click image to enlarge ... includes Artist's studio on second floor overlooking the Bay of Fundy
It was exhilarating to create our home from the ground up...
even to building the driveway that winds up the 50' red sandstone bluff.
It was the creative adventure of a lifetime for us.
and so others can hopefully find joy in what they have done.
The urge continues to bring Beauty to the world...
Once you create, you can never stop
even to building the driveway that winds up the 50' red sandstone bluff.
It was the creative adventure of a lifetime for us.
But... as artists create, they must eventually let go......
so they can create again...and so others can hopefully find joy in what they have done.
The urge continues to bring Beauty to the world...
Once you create, you can never stop
...Ideas spill over themselves..
as I have quoted in the past, words that Victor Hugo once wrote,
"Invasions of Armies can be resisted
But not Invasions of Ideas"
... below is our real estate agents tour...
... You are very welcome to Come In and take
A Tour with our Fine Home Specialist Katherine Bacon,
A Tour with our Fine Home Specialist Katherine Bacon,
whom we trust to show you
all the things you would be pleased to see..
all the things you would be pleased to see..
her presentation has humbled us and we feel honoured.
Hope you enjoy the culmination of our Labors and
what much Love from our Head, Heart and Hands have brought to Life...
or Here
... and to Jennifer Roos, her fabulous Photographer for the care
and appreciation of Art and Detail she portrayed... Thank you so much.
***
...and I am ever so thrilled to add that a few years ago our Home was featured in
the SALON Magazine and on CBC Radio.
***
A link to when we first discovered this Land overlooking the Bay of Fundy
and
a watercolor and some of our Experience of being Here.
and
We hope someone new will find our "Heaven on Earth" and love it
and be as happy here overlooking the magnificent Bay of Fundy as we have been..
***we will still be working at and tending to
our separate little Gallery/Studio with the turquoise doors
just down the road a bit.
****St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada****
40 comments:
Oh Gwen, I hope you find a family that appreciates all the care, skill and love that has gone into your beautiful home. Before you leave remember to run your hands over all, listen to the wind, smell. Things that will add to the photographs. You will find somewhere else I am sure, where you can create and weave yourselves into.
Regards Hillary
Thank you Hillary, you have a sensitive soul.... and if the next people, whoever they may be, receive as much satisfaction and thrill of living here as we have, they could ask for no more. ...it is a soul-filling experience.
My Dearest Gwen ... while at first I could not fathom how you could bear to part with your lovely home ... this place that the two of you have put so much love and attention to creating ... this post makes me realize where you're coming from. I get that it was a creative venture ... and that now it's done ... you need to create something else.
The joy is in the creative process and once that is complete ... it is a piece to be shared with others.
That is precisely how I feel about every piece that I create ... and once the idea comes to fruition it is time to create something else ... something new and beyond.
I truly hope that there is someone out there who can appreciate all of the love and effort that has gone into it's creation ... and that you will be rewarded with the financial bounty deserved.
This would in turn fund your next creative endeavour ... and that would be the very thing to fuel your next creative adventure!
Love & Hugs ... Marie
So kind Marie.. yes you understand the process of creating through and through.. step by step.. and when you are almost done, another idea is inspired or maybe two or three or twenty.. hard to keep control of them... they want to come to life. there is no denying them.. Great isn't it!! Hugs to you too!!
I'm gonna cry... partly because I don't do change well and I can't imagine you without that house, or the house without you... and selfishly, because I could never afford to buy it. Uhg.
Oh Gwen..... how? why? oh dear, I feel like blubbering. I'm afraid, I am not one who comprehends fully the concept of letting go of a beloved creation. such painstaking detail - but it will always be a part of you. I imagine this house will forever be known as the Artist's house (or the Ackerman/Buchanan home).
Gwen, what you have said is so beautiful and true that it is going to resonate with me for a very long time - When Artists create they have to let go ... so that they can create again.
I know wherever you and John go on your journey as Artists you will always leave beauty, warmth and love.
My best to both of you and to Max.
Oh Gwen, I feel like VioletSky, like blubbering. Your homestead feels like an old friend, like you and John and Max. Don and I speak so often about the Bay of Fundy, and when we do, it's always with this place in our minds, with great fondness.
What you have done is nothing short of phenomenal. I pray that you will find just the perfect new owners to love, tend and appreciate every square inch of artistic ingenuity.
I don't know what to say! I feel understanding, and also sadness. The site for your home is breathtaking, though every room is familiar to me, it's like I'm seeing it all for the first time.
oh Steven, You are adorable!! Thank you.
Sanna that would be the greatest compliment.. do you think it could be so.. wow!
Priya, Thank you so much for understanding. Life is a set of challenges, inspirations, decisions and compromises... and the hard part is balancing them.
It does make life exciting though.
Thank you Ruth for your thoughtful care.. I would be neglectful to not say we feel sadness.. when someone finds paradise they don't want to leave... but we have thought hard and long that in order to stretch ourselves even more this is the right thing to do, for now, for us. We hope the next owners, whoever they may be, feel as thrilled down into their souls as we have been here.
I can imagine the great debates that you both must have had, in coming to this decision. For there is always pain in letting go a piece of artwork, regardless of what monies might be exchanged.
All I can say is let go and let love guide you to wherever next you pair will lay your heads.
Oh you are so right Heron's View... Your gentle advice of,
"Let Love guide you" is so very much appreciated. That is what we wish. Thank you.
We have spoken of this decision over the years my dear Seaside Friend. I wish you nothing but great things as you continue to create and to invest your talents in your next living art. I however, am sadden that one could not have waited until I had purchased the winning ticket so that I might have done that which I have dreamed while enjoying the castle on the bluff.
There's nothing like Gothic.
Although the Goths, themselves, were a reputedly dubious bunch, their arches turn out to be sheer magnificence.
A bit beyond the budget of a carrion-eater :)
May it fall into loving hands.
Hi Gwen
To be honest I have never seen a home like it, I think that my whole house would fit in your kitchen.. TWICE!
It is absolutly amazing, what a house... You are so, so talented the pair of you...
I'm sure that you will be sorry to leave it but, as we say.. 'We are here for a brief moment in time, we are only custodians looking after or building our homes for others to enjoy in the future'.
Remember before you say goodby to this wonderful house that has given you so much pleasure to leave a treasure/memory box hidden for future owners to find.. A few photographs of yourself, John and your family building it and perhaps a piece of your work as an artist might be nice for someone to find in a hundred years... And a letter to the finder...
As you can tell, I love hidden treasure, we have found all sorts of 'treasures' at our old house, nothing of value just little bits of history that we try to piece together into it's story. When we leave we will leave something for the next treasure seaker.
So my dear Gwen take your memories of happy times and wave goodby with a cheery heart.. x
Oh you are so cute Shelley!!! Thank you.
Hello Gwen
After reading this blog, I now understand how you can create something "so filled with you" that it is lovely beyond words and then let it go. You continue to be so wise, so inspiring and so very creative in this world. Your home is magnificent and so obviously filled with love. May the folks who move in next be grateful for what you have made. Blessings on your next creative advetures!
Thank you for your appreciation of the Gothic, dear Crow.. I have loved the feel of Gothic forever.
Julie, These are such lovely intimate ideas that they almost make me cry.. I love them.. and I will do it!! ...for the fun and secretness and surprise of it... I know that would be something I would love to find..
Thank you for your dear wishes, I really appreciate them..
Hi Carol, when we were creating each part it always felt like it was the only important thing in the world to do that day, week, month or however long it took.. I know that is the way with all creative types.
Creating is a place where the world loses itself no matter what media or material used.. it is too vast and satisfying.
Thank you so much for you beautiful words, you are very kind.
Owen, I'll remember that for next time.. haha...
ah, but this is site specific as orientation was the important thing for us when we designed this... to face the south to the view and absorb heat by Passive Solar through all the south facing windows...works amazingly well.
Oh, how I admire your courage in the letting go...in the seeing (and understanding) that a home is nothing something you cling to in a place, but a place you carry with you wherever you go. You are a wise old soul, dear Gwen. You have lived and created a dream that few can imagine. And I do pray that your beautiful home, built and lavished with love and care, will reach out to find its perfect new owners. (Oh, how inside I am thinking...pick me! pick me!)
Gwen, you, you wise wise woman.
Writing these words, being able to let go in love. You take your love everywhere you go.
Dear Deborah and Yvette, When the day comes and I have to leave this place of sanctuary I will miss it greatly for many, many, many reasons... just as we dearly miss family and old friends when they are gone... something extremely wonderful will have to occur to fill its shoes... we will keep our options open and look for it.
I wish you the very best on the next step of the journey. You are definitely leaving your special mark on this spectacular home and the next family to live there will be very, very lucky. Looking forward to seeing what it is that you and your crew come up with next.
Beauty begets beauty. Wherever you go I'm sure you will keep the dream alive. Best wishes in your new venture. We have moved many times in our lives, always to a new, interesting, unique, place - Life is in the journey, Bon Voyage!
Thank you, Lorena ... beautiful words... to experience the journey... to see, to learn, to do.... you make me smile.
Seth, just as I always love seeing what you have brought to life... Thank you.
I'm back for another look ... I so enjoyed the "tour" back when you first posted it - thought I had left a comment, but I don't see it now, so I guess I was imagining things. The house looks so magnificent - how I wish I could see it - and you - in person. I think you all - people, places, and things - have interesting futures. We may eventually lose the ability to watch the house and it's growth and changes, but I hope we will continue to enjoy posts from Gwen. xo
I was at first so very surprised, as I have felt the love of home you have expressed in so many of your blog posts. I admire what you have created here, and know the land and home are loved deeply. That same love will be expressed in your next creation.
As you so wisely share with us "Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence." And shed some tears if you want, too.
Oh, I hope that someone who appreciates the love that went into your house buys it!
Hi Morna, I figure it will take quite a while to sell our home, so it will give us lots of time to get used to the whole idea.
...(our thing was that each year we got an idea, then we would become enthralled with it and build and ornament more... crazy artist people let to their own devices!!!.. we should have been made to have our hands tied behind our backs!
Oh Leslie, tears have been shed to be sure... it is hard to part with part of one's soul.
Thank you herhimnbryn, I hope so too.
I like this blog! :) Congratulations!
I thought I had commented here, I have thought of you so many times after seeing this post. I know you have amazing plans stirring, but have loved watching your life in this home made with your own hands. I will look forward to seeing what you create next!
Roxanne
Thanks Rory.
Thank you for your thoughts, Roxanne...
I hope our future will be as exhilarating.
WOW oh WOW Gwen! I love it all - especially your gothic windows and doorways!!! I wish you every success with your sale and next venture ;-)
Hello Houdini,, Thank you for your magic wishes... We truly enjoy being here and will equally enjoy a new adventure.. All the best to you!
This is the most wonderful place. You are extremely blessed with the talent and skills to make such things possible. May you have a purchaser soon and be able to start your next projects. I marvel at your energy and drive; I feel humbled, she who resides in a tiny four roomed hovel with aspirations but not much else! Love & blessings for 2012.
Thank you for your good wishes, Sea Fringe, I think no matter the size or concept.. when your heart is part of the process that is all that counts.. We sometimes wish we had not spent so many years pouring ourselves into this project as it put so many other things on the sideline, but we were blinded with an artist's quest.. and time is a precious thing.. if only we all had 20/20 hindsight right off the start.. The imaginative work you have poured into your home is as precious as any undertaking... it is care and love and that is what counts. want to trade?
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