Moving into a New Studio and Gallery Space

I’m finally moving into my new studio and gallery in Squamish, BC, Canada. Its been a convoluted journey since my exit from my old location in 2017. Michelle and I purchased a new-build light industrial unit and after many delays, it was finished in late February 2018. This was just a few months before we were to leave on our epic year abroad, so instead of moving in, we decided to find a tenant to occupy the space during our absence. So I stored all my carving equipment and raw materials at our home in North Vancouver. Our tenants finished their lease and vacated on August 31, so now it is time for me to move in and set up shop.

I will have a gallery space to exhibit and sell my sculptures (and I will introduce new 2D work as well!) in the front of the unit and the studio will be at the back. Finally, after all these years, I will easily be able to show you how I carve my sculptures, by just stepping through a doorway. It is a very exciting time for Michelle and I and we hope to open the doors to the public soon. It will take some weeks to prepare the space (lighting, installing heavy equipment, etc.), so please be patient!

This also a time of reflection for me, as we embark on a new chapter of our life. Our year travelling and working abroad was a valuable period for us. We learned a lot about ourselves, what we feel is really important to us and we cleared our heads of the darkness that dominated the years from 2011 – 2016. We do want to spend more time working abroad, but we learned that a year at a time is too long. Our sweet spot would be 3-4 months. While traveling off the North American continent with our dogs was a great adventure, we agree that if we travel again with our pets, it will only be within driving distance (no more ocean crossings!). Our original idea was to live in 3 -4 places for several months at a time in order to create a sense of community and do short trips from those places. But the trips just kept getting longer, until we scrapped the idea and chose to be more nomadic. We did live in Pietrasanta, Italy and Otivar, Spain for two months and in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and St. Ives, England for a month each, so we did manage a little of our original plan. But we clocked about 55,000 kms across countries and oceans in between the long stays and we loved seeing and experiencing all we did. If you haven’t, use the social media links at the top of the page to see pictures, videos and text explaining our journey. It was a wonderful segue into this next chapter of my creative path.