July 16, 2008 - Victoria Wood Studio - Silver Finalists - Care Awards

Victoria Wood Studio,(VWS), has just found out that they are finalists for the 2008 Care Awards sponsored by the Canadian Home Builders Association.  Finalists are selected by a panel of industry professionals using criteria such as architectural character, quality workmanship and use of space.
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June 22, 2008 - Gallery Garden Featured on Teeny Tiny Garden Tour

Victoria Wood Studio was asked to participate in the Teeny Tiny Garden Tour on June 22, 2008 for the the second year in a row.  Over 500 people purchased tickets to tour fifteen small gardens in Victoria.  The event is a fundraiser for the Victoria Hospice Society and this year raised nearly fourteen thousand dollars.

The biggest change in our garden this year was the installation of a wooden sculpture by the lower pond.  People were encouraged to pause at this small Gallery Garden and view the sculpture from a wooden bench both of which were designed and built by Dieuwertje. 

The upper pond with its bridge and fountain also drew many people and the side yard was placed in its historical context by the display of photos from the early 1900's.  These show the Anderson family, (the occupants of the house from 1890 to 1980), enjoying their lovely rose garden and dressing up in costumes for plays held in the out of doors.  We are lucky to have these photos which have been passed on by all the subsequent owners of the house. 

The Teeny Tiny Garden Tour is a great way to showcase our work and meet other people who are as passionate about their gardens as we are.  It is a fun but exhausting day that raises money for a very good cause.

February 3 - 2008 - Passageway Dedication at St. John the Divine

Epiphany is the name of a passageway recently installed and dedicated at St. John the Divine Anglican Church in Victoria.  Located in the garden courtyard, a few yards in from Quadra St. and at the intersection of two paths, it acts as an invitation to leave the busy street and enter the inner space of the courtyard and the church building itself.

There are no gates to block your entrance. The rafter design echoes features found in the neo Gothic architecture of the church building   But the unique curves in the two side panels and the use of clear cedar serves to soften the concrete and brick exterior of the church.   

Inside the structure there is a feeling of being held.  Looking up, you notice that there are five rafters in this small structure.  This repetition serves to intensify the feeling of passage.  The round portals in the side panels encourage views of both the church building and the garden courtyard.  This passageway is about movement.

The wood for this project was donated by Mike Warburton of Warburton Woodworks, (250- 642-5495) . The finish used is Naturhaus and was donated by John Lohsen of Inwood Solutions, (250-889-1672). The passageway was built in the shop of Victoria Wood Studio but installed on site by Al Lombardi and Sons, (250-813-1579)

Victoria Wood Studio - Finalists - Georgie Awards® 2007

We recently received the news that we are Finalists for the Georgie Awards®. This competition is sponsored by the Canadian Home Builders Association of British Columbia. Contestants from all over the province compete in each category.

The category we entered is called Best Single Family Landscape Design - Renovation. Our entry was called Passageway - 10 mile Point. (See attached photo)

The winners will be announced at an awards banquet to be held at the Westin Bayshore Resort and Marina in Vancouver on February 8, 2008. We are one of five finalists in our category and we look forward to finding out if we placed in the top three.  

Off to Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking
July 15 - August 24, 2007

For six weeks this summer Dieuwertje will be engaging in an intensive course of study at the Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking in Robert's Creek.  The course is taught primarily by Robert van Norman, a skilled craftsman, who trained with James Krenov. To learn more about this course and the teachings of James Krenov, you can follow this link - www.insidepassage.ca
View a weekly synopsis of the course.

Successful Teeny Tiny Garden Tour
Sunday June 24, 2007

On June 24, we were featured as one of fifteen gardens on the annual Teeny Tiny Garden Tour. This tour is a fund raiser for the Victoria Hospice society.  It's theme is to uncover the beauty found in smaller, urban gardens. Nearly five hundred people came through our gates to view our garden.  

Many people expressed an interest in how the gates were built so Dieuwertje showed them the workshop. They were able to see first hand a work in progress of a gate, fence panels and arbour that will be installed before we leave for Inside Passage on the Sunshine Coast.

People also really loved the historical display we had which featured photographs of some of the original owners of the house.  Our house was built by an Icelandic carpenter named Paul Thorsteinson in 1889.  It was later sold to another Icelandic family, the Andersons.  Ranka Anderson lived in the house until her death in the late 70's.  Her father worked as a cabinet maker and  furniture builder.  

People loved the design of our garden.  It really consists of three or four separate garden "rooms". After entering our double gates and passageway on the side of the house the first area you encounter is our lower pond. You enter this area through the Secret Garden Gate.  This gate is narrower and shorter so that going through it really feels like a passageway to a magical space.  

As you go up the steps you see the upper pond.  It has a bridge and is connected to the lower pond by a rill and waterfall.  It is framed by an arbour on one side and a wood shed on the other.  

The "outdoor eating space" consists of brick patio which was created by the skill and the hard work of the owners.  It is where we eat for as much of the year as possible.  It is also home to our two bikes, a red Vino scooter and a yellow 650 BMW Scarver.

Finally, we have the side yard and the front entrance to Victoria Wood Studio/Gallery.  This yard is the first area of the garden that Dieuwertje designed when we moved here. It is also the formal garden featured most often in the photographs we have of the Anderson family.

You enter it the side yard through a gate that has a more whimsical feel to honor the Icelandic heritage of the previous owners. This small garden flows seamlessly from the more formal entrance at the front of the house to the side which features three apple trees and several different types of hydrangea.  A beautiful bench designed and built in our workshop invites you to rest under the apple trees.

This fundraising tour was very successful, raising money for a very worthy cause.  It also gave us an opportunity to show off our garden.  It was great meeting so many other people who appreciate the effort and care put into creating a beautiful outdoor space.

Victoria Wood Studio Gates Displayed at Festa Italiana Ottavio's Deli
Oak Bay - June 16, 2007

Earlier in June we were invited to set up a display booth at the annual Festa Italiana held in Oak Bay.  This event is sponsored by Ottavio's Deli.  It's purpose is to liven up a summer's day with food, wine and art.  Although neither of us are Italian, we kept to the spirit of the day by showcasing our artisan designed gates and passageways.  

For display we brought a full size gate and a chair that Dieuwertje had designed as well as scale models of our gates and passageways. The scale model of the chair was a big hit with the crowd, (old and young alike). Another woodworker we talked to said he does scale models for all his furniture and people are always disappointed when they don't get to keep them.

A lot of interest was expressed in our passageways.  People especially liked the idea that we are a local business designing and building the gates in our workshop in Fernwood. They are individually designed and built by a trained furniture maker so they draw in the unique features of the surrounding home and garden.