Cornerstone

Thought I would share another excerpt from "Kellie and Bailey's Most Excellent Adventure"...as we were enjoying our early morning ocean drive, I decided to slip down this little road that I had discovered before called "The Lighthouse Road."  There are some beautiful stone carvings there and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to photograph them again.

The morning light was perfect, and time disappeared as I snapped away on a beautiful summer morning.  After a while I noticed an older gentleman walking down the road, and as he neared us he said with a look of surprise, "I don't usually see people down here this early in the morning."  Bailey greeted him enthusiastically and we chatted away until after a while I discovered that HE was the artist that had created all of these things.  He asked me if I would like to come into his studio (Cornerstone) and take a look around (would I???!!)

I felt like I was on sensory overload as I looked around Bill's studio, and I tried to take in every item that I was looking at, because everything was unique and a natural work of art.  He said that he combs the beaches all around Nova Scotia and Cape Breton in the winter and turns his finds into these works of art outside of his studio in the summer.  (He works with diamond drill bits and water, so he said it's an outside job.)  He had gorgeous lamps whose bases were made out of smooth beach stones, on which he would sand blast designs.  His studio had an upstairs and Bill kindly offered to watch Bailey while I went upstairs for a look around.  When I came down Bailey was sitting quietly beside him (I wish I had gotten a picture of that!)

(This one came home with me!)

I was amazed at the variety and creativity of his work, and I asked Bill how he came up with so many different ideas and uses for the items he finds, and he said, "I lay awake and think about it at night."  He said that when he retired he began to devote his time to creating these works of art, and he started to sell "a little here and a little there", until now there are shops that carry his works all throughout Nova Scotia and down the  Eastern U.S. seaboard.  They certainly know a good thing when they see it.

We walked back outside and I admired the landscaping he had done and remarked that his work just melted into the terrain, as if it had been there forever.  I especially enjoyed the "tulips" that he had planted:

And noted that he liked to celebrate Christmas in July:

I found Bill fascinating to talk to, and could have spent much more time admiring the work that he had done and hearing about his secret beach locations where he sourced his stones from, but eventually I thanked him for his time and told him what a pleasure it was to meet him.  I told him that Bailey and I would no doubt be back down his way again (although maybe not that early in the morning!)  I asked Bill if he would let me take his picture, but he politely declined.  He said he wanted to let his work speak for itself.  It most certainly does...