. After living in the house for thirteen years, we still love it!
Base colour on
My Dancing Dino entry for the Sign Invitational now has the base coats of paint on. It is ready for the bright colours I plan for the prancing T-rex with his accordion. Stay tuned…
